Himachal Pradesh Government will consider hiking income criteria of Rs 35,000 per year for women and differently abled persons to avail social security pension, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said in the State Assembly on Friday.
Terming Congress legislator Sukhvinder Sukhu's suggestion in this regard as a good one, the Chief Minister told the Assembly during the Budget session that the Government would definitely consider hiking income criteria for women and differently abled people for social security pension.
Earlier replying to Renukaji MLA Vinay Kumar and Kangra MLA Pawan Kajal's questions, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Rajiv Saizal said, "There is no proposal to increase existing income criteria of Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000 per annum for social security pension of Rs 1,000 per month.
At the same time, the minister said that there are more than 5.34 lakh pensioners in the state and there is no income criteria for persons who have reached the age of 70, persons with 70 per cent or more disabilities, persons with more than 40 per cent intellectual disability and lepers.
DELAY IN RECONVENING HP ASSEMBLY POST LUNCH
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly reconvened nearly half-an-hour later than the scheduled time after lunch break on Friday. The House was to reassemble at 2 pm for the ongoing budget session after the scheduled one-hour lunch which started at around 12.58 pm.
Some of the members from the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress arrived in the House but neither Speaker Vipin Parmar nor any of his representatives had returned by then. The opposition Congress members left the House after waiting for some time.
Meanwhile, Jawalamukhi MLA Ramesh Chand Dhawala came in the House at 2.21 pm and sat on the Speaker's chair to conduct the proceedings but there was a lack of quorum as at least one-third of the total members were not present.
Congress legislator Harshwardhan Chauhan, who was present in the House at that time, protested against the delay in restarting the proceedings and left.
Dhawala then informed the House that the speaker had just left for lunch as he was busy filling nomination papers of BJP leader Indu Goswami for Rajya Sabha.
Dhawala said, "I was directed to conduct the proceedings of the House but the required quorum is not present." He then pressed the bell for calling the MLAs in the House and several members of BJP and Congress, including leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri and senior member Asha Kumari, arrived.