KURNOOL (ANDHRA PRADESH) APRIL 29   :   Telugu Desam Party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday demanded that the Social Security Pensions should be disbursed to the beneficiaries through the secretariat staff at their doorsteps.

Speaking to the media at Gudur village, Naidu said that about 1.26 lakh secretariat staff members, 15,000 panchayat secretaries, 5,000 each of Velugu and agricultural department employees, and 3,000 horticulture staff members are available at the village level to disburse social security pensions to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps.

He demanded the Chief Secretary to utilise their services properly to distribute the pensions, which can be completed in a single day. The TDP Chief said that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy should initiate measures to distribute pensions at the doorstep and alleged that he is not taking steps for his own political benefits.

The former Chief Minister said the poll panel has directed the state government not to utilise the services of volunteers for pension distribution, adding that Jagan, however, is politicising the whole issue as there are not enough funds.

Much aware of the non-availability of funds, the Chief Minister deliberately forced the old-age pensioners to make rounds to the village secretariats under the hot sun, he remarked. With such conspiracies, the CM claimed the innocent lives of 33 pensioners, Naidu lamented, adding that surprisingly, the officials themselves revealed these facts.

“We have already brought to the notice of the Election Commission, the State Governor, and the Chief Secretary that the entire state machinery should function under the directions of the Election Commission once the Model Code of Conduct comes into force. We, thus, made an appeal to them to initiate measures to see to it that the pensions are distributed at the doorstep of the beneficiaries by ensuring that such tragedies do not recur,” Chandrababu Naidu said.

Surprisingly, the state government is not honouring even the poll panel directions and not distributing the pensions at the doorstep with some lame excuses, like the employees do not know the addresses of the pensioners, the TDP Chief said.

Holding the Chief Secretary K S Jawahar Reddy and officials Dhanujay Reddy, Muralidhar Reddy, and Sasibhushan responsible for the delay in distributing pensions, the former CM made it quite clear that the official machinery too should not take into consideration the directions of the Chief Minister once the Model Code of Conduct is in force.

He felt that if the pension is credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, there is every possibility that the respective banks may deduct the amount if there are any pending payments.(UNI)