In a major sop to politicians and others, who were incarceated during Emergency, the Yogi government on Tuesday announced to hike their pension by Rs 5000 per month.
A ‘loktrantrik Senani’ will now get Rs 20,000 per month as pension against the existing pension of Rs 15,000. An announcement was made by the CM on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of Emergency which passed off on Monday. “The government is committed to safeguarding the values of democracy,” Yogi said in a written statement issued in lucknow on Tuesday.
The decision will put an additional burden of Rs 35.35 crore on the state exchequer. As per officials, there were 5900 loktrantrik Senani pensioners in the state. Presently, the pension was being given to jailed persons or their spouses along with free medical and travel facilities in government buses along with a companion. The loktrantrik Senani pension was startedduring Mulayam Singh Yadav regime in 2005 with a monthly pension of Rs 500. But it was suspended between 2007 and 2012, when Mayawati came to power. When the SP again came to power in 2012, the pension plan was re-introduced and it was increased first to Rs 10,000 per month and then to Rs 15,000 per month in 2016.