The State government “is not against Mariakutty,” the elderly woman who has been protesting against the delay in disbursal of pensions, and the Centre is to be blamed for the delay, Minister for Culture Saji Cherian has said.
Mr. Cherian, speaking at a Navakerala Sadas venue in the district on Saturday, said it was the Pinarayi Vijayan government that had hiked the pensions to ₹1,600 a month. (On Thursday, the Kerala High Court had criticised the government for not paying the widow pension arrears to Mariyakutty, an Idukki resident.)
“We are not against Mariakutty. We did not want to talk politics, but the stand taken by the Opposition forces us to do so,” Mr. Cherian said on Saturday.
During the tenure of the LDF government led by V. S. Achuthanandan, the pension was ₹500 and the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government had hiked it by a mere ₹100, Mr. Cherian said.
The pensions were also in arrears for “18 months” during UDF rule, he said. The present delay in pension distribution was caused by the Centre withholding payments amounting to ₹60,000 crore to the State, he said.
