During the BJD government, eligible poor people had to wait for someone else in the panchayat or ward to die to get their allowance, End of the era of “Death Vacancy”: Over 5 lakh new beneficiaries will get allowance

Shri Biswal said that during the previous BJD government, an eligible poor person above 60 years of age had to wait for the death of someone else in the panchayat or ward to get his allowance. Due to this so-called “death vacancy” rule, more than 5 lakh eligible beneficiaries were deprived of getting the allowance despite applying for years. The BJD, which has been in power for 25 years, needs to answer whether the “death vacancy” rule that it brought for the allowance was right? After coming to power, the BJP government, after realizing this wrong rule, has directly included all the 5 lakh 5 thousand 800 eligible beneficiaries listed through the portal and block survey in the Madhubabu Pension Scheme. This is an important decision for the poor.

In Odisha, full allowance is being provided under two schemes. One is Madhubabu Pension Scheme, the other is “National Social Assistance Programme” (NSAP). In Odisha, 56 lakh 60 thousand beneficiaries are currently receiving assistance under Madhubabu Pension Scheme and National Social Assistance Programme. Now, after the addition of 5 lakh 5 thousand 800 new beneficiaries, the total number of beneficiaries in the state has reached 61 lakh 65 thousand, which is an all-time record in the history of Odisha. Similarly, during the BJD government, the total budget of the Social Security Department and the Disabled Persons’ Security Department was Rs. 2,109 crore in the budget for 2022-23 and Rs. 3,260 crore in the budget for 2023-24. After the BJP government came to power, the budget of the Social Security and Disabled Persons’ Empowerment Department has been increased almost three times and has now reached Rs. 9,610 crore. Those who are sitting in the opposition today and crying crocodile tears need to answer why their government spent so little money on allowances.

In response to questions from journalists, Shri Biswal said that Biju Janata Dal and Congress are misleading people by spreading false propaganda on social media about the cessation of allowance for political purposes. The reality is that there are 20 lakh 12 thousand 558 beneficiaries in the National Social Assistance Programme. At various times, the Central Government updates the KYC, re-verifies the complete details of the beneficiaries of various schemes. During the KYC update process of the Central Government, some problems were encountered in the case of about 9 lakh beneficiaries out of the 20 lakh 12 thousand beneficiaries of the National Social Assistance Programme. Due to the quick steps of the government, all the details of 8 lakh beneficiaries were updated in just 1 month and the problem was resolved.

For the remaining 1 lakh 2 thousand beneficiaries, special campaigns have been conducted to go door to door and almost all the problems have been resolved. In total, about 19 lakh 90 thousand beneficiaries have been successfully provided allowance under the “National Social Assistance Programme”. A one-to-one survey is being conducted in pilot mode for the remaining 23,000 beneficiaries who have data errors like PAN card, Aadhaar card or PIN code. Apart from this, if there is any technical problem, then the state government has decided to provide the state share in the form of cash to that beneficiary. Similarly, there has been no problem in the Madhubabu Pension Yojana, in which more than 36 lakh people are receiving allowance. The BJD is misleading the common people through its party sarpanches and representatives by giving false news that “BJP government has cut allowance”. But the Bharatiya Janata Party is determined to provide the rights and entitlements of every eligible poor and marginalized person, said Shri Biswal.