Bhubaneswar: Five months after adding 4 lakh more people under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced a hike of Rs 500 in the monthly pension under the scheme.
The 36.75 lakh beneficiaries would start getting the revised amount from February. They will receive the minimum enhanced amount of Rs 1,000 this month between February 20 and 25, a CMO release said.
The state government in 2008 had merged two old schemes – Revised Old Age Pension Rules, 1989 and Et Disability Pension Rules, 1985 – and introduced the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana Rules, 2008. Under the scheme, beneficiaries up to 79 years of age were eligible for a monthly pension of Rs 500, while those beyond 80 years received for Rs 700 per month. Similarly, beneficiaries with 60% and above disability, and above 80 years of age, were eligible for a monthly pension of Rs 900.
The beneficiaries include the elderly, widows, persons with disabilities, unmarried women, AIDS patients, transgender persons and orphan children of COVID-affected families. They will now get Rs 10,000, Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,400 respectively.
The decision will have an annual financial burden of Rs 3,683 crore on the coffer, the release added.
The announcement assumes significance with the state going to polls in a few months. Naveen had made a similar announcement ahead of the 2019 elections when the monthly pension amount under the scheme was raised by Rs 200.
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