Andhra Pradesh government restores pensions for 1,575 landless families in Amaravati
N Chandrababu Naidu
.
Each family will receive a monthly pension of Rs 2,500 until further notice.
"The government has authorised the Commissioner, APCRDA, to extend the benefit of the landless poor pension to 1,575 families as per the original household survey conducted in 2015. These families were initially granted the benefit but were later excluded based on income limits and six-step validation. The government has now decided to restore the pension as a special case, considering the unique circumstances under which these families lost their livelihoods due to the establishment of the Capital City and land acquisition by the APCRDA," said S Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD).
He explained that the CRDA, at its recent meeting, resolved to restore the Amaravati landless poor pension starting January 2025, based on the original 2015 household survey. Following this, the CRDA Commissioner requested that the benefit be extended to the 1,575 families who were previously included in the scheme.
In 2015, soon after the announcement of the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS), the state government granted a welfare pension of Rs 2,500 to approximately 23,500 families in the capital city area.
The scheme was designed to support landless poor families who lost employment due to the acquisition of agricultural land for capital city development. The Guntur District Collector determined the landless status based on a household survey, white ration card (BPL status), and residential proof in Amaravati.
However, during the YSRCP government's tenure, 1,575 families were removed from the pension list following a six-step verification process, which classified them as above the poverty line.
Now, the Naidu-led NDA government has decided to continue the pension, regardless of income status.
Notably, the original government decision in 2015 stated that both the landless poor pension and the LPS annuity would be provided only for ten years, which would have ended in July 2025. However, due to the delay in completing the capital city construction, the government has opted to extend both schemes. The landless poor pension will cost the government Rs 70–80 crore, while the LPS annuity requires an annual outlay of about Rs 160 crore for around 18,000 farmers in Amaravati.
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