Pending pensions to be cleared by Diwali

In a major sop ahead of next year’s municipal polls, BJP ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has on Monday announced that it will start distributing pension to senior citizens, widows, and physically challenged, which was not paid since the last two years. NDMC mayor Sanjeev Nayyer said that before November 15, pension of six months will be released to the beneficiaries. The move will benefit around one lakh people in 104 municipal wards of the NDMC.

In the NDMC house meeting, councillors from ruling BJP and opposition Congress unanimously demanded release of pension to the beneficiaries which is stalled for over two years and blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for the plight of the poor. They demanded release of pension before Diwali.

The Leader of Opposition in NDMC, Mukesh Goel, said that it’s the duty of the corporation to take care of people in need and it has failed to do so in the last two years by not paying pension to these people. “In February, due to our failure to pay the pension, the high court directed us to hand over the scheme to the Delhi government. But the AAP government is least bothered about the plight of poor and has not paid a single penny to any of the beneficiary. It is our duty to provide pension to these people,” added Mr Goel. The deputy chairman of the standing committee, Rajesh Bhatia, condemned AAP MLA Ajesh Yadav and councillor Rakesh Kumar for not taking part in the discussions on the matter.