Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme, check Social Security Pension scheme guidelines

The Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme is a social welfare program implemented by the government of Telangana, India to provide financial assistance to vulnerable groups in the state.

The scheme aims to provide a regular pension to individuals who are elderly, widows, differently-abled, and transgender, as well as to weavers, toddy tappers, and traditional artisans.

The pension is intended to provide a regular income to help these individuals meet their basic needs and improve their standard of living. To be eligible for the Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme, individuals must meet certain eligibility criteria, such as being at least 60 years of age, being a resident of Telangana, and having an annual income below a certain threshold.

The pension amount varies depending on the category of the beneficiary and is paid directly into their bank account on a monthly basis. The Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme is one of several social welfare programs implemented by the government of Telangana to provide support to vulnerable groups and improve the standard of living for all citizens.

Benefits of Aasara Pension

The Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme provides a number of benefits to the eligible individuals who receive the pension. Some of the main benefits of the scheme include:

Regular income: The pension provides a regular income to individuals who are elderly, widows, differently-abled, transgender, weavers, toddy tappers, and traditional artisans. This can help them meet their basic needs and improve their standard of living.

Financial security: The pension provides financial security to individuals who may not have a regular source of income or may not be able to work due to old age, disability, or other circumstances.

Improved quality of life: The regular income provided by the pension can help beneficiaries afford necessities such as food, clothing, and medical care, which can improve their overall quality of life.

Reduced poverty: The Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme aims to reduce poverty among vulnerable groups by providing them with a regular income. This can help to reduce the economic inequality that exists within the state.

Empowerment: Receiving a regular income can give beneficiaries a sense of financial independence and empower them to make their own decisions about how to use their pension.

Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme or TS Aasara Pension Scheme and check the Social Security Pension Scheme comprehensive guidelines from here. Social Security Pensions, Aasara Pensions, Social Safety Net Strategy, Implementation of Aasara Social Security Pension Scheme for Persons who are Old & infirm, Widows, Differently Abled, Weavers, Toddy Tappers & with HIV-AIDS in the State Social Security Pensions.

Government of Telangana as a part of its social safety net strategy, hereby, introduces the Aasara pensions with a view to ensure secure life with dignity for all the poor.

This scheme is meant to protect the most vulnerable sections of society in particular the old and infirm; people with HIV-AIDS, widows, incapacitated weavers and toddy tappers, who have lost their means of livelihood with growing age, in order to support their day to day minimum needs required to lead a life of dignity and social security.

Aasara pensions would help the poor to lead a dignified life with safety. Only aged and physically challenged people have been provided pensions across the country. However, Telangana government was also providing pension to single women, beedi workers, weavers and toddy tappers.

The CM has also decided to give pensions to HIV, filarial and Kidney patients. To ensure the poor lead a dignified life, the Chief Minister was providing the pension amount of Rs 3,016 to PHC and Rs 2,016 to others.

First ever in the country, the state government was implementing a number of welfare schemes and developmental programmes. Besides supplying adequate water to agricultural fields, crop loans, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima were being provided to protect the interests of farmers. Kalyanalaxmi, Shadi Mubarak, KCR kit and other schemes have also been implemented.

Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme Comprehensive Guidelines

Requirements for the Sanction of a Pension. Each pensioner will have to submit the following documents for sanction of a pension:

• The applicant should be eligible as per the guidelines given above in para II
• Photograph
• Aadhaar number – (If Aadhaar number is not available they shall secure one in the next three months)
• Savings Bank account number and IFSC code either from a bank or local post office
• Age certificate
• Death certificate in case of widows. (Where death certificate is not available the Panchayat Secretary shall conduct a detailed enquiry and submit a report. However, the death certificate shall be obtained in the next three months and uploaded in the online system.
• SADAREM Certificate in case of persons with disabilities 40% or above and 51% in respect of the hearing impaired

Identification of eligible pensioners:

Verification of the applications will be done by the Gram Panchayat or the respective municipal/Deputy Commissioner of the GHMC.

The Gram Panchayat Secretary / Village Revenue Officer in the rural area and Bill Collector in Urban area will receive applications; The Gram Panchayat Secretary in rural areas and the Bill Collector in the Urban areas will be entrusted with the task of verifying these applications and certifying them;

The designated Mandal Parishad Development Officer / Municipal Commissioner/ Deputy/Zonal Commissioner Officer shall scrutinize the verified applications to assess their eligibility and sanction them a pension based on the guidelines given time to time by the Government.

While identifying beneficiaries as listed in para C above, the data as per the household survey, the census population figures & percentages for old age, widows and handicapped shall be kept in mind for each Panchayat, mandal, and municipality, besides ensuring equity among the various social categories such as SC, ST, BC and OC communities.

Wrongful identification and certification of beneficiaries if identified in the social audit or surprise verification of beneficiaries will be severely dealt with and disciplinary action initiated on all concerned besides recovery of the amount paid. These shall include wrongful certificates issued under SADAREM in respect of persons with disabilities.

Sanction of pensions and Issue of Pension Card

After verification reports have been submitted by the verification officers, the MPDOs in rural areas, Tahsildars (Hyderabad district) / Municipal Commissioners in urban areas and Dy. Commissioners in GHMC areas shall:

Broadly assess the recommendation reports and correlate the same with the SKS survey data (exclusion and inclusion criterion) and the census figures assessed and allocated for each mandal by the District Collector for old age, widows and handicapped persons for the mandal.

MPDO’s shall ensure that the poorest of the poor are identified from amongst the verified list covering all social categories such as the SC, ST, BC and OC communities and are strictly covered in that order. Adequate care should be taken that no eligible beneficiary is left out.

