As part of its commitment to extend the benefits of government's welfare schemes to each and every elderly person in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government has set a new record by giving old age pension to more than 51.21 lakh people.
The number of beneficiaries of the old age pension scheme has trebled with 14,68,847 new pensioners since the Yogi government assumed office four years ago. Besides, the monthly pension amount has also been increased from Rs 300 to Rs 500.
An official communiqué released on Saturday said that before 2017, the elderly people received a monthly pension of Rs 300 to Rs 400. It said while the earlier governments used to spend Rs 1,500 crore on old age pension, the Yogi government's expenditure on it is Rs 3,694.44 crore. The increase in the expenditure is due to addition of new pensioners as well as increase in the pension amount.
The release further said that the UP government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also provided additional support of Rs 1,000 to every elderly person during the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic to help them meet their basic needs, incurring an expense of Rs 500 crore.
The number of beneficiaries of the old age pension scheme has shot up from 36.53 lakh in the year 2016-2017 to 51.21 lakh in the year 2020-2021, registering an increase of 40.20 per cent.