The State government will distribute social security pensions on Tuesday.
“The government has released ₹1,496.07 crore for the purpose and the amount has been credited into the accounts of the respective village secretaries through the Andhra Pradesh Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (APSERP),” Panchayat Raj Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy said on Monday.
Geo-tagging method
More than 61.68 lakh beneficiaries will get their pension at their doorsteps. As many as 90,167 new pensioners will be benefited from September 1 onwards, he said.
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the government will distribute pensions using geo-tagging method. Digital mapping and iris and face recognition systems will be used while distributing the pensions.
New beneficiaries
The Minister said of the new beneficiaries, 89,324 will get general pensions, while 843 will receive health pensions. “The government will spend ₹21.36 crore on the pensions of the new beneficiaries. “Around 2.68 lakh volunteers will hand over the pension amounts to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps on Tuesday morning,” said Mr. Ramachandra Reddy.
The Minister further said 4,133 pensioners have opted for portability in September. “The pension of 730 beneficiaries who are held up at different places due to the lockdown will be given to them after they return. The benefits of 1,87,422 people who have not received their pensions for the last six months due to various reasons will also be paid in total this month,” he said. Further, 2,244 pensioners have requested for inter-district transfer of their accounts and 7,592 pensioners have sought intra-district transfers.