Welfare pensions to disbursed in Keralam from Aug. 19

The government has decided to disburse welfare pensions for next month ahead of Onam.

All social welfare pensions will be disbursed from August 19, instead of August 25. The government has sanctioned ₹1,105 crore for the same, Chief Minister V.D. While briefing reporters after the Cabinet gathering.

The government is determined to ensure that the social welfare pensions are disbursed every month, without fail, he went on.

The government has additionally set aside ₹951.40 crore for disbursing social security benefits to 59,00472 beneficiaries, satheesan said here on Tuesday. An amount of ₹130.35 crore has been sanctioned for disbursing pensions to the 6.95 lakh pensioners of 16 welfare fund boards in the State.

The government has additionally sanctioned ₹24.76 crore as the State share towards the 8.46 lakh beneficiaries under the National Social Assistance Programme. It provides financial support and social pensions to elderly individuals, widows, and persons with disabilities living below the poverty line.

The administration has also sanctioned ₹630 crore for paying Onam bonus and other benefits to administration employees.

All government employees will receive ₹4,500 as Onam bonus and they can take up to ₹20,000 as Onam advance. Those employees not entitled to bonus will receive ₹3,000 as festival allowance. All part-time and contingency workers are entitled to an advance of ₹6,000. Service pensioners will get a bonus of ₹1,250 for Onam

The pension arrears of anganwadi workers till July 31 are being cleared by the administration, for which ₹24 crore is being set aside. This is apart from the ₹10 crore announced earlier. The government will additionally provide ₹1,450 as festival bonus to ASHAs and anganwadi workers.

The government has additionally decided to clear the arrears of scholarships given to backward classes, something handed down by the previous government. An amount of ₹310 has been sanctioned for this.

An amount of ₹200 has been sanctioned for clearing the emergency dues under Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati and Arogyakiranam schemes.

The government has additionally sanctioned ₹150 crore to Supplyco to clear pending Paddy Receipt Slip (PRS) arrears from the procurement season till July 31. Supplyco will be given ₹53 crore towards subsidy as well as for launching Onam markets. Consumerfed will also secure ₹25 crore for running Onam special markets.

A total of 3.68 lakh families in the State who have completed 100 work days under the MGNREGA scheme will be given an Onam bonus of ₹ 1,200 each as festival allowance, for which the government has set aside ₹44.24 crore.

Another ₹85 lakh has been sanctioned for provisioning festival allowance to workers under the Ayyankali urban employment guarantee scheme. While another ₹44 cr is being provided for the salary payments of noon meal cooks in schools.

The government has provided ₹14.40 crore towards the Sneha Santhwanam scheme for rendering assistance to eEndosulfan victims.

Mr, an amount of ₹26.47 crore has been allocated for the paying pension of lottery agents and distributors. Satheesan said the administration was going through a severe fiscal crisis but that these financial obligations were not something that a government which prioritised welfare, would afford to ignore.