Berhampur: Eighty-seven-year-old Sasibhusan Moharana of Boripadar in Ganjam district’s Kaithakhandi panchayat is very worried. He has not received his monthly old-age pension under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) for the last two months. He goes to the bank every alternate day to inquire about it.Similarly, B.Dandasi Reddy (75) of Kotharsing in Rangeilunda block is also faced with the same problem. Like Moharana and Reddy, over 1.49 lakh beneficiaries under NSAP in Ganjam district have not received their monthly pensions since April. The NSAP beneficiaries in our panchayat approach me almost every day to inquire about their pension, said Manoranjan Gouda, sarpanch, Kaithakhandi panchayat.N.Damburu Reddy, a former zilla parishad member, said due to delay in disbursement of pension, the beneficiaries are facing lot of difficulties in meeting their day-to-day expenses. “The beneficiaries, who are dependent upon the pension for their livelihood are facing a lot of hardships,” he said in a letter to collector (Ganjam) Keerthi Vassan V, requesting him to intervene in disbursement of pension regularly.Beneficiaries of old-age, widow and disability pension under NSAP receive Rs 1,000 monthly. Those above 80 years of age and persons with over 80% disability get Rs 3,500 a month as pension under the scheme. “Most of them are needy and dependent upon it,” said Reddy.Admitting to the non-disbursement of the pension to NSAP beneficiaries in April and May, district social security officer (DSSO) Krishna Chandra Behera said, “This is not the situation only in Ganjam but across the state. This has happened due to some modification by the Central govt in online payment mode,” he said.Last month, the state govt had communicated to the districts that the beneficiaries would get their pensions for two months in May. “We hope the disbursement will be made very soon,” he said. He, however, said the beneficiaries of Madhubabu Pension Yojana, a state sponsored programme, have not faced any problem in getting their monthly pension.