After satisfying the above criterion, the MPDO/ Municipal Commissioner/ Deputy Commissioner of the GHMC concerned shall enter the data in the Aasara software, specially designed for this purpose and submit the same online to the District Collector for according administrative sanction (all process will be completed online).

After final approval by the District Collector, MPDO’s shall ensure that Aasara Pension cards are distributed for the relevant category by affixing the photo of the beneficiary. Necessary arrangements shall be made to ensure that the details are printed on the card through the Aasara Software.

The GPs should necessarily maintain an A Register and a B Register, specifying the existing pensioners and those who are eligible but have not been considered for a pension.

As and when there is a vacancy and a person can be accommodated, the person who is accommodated first should be considered based on the following criteria- oldest among those listed, SC/ST, landless with a preference to women, especially deserted women in all categories.

The same should also be available online to ensure that the eligibility process has been scrupulously followed.

Aadhaar Seeding

All payments for pensions shall be disbursed only biometrically subject to the following:

i. Where Aadhaar number is available for a beneficiary, they shall be immediately seeded for enabling biometric authentication based payment through the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS);

ii. Where beneficiaries do not have an Aadhaar number they shall secure one with the help of the local administration and furnish the Aadhaar number by 31-01- 2015. From 1st February, 2015 payments can be effected only through biometric authentication;

iii. The disbursement of pensions shall be made through biometric authentication using Aadhaar number. For this purpose, either the best finger detection (BFD) or IRIS authentication may be used to effect payments;

iv. In rare cases such as those who are bedridden, or upper extremities are affected badly, the pensions shall be disbursed by Gram Panchayat secretary /Bill Collector using his own biometrics, however this shall be done only in rare cases and all such cases should be cleared by a competent higher authority; Release of Amounts for disbursal of pensions

MPDO’s will have to forward the details of all beneficiaries selected, online to SERP for release of the amount to the Districts for disbursement as follows:

Centralized acquittances’ along with proceedings shall be generated in the software at the state level and placed in the web for seeking approval on the proceedings by the District Collector through the Project Director, DRDA;

The Project Director, DRDA shall take the approval of the District Collector on physical file and upload the file in the Aasara Software; Fund Transfer Request shall be generated by SERP and the Fund Transfer Order generated automatically will transfer the funds electronically to the Disbursing Agencies from the SSP State Nodal Account operated by the Chief Executive Officer, SERP;

The MPDOs / Tahsildars (Hyderabad district) shall download the acquittances from the logins provided to them and take printouts to handover to the Disbursing Agencies; The pensions shall be disbursed at GP / disbursing point level by the Customer Service Provider (CSP) in the areas covered by the disbursing agencies; The signed acquittances shall be returned to the MPDO / Tahsildars (Hyderabad district) by the Disbursing Agencies;.

In cases where there is a change of pensioner status such as death of a pensioner, widow who is remarried and change in disability status, the same shall be reported by the Customer Service Provider (CSP)/ Branch Post Master (BPM)/Gram Panchayat Secretary (GPS) every month. The MPDO shall be responsible for deleting these names on an immediate basis;

Disbursal of Pensions:

Each pensioner shall have a bank account into which the amount shall be remitted. i. In larger municipalities where ATM facilities are abundant, the pensions may be remitted in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries to enable them to draw using ATM cards;

ii. In rural areas where banks exist, the pension can be deposited in the local banks or the post offices and shall be disbursed through biometric authentication either using the best finger detection or the iris scan. For this purpose, each pensioner will have to be registered in the biometric device for disbursal through biometric authentication;

iii. As far as possible, the disbursement of pensions should be done in a public place such as the school building or the Gram Panchayat Building; Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme Comprehensive Guidelines

Disbursement Cycle: The monthly disbursement cycle of Social Security pensions shall be followed as given below without fail, so that the poor receive the pension amount on a fixed day every month.

Acquittances are mandatory for disbursement:

Each disbursement with cash or through biometric authentication shall be disbursed only on the relevant acquittances being maintained. In other words, the signature/ thumb impression of the beneficiary shall have to be taken against the name upon disbursal of the amount/ biometric authentication of the amount.

The MPDO’s and Municipal/ Deputy Commissioner’s shall ensure that all acquittances duly signed / thumb impressions affixed by the concerned beneficiaries are checked and acknowledged. The aquittance records shall be maintained for audit/social audit and inspections.

Social Audit: 100% social audit shall be done of the pensions disbursed by the Gram Panchayat Secretary/Bill Collector and independently in Urban/GHMC areas by SSAAT.

Social audit of SSP shall be done in all villages along with MGNREGS in rural areas. Wrongful certification of ineligible beneficiaries shall be severely dealt with on all involved in the verification process besides recovery of the amount.

Administration of Pensions: The CEO, SERP, Telangana, Hyderabad and all the District Collectors shall take full responsibility to implement the Aasara Pensions Scheme online.

Care shall be taken that strict protocol is maintained in effecting changes in the database or in the procedures except through the instructions issued by the Government.

Necessary network security of the data shall be ensured. Only authorized change requests after approval of the competent authority shall be permitted. The Software provider shall only effect changes where there written change requests by the authorized officers only.

Detailed MIS reports shall be put up on the pension website and made universally accessible to all. Administrative cost not exceeding 3% can be met towards the expenditure incurred such as service charges to disbursing agencies, conduct of social audit and maintenance of the software, hardware etc. for the implementation of the Aasara Pension scheme.

1. This order is issued with the concurrence of Finance Department vide their U.O.No.158/EBS-VIII/14, dt.1/11/2014.
2. Download the GO.17 Telangana Aasara Pension Scheme from here
3. Download the GO.25: Rs.4,106 Pension to Differently Abled Persons