Bhubaneswar: Following Chief Minister’s instruction to include an additional 4.13 lakh people under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY), SSEPD Department has asked all Collectors to clear the pending applications by August 15.
Department of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Principal Secretary Sushil Kumar Lohani has written a letter to all Collectors in this regard today.
“In order to cover the pending applicants for various types of pensions as reported by districts, the Government has been pleased to make an additional allocation of 4.13 lakh (4,13,813) targets under MBPY,” Shri Lohani said.
The Collectors have been asked to immediately sanction the pension applications to fill up the target after following the due process. All the scrutinized applications as well as remaining unverified/new applications should be processed expeditiously for sanction, he said.
The pending applications under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) will be sanctioned first against the available vacancy in the scheme. After exhausting all the vacancies in NSAP, the remaining applications will be considered under MBPY for sanction of pension.
After covering all the eligible pending applications, any left out genuine person identified during BBSA camps or surveys should be included in the pension scheme as per criteria. Eligible persons from Particular Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) should be saturated on priority basis, Shri Lohani told Collectors.
The Principal Secretary further asked to undertake awareness activities like mike announcement, display of banners at Block/GP Headquarters and disbursement places so that any left-out person can approach for pension.
“All the newly sanctioned beneficiaries shall get their first pension amount on August 15, 2023 positively. Elaborate arrangements may be made at Block/ULB level for smooth disbursement of pension on the Janaseva Diwas on a camp approach in presence of elected representatives,” he added.
The Collectors were asked to complete necessary formalities for sanction of pension for these beneficiaries prior to that.
With this, the target of Madhu Babu Pension Yojana has been enhanced to 32.75 lakh. Earlier 28.61 lakh beneficiaries were getting benefits under the scheme.
The State Government provides social security pension of Rs. 500, Rs. 700 and Rs. 900 per month to 28.61 lakh beneficiaries under MBPY.