The Delhi finance minister said her government ensured the resumption of the pensions withheld by the Central government for five months.
(Representational Image: iStock)
Announcing the release of the pensions for one lakh elderly residents of the city, Delhi Finance Minister Atishi said here on Friday that her government ensured the resumption of the pensions withheld by the Central government for five months.
Crediting the resumption of the pensions to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the minister said true to his role as Delhi’s son he fought tirelessly for the rights of the elderly to ensure that they get what is due to them.
She said of the four lakh elderly pensioners, the payment of one lakh is shared between the Delhi government and the Central government. These one lakh senior citizens have not received their pensions for the last five months.
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She said since these old-age pensioners come from economically weaker sections of society and have no means to survive, the withdrawal of the pension had caused disquiet among them.
Atishi further said, “These elderly people used to often visit me and our MLAs. They were very upset over the withdrawal of their pensions. They felt their son Arvind Kejriwal would have taken care of them but he is in jail, there is no one to fight for them.”
She said she wanted to inform these people that despite being behind bars, Kejriwal is worried about the elderly people of Delhi, who he considers like his parents.
“Kejriwal fought with the Central government and got pensions for these one lakh elderly people while being in jail,” Atishi claimed.
According to the minister, beginning Thursday, the Social Welfare Department of Delhi has started crediting this pension to the accounts of the elderly, and till yesterday, about 90,000 pensions have been transferred and the remaining 10,000 pensions will be credited into the bank accounts of the elderly of Delhi by Friday, she added.
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