Bhubaneswar: Nityananda Gond, the social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities minister, on Monday assured that issues related to delay in pension disbursal under the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) would be resolved very soon.The minister said technical issues arising out of changes in the pension distribution software led to the delay. “Some changes have been made in the software used for pension distribution. Work is underway. The issue will be resolved within a few days. Beneficiaries will get all their delayed pension instalments together during the next round of disbursal,” Gond added.The Madhu Babu Pension Yojana is one of Odisha’s major social security programmes that provides monthly financial assistance to elderly persons, widows, unmarried persons, transgender people, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. The delay in payments sparked resentment among beneficiaries across several districts in recent weeks.The delay in disbursal of pension had led BJD and Congress to target the BJP govt over alleged negligence towards vulnerable sections such as elderly persons, unmarried persons, transgender people, widows and persons with disabilities.BJD recently alleged that beneficiaries in several districts have not received pension for the past few months, causing severe hardship to poor and dependent families. The party accused the govt of failing to ensure smooth implementation of one of the state’s key social welfare schemes.Senior BJD functionaries said many beneficiaries rely solely on the monthly pension amount to buy medicines, food and other essentials.Congress too intensified its attack on the govt, calling the delay an example of “administrative failure and insensitivity”. Congress party functionaries demanded immediate release of the pending pension amounts and urged the govt to streamline the disbursal system at the earliest.
