The district social security department has disbursed Rs 2.6 crore as financial help to 52,258 elderly people across the district under the Punjab government's old age pension scheme.
The pension was credited directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries. Out of the 52,258 beneficiaries, 34,108 belong to the scheduled caste category while 18,150 are from the general category.
Varinder Singh Bains, district social security officer, said that before April 1, 2014, pension was disbursed by cheques through the district social security office due to which the beneficiaries had to visit the government office for getting their cheques cleared.
This led to unnecessary harassment of the beneficiaries. He said with the system getting online and pension amount getting credited directly to their bank accounts, the beneficiaries don't have to visit any government office or meet any officer.