Diamond Harbour: 203 camps set up for old age pension

Kolkata: Senior citizens from Diamond Harbour, who are the beneficiaries of the old age pension scheme and are unable to visit camps will soon get the facilities at their doorsteps as its MP Abhishek Banerjee has instructed the volunteers to reach out to the houses of these people.

Banerjee also announced that if any senior citizens fail to avail of the benefits by December 31, he will pay the amount to the beneficiaries in a phased manner after January 1, 2024.

Around 203 camps have been set up across Diamond Harbour constituency. These Kiosks-cum-camps will facilitate the process to ensure that the eligible people can apply for the old age pension scheme. Around 70,000 eligible senior citizens have applied for old age pension but they have not yet received it.

“Diamond Harbour model shines as Abhishek Banerjee once again leads from the front. As per the data available with us, in Diamond Harbour only, there are around 70,000 eligible people who had applied for Old-age pension but yet to receive,” reads a press statement.

“Volunteers will not be limited to kiosks as they will be advertising the initiative throughout the constituency as part of awareness through miking and other ways. Banerjee has also instructed the volunteers to reach out to the houses of the senior citizens who can’t make it to the camps,” added the statement.

“If they don’t receive it due to any reason by December 31 — Abhishek Banerjee will start providing the financial assistance in phases from Jan 1, 2024,” reads the statement.