CM Arvind Kejriwal to write letters to Delhi's elderly voters in election year

NEW DELHI: If you are a senior citizen living in Delhi, chances are that you will soon receive a signed letter from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. In a move dubbed the first of its kind, the chief minister would write to an estimated five lakh senior citizens in the national capital, who come within the ambit of various social security schemes launched by the Delhi government.

Sources said the CM, in his letter, would elaborate on the initiatives and social security schemes introduced by his government over the last four years to ensure welfare and wellbeing of the elderly.
The move, in an election year, is being seen as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s attempt to woo elderly voters. “We will be sending out copies of a signed letter from the chief minister to elderly residents. We are in the process of floating a tender for the job,” Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam told this newspaper, confirming the move.

According to sources in the Social Welfare department, a private company is going to be roped in for distributing the CM’s letter to the elderly. Last year, the Kejriwal government rolled out the ‘Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna’ to enable senior citizens to go on pilgrimages. As part of the scheme, 77,000 senior citizens are to be sent on a pilgrimage for free every year. The pilgrimage would begin every November and the senior citizens would be provided with free accommodation.

The Delhi government would bear all the expenses, including food, lodging and transportation. The scheme is in addition to the pension scheme, which is currently in vogue. Following an order from Delhi High Court, the government, last September, organised camps for senior elderly residents in 11 districts, asking them to register for pension benefits.

Currently, the Kejriwal government provides monthly pension of Rs 2,000 to residents aged between 60 and 69 years and Rs 2,500 to those above 70 years of age. Though this responsibility is vested on the respective municipal corporations in the national capital, the MCD conceded before the Delhi High Court that it was battling a funds crunch and the government can take care of this task.

A helpline number of senior citizens is in the works and there is also a proposal to put together a State Senior Citizens Commission to address the needs and grievances of the elderly. The social welfare minister said that the government has also decided to increase the grant to different organisations, running recreation centres for the elderly. The grant will be increased from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000. In July 2018, the chief minister had approved delinking of Aadhaar for remittance of old pension rates. The move helped several senior citizens access pension benefits that had been pending.