YS Sharmila flays Andhra govt over 'cancelling' pensions of specially abled people

Amaravati, Aug 26 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president YS Sharmila on Tuesday slammed the NDA coalition government in the state for "lacking humanity" towards differently abled people by allegedly cancelling their welfare pensions.

Sharmila alleged that the government is "cruelly attempting to snatch away their livelihood" without compassion and "filling their lives with darkness".

"The NDA coalition government has shown no humanity towards specially abled persons by cancelling their pensions," said Sharmila in a release.

Targeting genuine beneficiaries in the re-verification process of weeding out bogus pensions is deeply unjust, she said.

According to Sharmila, out of 1.2 lakh pensioners (specially abled) served notices, most of them were actually eligible, yet their names have been removed, causing unnecessary "harassment and hardship".

The APCC president demanded that the government should re-verify the list of those declared ineligible and ensure that no injustice occurs to the genuinely disabled beneficiaries depending entirely on these pensions.

She urged Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to immediately restore pensions for all eligible specially abled, insisting that "politics should not be played with their survival and dignity".

Meanwhile, there was no immediate reaction from the ruling TDP. PTI MS STH KH