38.80L received Aasara pensions in 2020-21 in TS: Report
The total number of beneficiaries covered under Telangana’s Aasara pension scheme increased from 38.59 lakh in 2019-20 to 38.80 lakhs in 2020-21, according to the State Statistical Report.
By Sumit Jha Published on 28 Feb 2022 5:23 AM GMT
Hyderabad: The total number of beneficiaries covered under Telangana's Aasara pension scheme increased from 38.59 lakh in 2019-20 to 38.80 lakhs in 2020-21, according to the State Statistical Report.
The report was released by the Telangana State Development Planning Society.
The pension schemes in the state mainly include pensions for senior citizens, widows, disabled population, weavers, toddy tappers, and HIV and filaria patients. It also includes financial assistance for beedi workers and single women. The government provides Rs. 2,016 and Rs. 3,016 to the beneficiaries.
In 2020-21, the state government provided pension to 12,36,502 old people (Rs. 2,016 each), 14,47,107 widows (Rs. 2,016 each), 4,90,630 disabled (Rs. 3,016), 37,264 weavers (Rs. 2,016), 62,766 toddy tappers (Rs. 2,016), 33,198 HIV patients (Rs. 2,016), 16,289 filaria patients (Rs. 2,016), 4,22,246 beedi workers (Rs. 2,016), and 1,34,920 single women (Rs. 2,016).
Aasara pensions were introduced by the Telangana government in 2014 to protect the most vulnerable sections of society.
The monthly pension was increased from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1,000 for the elderly, widows, weavers, toddy tappers, and AIDS patients and from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500 for the disabled. From 2020-21, the government started providing Aasara pension of Rs 2,016 to senior citizens, widows, beedi workers, filaria victims, single women, handloom weavers, toddy tappers, and AIDS victims, and Rs. 3,016 to the disabled.
Pending pensions
It should also be mentioned that over 3.15 lakh Aasara pensions are pending in Telangana for the last three-and-a-half years. The Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) data accessed by NewsMeter revealed that 3,15,262 Aasara pensions are pending in the state.
According to the data, out of the 3,15,262 pending pensions, 1,59,452 are for widows, 64,749 for the aged, 55,619 for the disabled, 10,997 for single women, 6,351 for toddy tappers, 5,620 for beedi workers, 5,485 for Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) patients, 3,692 for filaria patients, and 3,297 for weavers.
