Agartala: In what could be seen as pre-puja bonanza, the government of Tripura has hiked the social pension of lakhs of beneficiaries by Rs 1,000, chief minister Dr Manik Saha said on Saturday. The beneficiaries who received a monthly pension of Rs 1000 will now receive Rs 2,000.
The new pay matrix will be implemented from the month of September. The announcement came shortly after Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha launched his government’s first mega outreach campaign — good governance at every home — to mark the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
Under the campaign, MLAs, officials and elected representatives of panchayats and urban local bodies will engage in extensive public outreach to ensure that benefits of state and centrally-sponsored schemes reach even the last man standing in the queue.
“We don’t need strong words, our work should reflect what we want to achieve. The onus is upon the officials as well as elected members of the state at all levels. Our goal is that each and every person of the state must know what the state government has been doing for the last four and half years. We thought this initiative should be launched on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this is why today we are all here,” said Dr Saha.
He said the campaign will last until November 30, when a series of steps would be undertaken to popularize the state government’s initiatives. Administrative camps and loan fairs will be organized in remote villages to push the governance closer to the public. “As the campaign concludes, we shall prepare a report card of our achievements which shall eventually be released before the public. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of last mile delivery is the main spirit of the campaign,” he added.
Dr Saha also said that in keeping with the commitment of the state government, the social pension has been increased to Rs 2,000.
“Beneficiaries were entitled to get Rs 700 as pension under the 32 social pension schemes running under the state government. After BJP came to power, it was raised to Rs 1,000 and now it has been doubled despite paucity of funds,” the CM said.
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma and Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion. Several SHGs, panchayats and beneficiaries of different government programs were felicitated during the event where all MLAs, ministers and officials were present either physically or virtually from the district headquarters.
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