Bihar Post Offices Now to Disburse Pension Money

Patna: Feb. 15, 2007Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, while kicking off the state social security pension and National Old Age Pension schemes on Thursday, said that the government was taking a hard look at all the schemes being implemented in the state and making sure all the loopholes and crinkles in them are eliminated for the maximum benefit of the recipients.Kumar, at a function organized at Sri Krishna Memorial Hall in Patna, said the government was working on many new schemes to improve the conditions of the poor people in the state and appealed to all to be a part in the rebuilding of the state by helping the government capture corrupt officials.Under the new scheme, the pension recipients will now be able to conveniently receive their checks from any post office in the state."Previously the recipients had to make several rounds of the Block headquarters to receive their pension checks. In most cases, they used to take several months before their requests were processed. The situation gave boost to the criminals who used to hover around these offices knowing the person walking out of the office would be carrying large amount of cash. Under the new system, such risks are eliminated and people will be able to withdraw their money without raising any attention," the Chief Minister said.Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, in his speech, took aim at the Central Rural Development Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Raghuvansh Prasad Singh saying the minister was too eager to criticize the NDA government in Bihar but is sitting on the pension fund for the poor for last four month.Among others present on the occasion included Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, BJP leaders Nitin Navin, Arun Sinha, Dr. Vinod Kumar, Gyanendra Singh 'Gyanu', and Patna District Magistrate Dr. B. Rajendra.