Punjab govt releases Rs 131 cr for social security pension

The Punjab government today released Rs 131.20 crore for payments of social security pension for March 2018 to 17,89,600 beneficiaries under various schemes.

The pension amount has been released at the enhanced rate of Rs 750 each to beneficiaries, including elderly, disabled, destitute and widows, an official spokesperson said.

Incidentally, this is the fourth consecutive month, when social security pensions have been released on time, making them up to date for this year.

The chief minister also issued strict directions to the concerned officials that disbursement of pensions should continue on a monthly basis, as was being done since January this year.

He also asked the social security department to constantly monitor this process and said that he was personally keeping a tab on it.

Payments under the social security schemes are now being credited directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries, in order to ensure hassle-free disbursement to them.

The spokesperson further said that the process of disbursement of pensions has been streamlined since January this year, with payments being cleared on a monthly basis.

The government had earlier released Rs.128.08 crore in January, Rs 129.52 crore in February and Rs 129.90 crore in March.

The spokesperson said that all social security pensions, since December 2017, have been cleared till date.