Shinde-Fadnavis Govt restores Emergency pension scheme
   Date :29-Oct-2022

Shinde-Fadnavis Govt 
 
 
 
Staff Reporter
Maharashtra Government led by Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis as Deputy Chief Minister, has restored the pension scheme for persons imprisoned during Emergency period. Also, the Government has released Rs 61.22 crore to pay ‘arrears’ for the period of two years during which the implementation of the scheme was stopped.
The pension scheme was started in 2018 by the then BJP-Shiv Sena Government in Maharashtra led by Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister. It was applicable to the persons imprisoned during Emergency period from June 25, 1975 to March 31, 1977. However, with the change of guard in State, the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi Government comprising Shiv Sena (Thackeray), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party had stopped implementation of the scheme. Though the reason cited was adverse impact of COVID-19 on State exchequer, many believed that it was a political decision.
Now, the new Shinde-Fadnavis Government in State has decided to restore the pension scheme. Recently, it has released an amount of Rs 61,22,40,000/- to pay the arrears for the period of two years during which the scheme implementation was stopped. For the entire State of Maharashtra, the said amount has been released for 3,339 beneficiaries. The highest number of beneficiaries in the State are in Pune district (518) followed by Nagpur (328) and Buldhana (301).
As far as Vidarbha region is concerned, an amount of Rs 20,84,40,000/- has been released for 1,148 beneficiaries in 10 out of 11 districts. The district of Gadchiroli has not been included in the list. The highest number of beneficiaries of the restored scheme are in Nagpur district, followed by Buldhana, and the lowest number of beneficiaries are in Washim district (seven). The amount of arrears has been released for the period from August 1, 2020 to July 31, 2022.