Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday announced that the arrears of welfare pensions of 62 lakh beneficiaries in the state would be distributed in a time-bound manner, and his government has plans to increase them further.
Despite the financial crunch being faced by the state due to the policies and approach of the Centre, the state government would not backtrack from its development programmes and welfare schemes, he said.
The Chief Minister informed the Assembly that the government plans to distribute two instalments of the welfare pension in FY 2024-25 and three instalments in FY 2025-26 to the beneficiaries. This announcement was made through a resolution presented in the Assembly.
Currently, there are outstanding payments for five instalments of social welfare pensions. The Chief Minister assured that the government is committed to clearing these arrears. As of now, Rs 4250 crore remains outstanding, out of which Rs 170 crore will be disbursed in the current financial year, he stated.
Welfare boards will disburse pensions from their own funds. Meanwhile, pension distribution till May 2024 is complete in the Kerala Motor Workers Welfare Board, Kerala Cargo Workers Welfare Board, Kerala Shop Workers Welfare Board, Kerala Toddy Industry Welfare Board and Kerala Abkari Workers Welfare Board. However, pensions till May 2023 are paid to Kerala Building Welfare Board. The construction workers’ pension is paid out of cess collected from the builders. There will be special intervention at the government level to speed up the steps for efficient collection of cess and clearance of arrears.
