Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Friday that the tribals and Dalits of the state will be entitled to pension benefits as soon as they turn 50. Soren made this announcement while addressing a program organized at Morhabadi Maidan in Ranchi on the occasion of completion of four years of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) led government in the state.
He said, “The government has decided to provide pension benefits to tribals and Dalits after they attain the age of 50. The mortality rate is high among them and they do not get jobs after 60 years. “This decision will prove to be extremely beneficial especially for the vulnerable tribal groups of the state.” Soren claimed that in the 20 years since Jharkhand became a state in 2000, only 16 lakh people got pension benefits, but his government has increased the number of beneficiaries and now it provides pension to 36 lakh people.
Benefits have to be delivered to home
He said that the purpose of this government scheme is to provide the benefits of government schemes to the villagers at their homes. On this occasion, the Chief Minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 343 projects worth Rs 4,547 crore. Taking a dig at the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Soren said that the BJP is creating obstacles in providing government jobs to the youth in Jharkhand and the state government will work to provide employment to the youth.
