Odisha hikes social security pension by Rs 200 per month

BHUBANESWAR:  Ahead of the upcoming general elections later this year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday hiked the social security pension under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) by `200 per month.The Chief Minister made this announcement during ‘Am Gaon, Ama Bikash Yojana’ while interacting with people through video conference. He said 48 lakh elderly, disabled, widows and destitute women will be benefited by the hike. The hike in social security pension will cost the exchequer about `2,400 crore per year.

As per the enhanced pension, beneficiaries including the elderly, aged over 60, will get a revised old age pension of `500 per month against `300 and for those who are more than 80 years old, the pension will be `700 per month instead of `500.

Stating that the enhanced pension will come into effect from February 15, Naveen said his Government had recently included five lakh more beneficiaries under MBPY. The State Government had launched Madhu Babu Pension Yojana on January 1, 2008, by merging two pension schemes - Old Age Pension and Odisha Disability Pension.

Meanwhile, the ‘Ama Gaon, Ama Bikash Yojana’ has reached 306 blocks out of the total 314 blocks in the State. Naveen has so far sanctioned 61,170 projects worth `1514.87 crore in 6623 gram panchayats by directly interacting with people through video conference.Official sources said rest eight blocks will be covered under the programme soon. The Chief Minister on Saturday covered 10 blocks of 10 districts and sanctioned projects worth `40.86 crore.