Provisions for the hikes have been made in supplementary budget, Yogi Adityanath said (File)
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today announced a hike in allowances for destitute women, aged, and differently-abled people ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Yogi Adityanath said that his government will now give Rs 1,000 as pension every month to destitute women, aged and differently-abled people - a hike from the earlier Rs 500.
Besides this, labourers will get a maintenance allowance of Rs 500 per month for the next four months and those affected by leprosy people will get Rs 3,000 per month, the Chief Minister said in the state Assembly after the tabling of the supplementary budget.
Provisions for these have been made in the supplementary budget, he said.
Yogi Adityanath said that destitute women used to get an honorarium (widow pension) of Rs 300, which was earlier increased to Rs 500 by the government. This will be further raised to Rs 1,000, he said. Earlier, the number of destitute women receiving pensions in the state was 17.31 lakh. The number has increased to 30.34 lakh.
Announcing a hike in old-age pension from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, the Chief Minister said that many families were earlier not covered under this scheme. Before 2017, about 37 lakh people were benefitting from this scheme and now the number has increased to 55.77 lakh.
The chief minister told the House eight lakh differently-abled people were being given a pension in the state and it is being increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, adding that labourers will be given a maintenance allowance of Rs 500 a month for the next four months.
He also announced that the honorarium of Anganwadi and ASHA workers will also be hiked, saying that their work was not evaluated earlier. The chief minister lauded them saying that they did a commendable job during the Covid pandemic.
Yogi Adityanath said that along with increased allowances for those affected by leprosy, their families will be provided housing through the Prime Minister's or Chief Minister's Awas Yojana.
The government also decided that after spending the amount under the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the treatment of incurable diseases for women, an additional amount of Rs 5 lakh will be given to women.
Without taking names, he also took a jibe at Akhilesh Yadav saying, “Our government gives respect to the elderly and if the father becomes old, he is not removed from the post.”
The chief minister was apparently referring to the bitter feud in the Yadav family which climaxed with Akhilesh Yadav snatching the mantle of the party president from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2017.