Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Minister Nityananda Gond Wednesday said technical glitches in the SPARSH portal had affected the disbursement of pension under the centrally sponsored National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).
The minister said the beneficiaries would get the amount within the next seven days.
We are working overtime to rectify the technical glitch and are hopeful to correct it within seven days. The beneficiaries are requested to wait for a few more days, the minister said, adding that once the glitches are resolved, pension payments will be processed in real time through the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS).
Official sources said that around 50 lakh people in Odisha get social security pensions from both the state and the central government. While the state pension is availed under the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY), the central pension is given under NSAP to the people under different categories like old age, widow, disability and national family benefit scheme.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJD has strongly criticised the BJP government over the delay in pension disbursement among the vulnerable section of society.
We have never heard of old age people not getting pension for months. During Naveen Patnaik’s tenure, the social security pensions were disbursed on a fixed date (15th) of every month. However, now the BJP government has pushed the vulnerable people to misery, alleged Opposition chief whip Pramila Malik of BJD.
The beneficiaries of old-age, widow and disability pension under NSAP receive Rs 1,000 monthly, while those above 80 years of age and persons with over 80 per cent disability get Rs 3,500 a month as pension under the scheme.
Eighty-seven-year-old Sasibhusan Moharana of Kotharsing in Ganjam district, who receives pension under the Centre’s NSAP, said he has been unable to get his monthly pension since April and has been running to panchayats and banks almost every day.
We do not have any other source of income for existence at this age. We have no such landed property. Pension is the only source of our living, but we have been unable to get it for the last two months, said Moharana.