8,500 get cheques under double pension scheme in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 31

About 1 lakh 80 thousand pensioners in the district would get the benefit of double pension from today (Tuesday) as the government has started the implementation process. The government agencies had started dispensing double pension to beneficiaries across the state since July 2021. On Tuesday, the District Social Services Office distributed pension cheques to 8,500 beneficiaries in the district.

The Punjab Government has increased the pension of beneficiaries of various pension schemes, including old age pension, widow pension, dependent children and disabled persons, from Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,500 per month. The government has also increased the amount under Ashirwad scheme to be given as marriage and Shagun scheme from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000.

District Social Security Officer Asisinder Singh said the remaining beneficiaries would be sent the increased pension in their bank accounts on September 1. He said on the first day of every month, the pension amount was credited directly to the accounts of the beneficiaries in the district. “In this way, elderly people are spared the ordeal of going to the office concerned for pension. Pension cheques were also distributed to 50 beneficiaries at a function held at the District Administrative Complex,” he said.