Jamshedpur, Sept. 14: In the wake of the state being declared drought-hit, the state government has decided to extend old-age pensions to over 4,000 beneficiaries under central and state government sponsored schemes.

East Singhbhum district administration sources claimed that out of the district?s 1.7 lakh populace living below poverty line (BPL), over one lakh people will now be covered under one of the schemes of the state social security department.

?Over 58,000 beneficiaries have already been covered under Antyodaya Yojana. Besides, another 12,000 have been covered under the Annapurna scheme,? said the deputy development commissioner, Amitabh Kaushal, to The Telegraph.

?With about 28,000 families benefiting under old-age pension schemes, we intend to cover over one lakh BPL families under the different social security schemes,? he added.

Kaushal said the old-age pension scheme, currently benefiting over 20,000 elderly people in the district, would be extended at the earliest.

Chief minister Arjun Munda and state chief secretary P.P. Sharma, through video-conferencing with the district officials, gave the necessary directives.

Under the old-age pension scheme, beneficiaries above the age of 60 are being provided a monthly pension of Rs 200.

The amount for the pension, which was earlier Rs 100 per month, has recently beenhiked by the state government?s social security department.

The district administration has decided to carry out a survey for identifying the elderly population soon.

Following the survey and identification of the new beneficiaries, the central government would grant funds, said district officials.

The scheme for senior citizens, who have crossed the age of 60 and who fall under BPL, is going to benefit 4,232 more individuals this year, they said.

The state government has directed the district authorities to identify the beneficiaries and send the list to state social security department for its clearance.

The district has already received a fund of over Rs 5 crore for the implementation of old-age pension schemes from the central as well as state government.

According to the new directives of the state social security department, the beneficiaries under the old-age scheme will have to open bank accounts in which the government fund could be directly transferred.

?This would also prevent corruption at the block-headquarters level, as the pension amount would be directly transferred to the beneficiary?s account,? said a senior district official.