Rs 1,500 crore meant for pensioners diverted
Saturday, 08/11/2014
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20141108/punjab.htm#2
Bathinda : For the SAD the interests of its core constituency- farmers- always come first at the cost of the elderly pensioners in Punjab.
In a shocking revelation, Rs 1500 crore meant for disbursing pensions to the beneficiaries has been diverted to pay for free power to the farmers. This has meant that over 20 lakh pensioners — elderly, widows, handicapped and orphans — in the state have been left to fend for themselves since July.
The state has also ignored the objections raised on this account by the audit department. Sources said that the state had created a Social Security Fund (SSF) in 2004 so that the elderly were paid their pensions in time. The corpus had been created by imposing a five per cent cess on power and three per cent on stamp duty.
Money so collected was supposed to be directly debited in the Personal Ledger Account of the Social Security and Women Welfare Department but Powercom has not done so resulting in the recurring crises. Instead the money so collected had been adjusted against the power subsidy bills.
According to information under the RTI Act by the Financial Advisor (Budget Section) Rs 1694 crore had been adjusted against power subsidy for the financial year 2013-14 out of which Rs 651 crore were meant for the pensioners. Similarly, Rs 1521 crore had been adjusted for the subsidy, including Rs 585 crore for the welfare beneficiaries for the 2012-13 fiscal.
The power utilities collect 13 per cent cess on all power bills in the state out of which five percent is social security cess and is supposed to be diverted to the SSF. The auditors raised objections to this practise and said that financial help to the needy had been diverted to fulfil the subsidies given by the state.
Powercom Director (Financial) S C Arora admitted that the social security cess was being adjusted towards the power subsidy bills. Punjab Finance Minister P S Dhindsa was unavailable for comments while Principal Secretary Vini Mahajan declined to comment on this issue.
The state needs Rs 600 crore annually towards fulfilling its social welfare measures. The state pays Rs 250 per month as pension.
Social Welfare Department secretary Jaspal Singh said that Rs 50 crore had been released for pensioners.
Power subsidy
The state created a Social Security Fund in 2004 so that the elderly were paid pension in time
The corpus was created by imposing 5 per cent cess on power and 3 per cent on stamp duty
Out of the money meant for disbursing pension to the beneficiaries, Rs 1500 crore has been diverted to pay for free power to the farmers
