Telangana CM KCR’s promise of Aasara age relaxation yet to become reality

Hyderabad: People who are rushing to mandal revenue officers to apply for the Aasara pension scheme after the announcement of reducing the age limit from 65 years to 57 years are facing disappointment as the officials are refusing to accept their applications stating that specific orders have not yet been received.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao announced last Sunday in Sircilla that the government would provide old-age pension to people aged above 57 years from August 2021, an assurance he had given during the 2018 elections.

Sai Prakash, a resident of Kurmaguda, is 62 years old and runs a small business. As his income is not sufficient, he wants to get an old-age pension. He said when he tried to submit an application form at Saidabad mandal office seeking pension under Aasara pension after the announcement of relaxation in age, officials advised him to approach them after two or three weeks as they had not yet received orders from the government. Officials at the Bandlaguda MRO office also refused to accept applications from those below 65 years.

Hafeeza Begum of Hafiz Baba Nagar said initially she tried to obtain a widow pension but failed as she did not have the death certificate of her husband. Now she went with a hope that at least she would get monetary aid under the Aasara scheme when she learnt that the government had relaxed the age.

Abdul Aleem of MBT asked the government to issue appropriate orders immediately as several people were visiting tahsil offices daily. Poor people were approaching with hope, but they were disappointed when they were asked to come after a few days, he added.