The State Human Rights Commission has directed the Kerala Social Security Mission to ensure timely payment of financial assistance to beneficiaries under the Aswasakiranam scheme.
Under this government scheme, caregivers of bedridden patients and patients needing full-time support are provided ₹600 as monthly assistance.
The order issued by K. Baijunath, Acting Chairman and Judicial Member, came on a complaint filed by a differently-abled patient from Thiruvananthapuram seeking action for non-payment of the assistance for the past 36 months. In a report to the commission, the Director, Social Security Mission, said that the payments for the months from September 2020 to December 2020 was deposited into the bank account of the patient’s wife. However, the money was not credited due to an error in the IFSC code. The complainant could not be informed as a phone number was not listed.
The report further noted that, in the case of Thiruvananthapuram district, funds have been sanctioned for up to only July 2021. Financial assistance would be disbursed in the complainant case subject to the allocation of funds and submission of life certificate and updated personal information, the report said.
But the commission termed the delay in the payment of the assistance unfortunate. That the payment, in the case of the complainant, has been pending on technical grounds warrants examination, the commission said. The commission also wanted the mission to ensure “timely and efficient” payment of the assistance.
