Hindustan Times: Delhi: Wednesday,
22 July 2020.
The
Delhi high court on Tuesday sought the response of the Delhi government on a
plea contending that the pension disbursed to around 12,000 widows has been
discontinued during the Covid-19 lockdown period (March to June), with the
woman and child development department offering no valid reason for the move.
A bench
of chief justice DN Patel and justice Prateek Jalan issued notices to the
authorities seeking to know their stand by August 26. The plea, filed by social
worker Harpal Singh Rana, has also sought that the pension amount of ₹2,500 per
month be released urgently after due verification of pensioners.
Rana
said the reply to queries filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act,
showed that the pension of over 12,000 widows was discontinued on “on fake,
flimsy and unfounded grounds”, like “address not found”, “Aadhaar card not
linked with bank account”, and “updated pass book copies not on file”, among
others.
The plea
contended that most pension beneficiaries have been residing at the same
address that they had provided in their applications.
The
women are also being denied the one-time financial assistance of ₹3,000 that
was being given to them under the Ladli Yojna for marrying off daughters.
The plea
sought that a fresh application for pension or any other financial assistance
be disposed of within the stipulated 45 days and, if the application is
rejected, the reasons be also communicated to the applicant.
The plea
filed through advocates Akhil Rana and Utkarsh Sharma also sought that the
applicants seeking benefits under the Ladli Yojana as well as financial
assistance for getting their daughters married, may be allowed to submit their
applications online.
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