Nine months and no pension, angers widows

For the last nine months, widows have been coming for pension benefits at the Office of the Widow Assistance Pension on the second floor of the Narmada Bhavan in Vadodara. Not a single activist or leader has visited to listen to their grief. The ladies arriving at the Post Office to take advantage of the widow’s pension of Rs.1,250 are now reaching Narmada Bhavan. They alleged that the employees on-duty in the office say that the server is down and answer arrogantly.

After February 2020, the economic situation has become dire as they are not getting the benefit of the Widow Assistance Pension. However, for the last nine months, they hired rickshaws to reach Narmada Bhavan.

One of the beneficiaries, Indiraben said that they have not received it after the month of February and the staff at the Widow Assistance Pension Office at Narmada Bhavan did not respond and sent them back daily.

Another beneficiary, Suvarna Patil, said the widow receives a pension of Rs 1,250 per month but has not been able to get it for the last nine months.

It is to be mentioned here that in addition to this problem, there have also been cases of applicants and beneficiaries at the Narmada and Kuber Bhavan offices falling prey to agents after being fed up with such problems.