Pension of 5.14 lakh elderly, destitute cut on pretext of family card, alleges Bhupinder Hooda

Chandigarh: Matrimonial Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that despite repeated demands, the government has not yet restored the pension of the elderly. He said that on the pretext of family identity card and income, the government cut the pension of 5.14 lakh 14 elderly and destitute people. These include 4,76,000 elderly people and 38,000 destitute children.

"The government has inflicted a major unleashed on the destitute sections who are already suffering from inflation, epidemic and recession. The Congress has raised this issue from the road to the assembly but will not even louse on the ears of the government," he said.

Hooda once again raised the demand of the government to restore the pension of all the beneficiaries. He said that if the present government does not do this, then the pension of all the elderly will be restored again after the formation of the Congress government. "All the elders will given pension on the basis of self-declared income as before, not on the family identity card," he said.

"When the Congress government takes office, the elderly will be given Rs 200 per day or Rs 6000 per month. The Congress government will give Rs 12000 as allowance every month to an elderly couple. Not only this, after the formation of the Congress government, other welfare schemes closed by BJP will also be started again," Hooda stated.

The former Chief Minister said the BJP government has stopped the scheme of grant money to the Dalits, backward and poor to get 100 yards of plots and to build houses on them. "This scheme will be started again when the Congress government is formed. Similarly, the stipend of Dalit, backward and poor students will also be reinstated so that no student is deprived of education due to economic reasons," he added.