And then the central government gave the best award to Uttar Pradesh on 3rd December. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/Protest-over-9-month-delay-in-disabled-pension/articleshow/50224492.cms
Meerut: Differently-abled residents of Meerut gathered in protest outside the district magistrate's office on Thursday, after their pension was delayed. They met district magistrate Pankaj Yadav. About 13,000 people entitled to the pension said they had not received them in the last nine months. In a letter to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Viklang Ekta Privar Samiti of the state said that despite the government order seeking that the pension be released on time, the directorate of disabled welfare had failed to release the money. In December, the fourth and the last quarterly instalment of the pension had to be transferred to their accounts. However, they are still to receive even the second and third instalments. The protesters said the chief minister must just tell them if the state had no money for them. Or are their dues stuck at the level of the directorate? They sought action against the bureaucrats who through their tardiness had been making life harder for them. The protesters also sought a hike in the pension, from the current Rs 600 per month to Rs 2,000. They said the government had raised pension offered to those suffering from leprosy to Rs2,500 per month. State vice-president of the group, Nitin Maheshvari, told TOI, "We learnt that funds meant for our pension had earlier been transferred to the directorate, but it was not credited in our accounts. Over 13,000 disabled people receive the pension and have been facing hardship because of this delay. Some have no other source of income, and no money has been paid in pension in nine months. Till last year, we got pension of Rs 300 per month in two equal half-yearly instalments. We never got the first instalment of our pension in 2014. In the 2015, we have received no pension payments - since March, all we have received are assurances." The protesters asked the district magistrate to tell the welfare officer of the district to forward their grievances to the principal secretary, department of disabled welfare. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
