Around 2.50 lakh government pensioners in Punjab have been left high and dry as their pension for April has not been disbursed so far.
There are around 4.50 lakh pensioners in the state and around Rs 1,872 crore is disbursed to them every month. The annual pension bill is pegged at Rs 22,465.29 crore.
Amarjit Singh Bhatia, a state government pensioner residing in Kharar, said he visited the bank on Monday and was told that his pension had not been credited to his account. “For most pensioners, this is their only source of income and any delay in disbursement hits us adversely,” he said.
Official sources in the state Finance Department said the reason for the pension not being disbursed was because the banks were making a switch to the Pension Sewa Portal and were having teething trouble in trying to make the switch. While some banks that have made the switch, have disbursed pensions for April, others, are yet to do so.
A prominent public sector bank, which has more than half the pension accounts (around 2.5 lakh), is yet to disburse pension. “The state has enough finances. Banks were asked to digitise records, but have been able to do so only in 45 per cent cases. The pension will be disbursed to all beneficiaries within one to two days,” said a senior officer in the Finance Department.