Welfare pension to be distributed on June 20
Thiruvananthapuram: Close on the heels of the Nilambur assembly bypoll, finance minister K N Balagopal announced on Monday the distribution of the next instalment of social welfare pension on June 20, a day after the bypoll date.
As many as 62 lakh beneficiaries receive Rs 1,600 as a social security pension. Social welfare pension was one of the key debate points during the Nilambur byelection campaign. The CPM strongly opposed AICC general secretary K C Venugopal's remark that the CPM was trying to use welfare pension as a bribe to woo voters. Following CPM's counter attack, Venugopal clarified that he was referring to the politicisation of the welfare pension and that his criticism against the state govt should not be construed as an insult to the beneficiaries, as alleged by the CPM.
A note from the office of the finance minister stated that the LDF govt has spent Rs 38,500cr on welfare pensions in the last four years. The first Pinarayi Vijayan govt spent Rs 35,154cr on the distribution of welfare pensions. This included the 18 months of pension arrears during the period of the Oommen Chandy govt. Balagopal said the LDF govts, in the last nine years, spent Rs 73,654cr on welfare pensions.
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