UP govt enhances ambit of old-age pension, vows to cater to over 67 lakh senior citizens
The pledge comes after the UP government disbursed old-age pensions for 61 lakh poor senior citizens in the first quarter.
In the first quarter of the previous financial year, the Yogi government had met its goal of crediting Rs 1,000 pension directly into the bank accounts of 56 lakh elderly beneficiaries. This year, the Social Welfare Department set a new target of 61 lakh pensioners, which it accomplished. Now, the state government has raised the bar and seeks to cater to 67.50 lakh elderly.
The Old Age Pension Scheme is a cornerstone of the Yogi Adityanath government, aimed at making financially vulnerable senior citizens self-reliant and helping them handle financial hardships during later years of their life.
Under the Old Age/Farmer Pension scheme, those old-aged people who are 60 years of age or above and whose income from all sources in rural areas is up to Rs 46,080 and in Urban areas Rs 56460, are eligible under the pension scheme.
Under this scheme, people 60 years or above are given a pension amount of Rs 1000 per month on a quarterly basis.
The reach of the Old Age Pension Scheme has grown steadily since 2018-19, when 40.71 lakh beneficiaries received Rs 1,879 crore. By 2019-20, the number rose to 47.99 lakh (Rs 2,698 crore), and in 2020-21 to 51.24 lakh (Rs 3,694 crore). The upward trend continued with 51.92 lakh (Rs 4,278 crore) in 2021-22, 54.97 lakh (Rs 6,083 crore) in 2022-23, and 55.68 lakh (Rs 6,464 crore) in 2023-24.
In 2024-25, 55.99 lakh elderly beneficiaries received pensions.
The achievement of this year's target within the first quarter highlights the government's priority towards ensuring both the financial security and self-respect of the elderly.
It also reinforces the state government's commitment towards the welfare and dignity of senior citizens.
The introduction of the Single Nodal Account (SNA) system has made the pension distribution process fully digital and transparent.
Under this system, pension amounts are transferred directly to Aadhaar-linked accounts, eliminating middlemen and ensuring timely, corruption-free disbursement.
The SNA system also facilitates faster payments, easier audits, and efficient fund tracking, guaranteeing that every rupee is used for the intended purpose.
Since the scheme's launch in 2017, when it covered 37.47 lakh beneficiaries, the reach has nearly doubled, now targeting 67.50 lakh people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Top 10 most valuable Indian family businesses in 2025: THIS family's wealth equals one-twelfth of India's GDP
Top 10 most valuable Indian family businesses in 2025: The Ambani family has topped the 2025 Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Most Valuable Family Businesses List for the second consecutive year, with a staggering valuation of Rs 28.2 lakh crore, roughly one-twelfth of India's GDP. In second place is the Kumar Mangalam Birla family, which climbed to the spot with a valuation of Rs 6.48 lakh crore. Close behind is the Jindal family, entering the top three for the first time with Rs 5.71 lakh crore. Together, these three business dynasties represent Rs 40.4 lakh crore in wealth, equivalent to the GDP of the Philippines. A notable new entrant to the top 10 is Anil Agarwal's family, with Rs 2.55 lakh crore. The minimum threshold for entry into this elite club has risen to Rs 2.21 lakh crore. In the first-generation business category, the Adani family remains in the lead at Rs 14 lakh crore, followed by the Poonawalla family of Serum Institute fame at Rs 2.3 lakh crore. Among unlisted companies, the Haldiram's family retains its position as the most valuable for the second year running, worth Rs 85,800 crore. The combined assets of the top 300 family-owned businesses now stand at $1.6 trillion (Rs 134 lakh crore), more than the GDP of Turkey and Finland put together. Source: 2025 Barclays Private Clients Hurun India Most Valuable Family Businesses List
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
20 indigenous student-designed chips taped out from SCL Mohali: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted India's burgeoning tech talent, announcing the successful fabrication of 20 indigenous semiconductor chips designed by students at SCL Mohali. These chips, created by students from 17 Indian institutions under the DLI Scheme, aim to bolster domestic semiconductor design and manufacturing. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Highlighting the role of India's young talent in the technology sector, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that 20 indigenous student-designed semiconductor chips have been successfully fabricated at the Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in a social media post, the minister stated, "Bharat's Yuva Shakti, 20 indigenous student-designed chips taped out from SCL Mohali."According to the Ministry of Electronics & IT, these chips were designed by students from 17 Indian engineering institutions, including several IITs, and successfully fabricated at its designs are part of the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, which aims to strengthen semiconductor design and manufacturing capabilities in ministry further added that the DLI Scheme, approved with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore, supports domestic companies, startups, and MSMEs in designing semiconductor and commercializing semiconductor products involves high entry barriers, long development timelines, and intense global address these challenges, the DLI Scheme offers design infrastructure support, such as Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and Intellectual Property (IP) cores, for early also provides financial incentives of up to 50 per cent of eligible costs, capped at Rs 15 crore per application, for design prototyping, scaling up, and volume there are incentives of 6 to 4 per cent of net sales turnover over five years, capped at Rs 30 crore per application, for deployment and commercialization of chip its launch in December 2021, 278 academic institutions under the C2S programme and 72 startups under the DLI scheme have been approved for access to advanced EDA ministry stated "The DLI Scheme is implemented in close consultation with stakeholders and beneficiary companies. Any modifications needed will be done based on evolving requirements and feedback".The ministry also noted that financial support has been sanctioned to 23 firms and startups for designing chips for applications such as surveillance cameras, energy meters, microprocessor IPs, and these, ten companies have secured venture capital funding to scale up their prototypes for commercialization, while six companies have completed prototype tape-outs at various semiconductor foundries.
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
Deeptech startup Comminent raises $2 million from Transition VC
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Internet of Things (IoT) communications startup Comminent has raised $2 million in funding from Transition VC to scale up its technology for smart city infrastructure projects in company currently focuses on the smart metering segment, and plans to expand into large-scale deployments such as smart street lighting and water metering, founder Amarjeet Kumar told ET. It is targeting revenue of around Rs 300 crore over the next three by Kumar and Vikas Kashyap, who have worked in the communications industry, Comminent develops standards-based, device-agnostic last‑mile communication systems to address reliability and interoperability issues in large infrastructure rollouts. Its product range includes RF mesh modules, edge gateways, and a network management to the company, its systems can integrate with various device types and utility platforms, enabling utilities, OEMs, and developers to deploy solutions more technology is designed with the aim of supporting India's smart electricity meter programme, under which the government aims to install 250 million units over the next four to five years. The rollout is currently happening in Gujarat, and within this fiscal year, the company aims to install about 4-5 lakh smart meters in homes, Kumar said. Smart meters are part of ongoing efforts to modernise electricity distribution and improve billing efficiency for company will use these funds to expand its operations and technology development and to support upcoming deployment projects. It also wants to hire personnel for different roles, including sales and technical positions, as well as another layer of management as the rollout gathers pace, Kumar company claims its communications platform works with multiple hardware manufacturers and utility systems, avoiding the vendor lock‑in that can slow down smart city projects. Beyond electricity metering, Comminent is also in discussions with clients in the water and lighting sectors to try its technology in other urban infrastructure VC, the sole investor in this round, focuses on clean and sustainable technology ventures. "In a country like India, where the government aims to deploy hundreds of millions of smart meters by 2027, the need for a resilient, future-proof RF mesh technology delivering unmatched reliability while significantly lowering operating expenses costs has never been greater,' Raiyaan Shingati, cofounder and managing partner of Transition VC, said in a statement.
