Yash Bharti pension back, but half

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday reintroduced the lifetime pension for Yash Bharti and Padma awardees but slashed the amount by 50 per cent and added several riders for the beneficiaries to comply with before availing it.

The awardees would now get Rs 25,000 instead of Rs 50,000 pension, introduced by the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in 2015.

A government order laying down the ‘new rules 2018’ for these awardees was issued by

THE AWARDEES WOULD NOW GET ₹25,000 INSTEAD OF ₹50,000 PENSION, INTRODUCED BY THE THEN CM AKHILESH YADAV IN 2015

principal secretary, culture Jitendra Kumar.

The awardees would get the pension only if they are not drawing any other government pension and do not pay income tax.

Moreover, the person qualifying for the pension has to be a resident of Uttar Pradesh.

The awardees would have to furnish the required information each year on a prescribed format, which would be cross-checked and verified by a five-member committee set up for the purpose before disbursal of pension.

Of the total 269 Yash Bharti awardees, including film stars, cricketers, singers etc, around 172, who had requested for the pension, got the amount till February 2017.

The Yogi Adityanath government, however, stopped the pension in June 2017 and ordered a review of the rules.