DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR VETERANS TO CLAIM PENSION

NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Wednesday extended by one month the deadline for former servicemen to claim pension by submitting mandatory life certificates for the same to be processed under a new online disbursing system called System for Pension Administration (Raksha) or Sparsh, officials familiar with the development said.

Pensions for the month of May will not be withheld as a special case so that the veterans are not inconvenienced, and the former servicemen have been asked to complete the paperwork by June 25, the officials said.

Annual identification is mandatory for continued and timely credit of pension.

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday directed its lawmakers and legislators to strengthen weak booths in their respective constituencies as part of preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party plans to strengthen the organisation and boost outreach activities in around 74,000 electoral booths across the country where it is relatively weak, BJP functionaries familiar with the matter said.

The plans for the 2024 elections were devised at a meeting chaired by BJP national president J P Nadda with top party leaders and a few senior ministers and booth in-charges.

While the party directed each of its lawmakers to take charge of 100 booths, it asked its legislators to increase outreach in 25 booths, in their respective constituencies. The party has also asked Union ministers to visit over 140 seats represented in Lok Sabha by opposition MPS and hold interactions with beneficiaries of various social schemes, one of the functionaries cited above said. The ministers have been asked to spend three days in each constituency assigned to them. The meeting also took stock of preparations for marking the eighth anniversary of the Modi government in office.

HT on April 26 had reported that the party has set up a fourmember task force to undertake an exercise to strengthen its presence across booths where it feels it has scope to improve.