80,000 more people to get old-age pension in Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the 2025 assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced the Delhi government’s decision to grant old-age pension to an additional 80,000 people, raising the total number of such beneficiaries in the city to 5,30,000.
Kejriwal said a web portal to receive applications from people aged 60 and above was launched on Sunday and has already received 10,000 applications. Kejriwal, who addressed a joint press conference with chief minister Atishi and minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of halting pensions during his imprisonment.
The AAP convenor said wherever he went after his release from jail, the elderly told him that their pension was pending and that people who had turned 60 were unable to claim the pension because the government wasn’t receiving applications.
This grievance, he said, was being addressed.
“The cabinet has approved and it has already been implemented. The portal has started functioning. In the last 24 hours, over 10,000 people have applied for old-age pension,” Kejriwal said. Under the Delhi government’s scheme, the elderly aged 60-69 are entitled to get ₹2,000 per month as old-age pension, up from ₹1,000 that was disbursed before the AAP formed the government in Delhi, he said.
People over the age of 70 get a monthly payment of ₹2,500. Earlier it used to be ₹1,500 which AAP government increased to ₹2500. The old-age pension people are getting in Delhi is among the highest in the country,” said Kejriwal.
A social welfare department official said the web portal to receive applications will remain active for three weeks or until 80,000 applications are received.
Chief minister Atishi attacked the BJP. “The BJP and central government arrested Kejriwal to stop the work of the AAP govt. The conspiracy of the BJP failed and now, one after another they are being restarted,” said Atishi.