Social security pensions distributed
The Hindu
Over 54 lakh pensioners receive amount at their doorstep
The State government distributed social security pensions across the State on Wednesday. Volunteers handed over pensions worth ₹1,280.83 crore to the beneficiaries. The volunteers covered 90.7% of the beneficiaries by 6 p.m. The distribution of social security pensions began at dawn. The volunteers knocked the doors of beneficiaries to hand over the pensions. Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy said the government had allocated ₹1,411.42 crore for 60.50 lakh pensioners this month.
As many as 60,50,650 beneficiaries would receive their pensions. The amount was deposited into the accounts of Secretaries of village/ward secretariats. The pensions were distributed to 54,88,109 beneficiaries by evening. , and ₹1,280.83 crore worth pensions were handed over to them.
The government was also implementing an Artificial Intelligence-based Real Time Beneficiary Identification System (RBIS) for the authentication of pensioners. If both systems — biometric and RBIS — fail to recognise the beneficiary, the authorised biometric of the family members of the pensioner would be considered.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.