MVA scraps pension scheme meant for the prisoners booked under MISA

In another reversal of the decisions taken by the previous Fadnavis government, Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Friday scrapped the pension scheme meant

In another reversal of the decisions taken by the previous Fadnavis government, Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Friday scrapped the pension scheme meant for the prisoners booked under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during emergency existed between June 1975 and March 1977. The state government was spending ₹42 crore annually on 3,452 beneficiaries since July 2018.

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The beneficiaries were getting ₹10,000 a month as pension as their due felicitation for their imprisonment during the emergency. The prisoners were treated at par with the freedom fighters in terms of the pension amount. “The pension was granted just on the self-declarations by the beneficiaries without any verification of the documents as decided by a committee under the then revenue minister Chandrakant Patil. There were complaints received from district collectors about the bogus beneficiaries reaping the benefits. Buldhana had a large number of beneficiaries, even while the district had no history of any movement during emergency,” said an official from the general administration department.

Congress, while in opposition, had alleged that the Fadnavis government had introduced the scheme to benefit the prisoners who were mostly the activists of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Senior Congress leader and energy minister NItin Raut had, immediately after three party Maharashra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power, had demanded scrapping of the scheme. Hindustan Times on March 1, 2020 had reported about the MVA government’s plan to scrap the scheme.