Bollywood Stars, Cricketers Seek Rs 50,000 Monthly Pension From UP Govt
04 February, Lucknow
Eminent personalities like Bollywood star and Congress MP Raj Babbar, his actor wife Nadira, Cricketer Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, singer Malini Awasthi, actor Jimmy Shergil and classical singer Girja Devi are among the 108 Yash Bharati Awarded people, who have applied for Rs 50,000 monthly life-long pension announced by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Noted poet Gopal Das Neeraj and historian Yogesh Praveen also figure among the applicants. The list, which if approved could cost the state exchequer Rs 6.48 crore annually, has drawn flak from the opposition political parties in the state.
UP BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai said announcing such sops was a total misuse of government funds.UP Congress leader Amarnath Agrawal asked when these personalities were awarded with huge cash amount then what is the need for monthly pension.”When the people in Bundelkhand and other region are dying due to starvation, the cricketers, who are earning hefty money would now also get Rs 50,000 per month. It is very unfortunate,” he said.
Official sources of the state culture department today confirmed here that 108 applications have been received by the department till the last date of January 31, for the pension announced by the state government in October last.The department will now send the application for further action and the government will seek budgetary funds to provide the pension in the coming budget on February 12.
If all the 108 applicants were given the pension, the state would incur an expense of Rs 54 lakhs monthly and Rs 6.48 crores annually. The pension is likely to commence from April, 2016. The state government had also announced to provide pension to the Padma awardees, but the amount has not been announced so far.
Earlier, Bollywood’s Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya and son Abhishek have rejected the pension and had asked the UP government to distribute the money to the the “poor and needy.”Bachchan senior and Jaya were conferred UP’s highest honour in 1994, while Abhishek was given the Yash Bharti Samman in 2006.
On October 21, 2015, UP government had, through a cabinet decision, announced a life time pension of Rs 50,000 per month to all recipients of the Yash Bharti Samman. The award was instituted in 1994 and has been discontinued whenever the SP government is not in power.The monthly pension of Rs 50,000 is among the highest in the country and it may be more than even what many government officials receive.
By comparison, freedom fighters and their spouses are eligible for Rs 20,129 a month, ex-Andaman political pensioners receive Rs 23,309 a month and unmarried and unemployed daughters of freedom fighters receive Rs 4,770 a month.The award scheme for Yash Bharti recipients is also among the most lucrative in the country.
Earlier, the Yash Bharti awardees would get Rs 5 lakh, but in its revised avatar after SP government came to power in the state in 2012, recipients are given a cash award of Rs 11 lakh, a shawl and a citation. There is no fixed number of recipients of the award, given every year to those who’ve achieved eminence in the fields of films, art, literature and sport.
About 141 people — who trace their origins to the state have been awarded the prize that was instituted in 1994. Amitabh Bachchan’s father, noted litterateur Harivansh Rai Bachchan was also conferred the honour in its inaugural year.