Vineet Upadhyay | TNN | Jun 4, 2016, 10.24 PM IST
NAINITAL: Pension schemes run by the social welfare department have taken a major hit as the sanctioned funds are "far less" than the requested amount, according to the officials.
The officials of the department told TOI that they will be able to cater to only three lakh people against the six lakh pensioners registered with the department under various schemes.
"Request for Rs 2 crore was responded by sanctioning just Rs 66 lakh for 60,000 specially-abled people. While Rs 19 crore were sanctioned for 1.35 lakh widow pensioners against the requested amount of Rs 30 crore," an official said.
VS Dhanik, director of social welfare directorate, told TOI, "Delay in the sanctioning of the requisite budget is the reason we will not be able to cater to all of the eligible pensioners in the state. We are trying our best to get things done as soon as possible. Final approval is up to the Central government."
The director also said that AADHAAR card registration of most of the pensioners is not completed which will also be a reason for stalling of the pensions.
As per the officials of the department, only 30% of the total pensioners have registered themselves through AADHAAR cards.
"We will send a request to the Centre to increase the time period of AADHAAR registration and will try managing with whatever funds we have right now," the director said.
The state government pays Rs 800 per month to beneficiaries in all these categories. The pension schemes for the needy were started in 2000 when Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh as a separate state.
Interestingly, last year in June, the government decided to provide financial assistance to adults with a height of less than four feet as they faced difficulties in their day-to-day lives. More than 150 people across 13 districts are being given Rs 800 per month under the scheme.