Nirmal: Forest Minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy said the credit of striving hard for the welfare and growth of differently abled persons goes to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.
Speaking at a meeting organised to thank the Chief Minister for enhancing Aasara pensions for differently-abled persons, Reddy recalled that the successive governments were extending a pension of Rs 200 to the elderly persons, while differently-abled persons were getting Rs 500. However, the BRS government in its first term increased the amount from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 for the elderly and from Rs 500 to 1,500 for the differently-abled. This was raised to Rs 2,016 for the elderly and Rs 3,106 for the differently-abled when the party was voted to power for the second time. Similarly, the government reduced the age limit of beneficiaries to get the pension from 60 to 57 years. The Chief Minister had enhanced the financial assistance for the differently-abled persons considering inflation. The decision would come into force from next month, he added.
Reddy said Telangana was giving the highest pension to the differently-abled in the country. He asked whether states ruled by either BJP or the Congress were extending similar initiatives.