THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac said pensions for the months of October November and December would be disbursed during the second half of December. Around 36 lakh pensioners will benefit. Half of them will get pensions on December 23, and the other half will get it after December 26. During Onam, the LDF government had used the network of primary cooperatives to reach pensions to the doorstep of beneficiaries. This time, a new arrangement pivoted around treasuries has been made.
Here is how the Finance Department will make it happen. The panchayat director will open a Pooled Pension Account at the Vellayambalam Treasury. The state will credit-transfer the pension amount to this account. The cooperative joint registrar will open another special account at the Treasury. The pension amount from the Pooled Pension Account will be credit-transferred to this account. Primary cooperative societies and district cooperative banks will open an account in the treasury nearest to them.
“Pension amount will be transferred to each of these accounts on the basis of the number of pensioners. Cooperative banks can withdraw the amount and distribute it to the homes of pensioners,” the finance minister said. Pensions distributed directly by the state will be disbursed first. Only those welfare boards that had submitted the details of at least 50 percent of their pensioners will be allowed to distribute pensions.
