Hyderabad: A staggering three lakh beneficiaries, including one lakh new applicants, have been deprived of Aasara pension in the city since 2019.
Ever since Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao decreased the eligibility age from 65 to 57 years during his poll campaign, the Hyderabad district authorities have received more than one lakh new applications for the scheme and are waiting for fresh guidelines from the government. The beneficiaries include old-age people, widowers, physically challenged, weavers, HIV and filaria patients, single women, and beedi workers.
While the beneficiaries await new guidelines, the state government has yet to issue guidelines for selecting beneficiaries for the revised age groups. Pensioners from 16 mandals (both old and new) in the Hyderabad district have been waiting for their pensions since 2019, according to official data. According to officials, a severe fund crunch has hit the Asara scheme, keeping over three lakh beneficiaries, including one lakh new applicants, waiting. The old list included 53,075 elderly people, 96,801 widows, 27,782 disabled pensioners, six weavers, 9,312 HIV patients, 35 filaria patients, 9,099 single women, and 51 beedi workers.
T. Yellaiah, an old age pensioner, stated that "he has not received pension for the past three years”. “Despite multiple requests to the collector's office, officials refused to release the pension. I have a number of medical issues and pension money would at the very least help me purchase medications,” he stated.
N. Rani, a widow pensioner from Baghlingampally, stated, "I applied for the widow pension in 2018 and am still waiting for the money. I work as a maid to support my family and request the government to speed up the process to help thousands of pensioners like me support our families."
Meanwhile, the Hyderabad Collectorate officials told Deccan Chronicle that beneficiaries (both old and new) will not receive pensions until the government releases funds and issues guidelines for selecting beneficiaries.
