Govt disbursed ₹2.41 trillion in pensions during 2022-23: Jitendra Singh

livemint.com:

₹2.41 trillion in pensions to more than 65.74 lakh beneficiaries, including 20.93 lakh family pensioners in fiscal year 2022-23, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Pensions were disbursed via the Central Pension Accounting Office for civil pensioners, Office of Controller General of Defence Accounts for defence pensioners, Department of Telecommunications for telecom pensioners, Railway Board for railway pensioners, and Department of Posts pensioners. An estimated 7,80,509 pensioners and 3,61,476 family pensioners received a total of ₹40,811.28 crore.

Defence pensioners, which amounted to 23,31,388, along with 8,35,043 family pensioners, received ₹1.25 trillion. Telecom pensioners and their families, totalling 4,38,758, were allocated ₹12,448.00 crore. Railway pensioners, numbering 8,56,058 and family pensioners of 6,69,710, received ₹55,034.00 crore.

The Department of Posts disbursed ₹8,214.85 crore to 1,95,298 pensioners and 1,06,467 family pensioners. Despite this considerable spending, Singh clarified that the minimum pension and family pension would remain at Rs. 9,000 per month, with no current proposals to increase this figure.

However, he assured pensioners they would continue to receive dearness relief to offset inflation’s impact. In his statement, Singh said that the minimum pension and family pension provided by the central government was ₹9,000 per month, and there were no current proposals to increase this amount. However, he reassured pensioners and family pensioners that they would continue to receive dearness relief, which would be adjusted in line with changes in prices, to mitigate the impact of inflation.