Telangana has extended its instant pension facility, so a woman whose husband was a social security pensioner now starts getting her own pension right after his death. Until now only wives of deceased old-age pensioners got this. The facility now also covers the families of persons with disabilities, toddy tappers, handloom weavers, dialysis patients and people affected by HIV and filariasis. A woman below 57 years gets a widow pension, and one aged 57 or above gets an old-age pension. Rural applicants apply to the panchayat secretary and urban applicants to the bill collector, with the wife’s Aadhaar card, the first page of her bank passbook, and the husband’s Aadhaar card and death certificate. Officials verify the papers and upload them on the Cheyutha portal before the pension is sanctioned. The Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department issued the guidelines.
Exam concepts
Article 41: A Directive Principle that asks the State to provide public assistance in old age, sickness, disablement and other cases of undeserved want.
NSAP (1995): The National Social Assistance Programme runs the Indira Gandhi National Old Age, Widow and Disability Pension Schemes, which States top up with their own pensions.
Lists: Relief of the disabled and unemployable is in the State List (Entry 9), and social security is in the Concurrent List (Entry 23).
Key facts for quick revision
- Age rule: below 57 gets widow pension; 57 and above gets old-age pension
- Portal: Cheyutha
- Department: Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Telangana
Source: The Hindu
