Telangana Budget: Rs 11,728 crore for Aasara pension scheme

The government in united Andhra Pradesh was given only Rs.200 pension, which was hiked to Rs.2,016 by the Telangana government after State formation, Finance Minister T Harish Rao said.

Hyderabad: Telangana government, which brought in a golden era in welfare providing benefits to all sections of society, has allocated Rs 11,728 crore in the Budget estimates for 2021-22 for Aasara, a unique bouquet of pension schemes.

“Telangana is a welfare State. Today, each and every house gets the benefit of one or the other welfare programme. Telangana is the only State in the country to implement welfare programmes in such a large scale,” Finance Minister T Harish Rao said, presenting the State budget in the Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.

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Aasara pensions

He said the Telangana government was providing security and livelihood to helpless poor through Aasara pensions. The government in united Andhra Pradesh was given only Rs.200 pension, which was hiked to Rs.2,016 by the Telangana government after State formation, he said.

While old age people, widows, beedi workers, toddy tappers, weavers, badirilu, bodakaalu (elephantiasis) victims, AIDs patients and single women are getting Rs.2016 pension, the physically challenged, poor and old artists are getting Rs.3016 Aasara pensions regularly.

Stating that 39,36,521 people in the State were availing Aasara pensions, he said: “We received Rs.105 crore from Central government at the rate of Rs.200 per month each for 6.66 lakh people for the year 2019-20. The State government is adding Rs.1816 for each person and distributing Rs.2,016 pension.”

As per the audit report of 2019-2020, the State government is spending 98.80 per cent towards pensions, the Central government is contributing only 1.20 per cent. There is no evidence that any other State is spending at these levels to provide pensions to the destitute.

 

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