UP: Pensions Hiked For Destitute Women & Poor, CM Takes Dig At Akhilesh For Sidelining Mulayam

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday announced increased allowances for destitute women, aged and differently-abled people ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, and also took a dig at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for sidelining party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Adityanath said his government will now provide Rs 1,000 as pension every month to destitute women, aged and differently-abled people, instead of Rs 500 which was given earlier. Besides this, labourers will now get a maintenance allowance of Rs 500 monthly for the next four months and pension for leprosy-affected people will be Rs 3,000 per month, he said in the state legislative assembly after the tabling of the supplementary budget.

Provisions for these have been made in the supplementary budget, Adityanath said. Without taking names, he took a jibe at Akhilesh Yadav saying, "Our government gives respect to the elderly and if the father becomes old, he is not removed from the post." The chief minister was apparently referring to the bitter feud in the Yadav family which climaxed with Akhilesh Yadav snatching the mantle of the party president from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2017.

Adityanath said that destitute women (widow pension) used to get an honorarium of Rs 300, which was earlier increased to Rs 500 by the government. This will further be raised to Rs 1,000, he said. Earlier, the number of destitute women getting pension in the state was 17.31 lakh and now the number has increased to 30.34 lakh. 

Announcing an increase in old-age pension from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, he said that many families were earlier not covered under this scheme. Before 2017, about 37 lakh people were benefiting from this scheme and now the number has increased to 55.77 lakh. 

The chief minister told the House eight lakh differently-abled people were being given pension in the state and it was being increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 and added that labourers would be given a maintenance allowance of Rs 500 monthly for the next four months.

He also announced that the honorarium of Anganwadi and Asha workers will also be hiked, saying that their work was not evaluated earlier. The chief minister lauded them saiying that they did a commendable job at the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

 Adityanath said that pensions for leprosy-affected people will also be increased and they will be given Rs 3,000 as allowance, with their families being provided housing through the prime minister's or chief minister's Awas Yojana.

The government also decided that after spending the amount under the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the treatment of incurable diseases for women, an additional amount of Rs five lakh will be given to women. Adityanath also announced the opening of new sugar mills in the state. 

-With PTI Inputs