The UDF council party of the Kozhikode Corporation is planning to hold a dharna in front of the Corporation office on Wednesday in protest against the State government’s alleged lackadaisical attitude towards beneficiaries of widows’ pension.
“Around four lakh women in the State are being cheated out of their pension. There are around 2900 widows in the Kozhikode Corporation alone, and they have been denied pension even after submitting all documents,” said K.C. Shobhita, UDF council party leader and Opposition leader in the Corporation council.
The UDF alleged that the denial of pension was a tactic of the LDF government to preserve what is left in the exchequer. “The pension for four lakh people over the five months since they applied will come to around ₹4,000 crore, which the State is not ready to dish out,” she alleged.
The UDF also said that there were around 12,000 pensioners in the Corporation who had been denied pension for months as the mustering process had not been completed.
