T’puram: The state govt will examine complaints regarding the implementation of the women’s security pension scheme before deciding on its continuation, chief minister V D Satheesan told the assembly on Monday.Replying to an adjournment motion notice moved by CPM MLA A C Moideen, the CM alleged that the previous LDF govt had announced the scheme in the last month of its 10-year tenure solely with an eye on the assembly elections.“The LDF govt was in power for 120 months. Yet, it announced the women’s security pension scheme only in the last month of its tenure to mislead women ahead of the elections. You were not pro-women; we are the ones who are pro-women,” Satheesan said.Satheesan said the first instalment of financial assistance was distributed on Feb 11, barely a month before the assembly election was notified on March 16. The Feb and March instalments were also released on March 16, the very day the Model Code of Conduct came into force, he added.The CM also alleged that the scheme had been launched without any preparation and that no field-level verification was conducted before identifying beneficiaries. While 31.34 lakh beneficiaries were initially identified, the number was subsequently reduced to 16.4 lakh, indicating serious flaws in the selection process, he said.Satheesan said the govt had earmarked Rs 1,950 crore for the scheme in the 2026-27 budget and clarified that no decision had been taken to discontinue it. However, he said the govt could not commit to continuing the scheme without first examining the allegations regarding its implementation and the manner in which beneficiaries were selected.He alleged that applications were processed within a very short period by panchayat and corporation secretaries and that even basic verification, including whether applicants were already receiving other pension benefits, had not been carried out.Claiming that there had been no uniform criteria for selecting beneficiaries, the CM alleged that CPM local and area committees had recommended beneficiaries of their choice.“There was no criterion for selecting beneficiaries. Your local committees and area committees decided who should receive the pension. We will not continue the scheme without examining all these complaints and identifying the genuine beneficiaries,” he said.The CM also linked the scheme to the LDF’s electoral setback in the local body elections, alleging that it was introduced in haste after the govt suffered a severe reversal. He compared it with the previous govt’s decision to constitute the pay commission and increase the social security pension shortly before the elections, saying several decisions had been taken at the end of its tenure for electoral considerations.
