Haryana govt announces pension for unmarried, widowed people

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday announced a monthly pension of Indian rupees INRs2,750 for low-income unmarried people aged between 45 and 60, and widowed men and women aged between 40 and 60.

According to the Indian media, CM Khattar said that the pension scheme aimed to support unmarried and widowed people who have an annual income below INRs1.8 million and INRs0.3 million respectively.

He said that the scheme will benefit around 71,000 people in the state, according to the data collected under the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) scheme, which identifies and registers families based on their socio-economic status.

He said that the beneficiaries will receive the pension under the social security department, and after reaching the age of 60, they will transition to receiving old age pensions. He said that the scheme will entail an annual expenditure of INRs200 million for the state government.

“The beneficiaries with less income will get some help in living a respectable life and this is what we have done,” CM Khattar said.

The announcement came after the Haryana cabinet approved the proposal for the pension scheme on June 29.

The cabinet also approved several other welfare schemes, such as Dayalu Yojana, which provides financial assistance to families with annual income up to INRs1.8 million in case of death or disability of a member, and Divyang Certificate Yojana, which facilitates the issuance of disability certificates to persons with disabilities.

The pension scheme for unmarried and widowed people is a first-of-its-kind initiative in India. The last time Haryana had a similar scheme was in 2009, when the then Congress government had introduced a monthly pension of INRs500 for unmarried women above 40 years of age. However, the scheme was discontinued in 2014 by the BJP government.