Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the state government would bring additional 15 lakh persons under the ambit of old-age or widow pension schemes, the decision apparently part of her government’s bid to reach out to more people with direct benefits ahead of Assembly polls.

“The state cabinet on Thursday decided to bring another 15 lakh people who had applied for old age and widow pension. All those who need the assistance will start getting it soon,” said the chief minister at Nabanna on Thursday.

Mamata said state departments earlier could not bring all applicants under pension schemes because of certain restrictions such as family income.

“But mothers and other aged people in our families need support. This is the reason why the state government has decided to include all applicants in the list of beneficiaries...,” she added.

Sources in Nabanna said that as of now nearly 20 lakh indigent persons get old-age pension or widow pension from departments including panchayat, women and child welfare, agriculture and backward classes welfare.

“All beneficiaries get a monthly Rs 1,000 under the (pension) scheme based on certain criteria including monthly income cap. This is why all applicants could not get the benefit earlier,” a senior official said.

Sources said as the state government had decided to overlook the basic eligibility criterion of family income, the state might have to shoulder the entire burden of additional pensioners. “Usually, the state and Centre share the burden of pension to certain beneficiaries on a 50:50 basis. But as the state has decided to include applicants irrespective of monthly income, it appears that it has to shoulder the burden solely for those who don’t qualify the (existing) criteria. The number of such applicants is yet to be ascertained,” said an official.

Land rights

Mamata also asserted that the state would continue to issue freehold land rights “free of cost” to refugees in refugee colonies on central government land even though some central agencies, mainly the railways, have served eviction notices on residents of some such colonies. “We won’t accept any kind of eviction,” she said.