…So far denied by Cong, AAP
The Delhi BJP on Saturday accused the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party of denying old-age and widow pension to the people and promised to increase the amount of pension if the BJP was voted to power. The BJP’s campaign committee chief in Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the old age pension would be a key feature of BJP’s manifesto which is likely to be released by next week. The party will have separate manifestos for the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi while a comprehensive manifesto would be released at the Centre.
Malhotra alleged that the Congress misrule and its apathy for the poor in Delhi had denied them the benefit of Government schemes like old-age pension, pension for widows and handicapped, Annashree Yojana, ladli Yojana and Food For All scheme, among others. “Since August 2012, the application forms for pension scheme have not been issued. To add to their woes, the Kejriwal Government even stopped paying them pension during its 49-day rule,” he said. He promised that the amount of pension would be increased to Rs2,000 per month from existing Rs1,500 per month if the BJP was voted to power. Similarly, Malhotra said, the monetary benefit of Rs600 under Annashree Yojana would be increased to Rs1,000 per family. He charged the erstwhile Congress Government in Delhi of minting money from the poor by charging them money for the application forms under the Annashree Yojana.
“Fifteen lakh people filled forms under this scheme but in fact only 1 lakh people could get the benefit and the rest 14 lakh applicants were not taken care of by the Congress Government and the subsequent AAP Government,” he alleged.