UDF Neglected Welfare Pensions Whenever in Power; LDF Distributed Them Promptly, Says CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that whenever the UDF came to power in Kerala, it adopted a reprehensible approach toward welfare pensions. He stated in the Assembly that it was the LDF government that increased social security pensions and ensured their timely distribution.

The UDF, he said, consistently turned its back on pension issues. When the Nayanar government decided to provide a pension of 45 rupees, it was the Congress that came out and ridiculed the move. Later, when the UDF came to power, it did not increase pensions. In 2006, when the LDF assumed office, pension arrears had piled up to 28 months. The V S Achuthanandan government first decided to clear these arrears.

When the UDF returned to power in 2011, the pension was raised from 500 rupees to 600 rupees, but the increase remained only on paper. In 2016, when the LDF came back to power, arrears had again accumulated to 18 months, which the LDF cleared in full. Subsequently, the pension amount was increased in stages from 600 rupees to 1,600 rupees by 2021.