MARGAO
Beleaguered retired seafarers and widows find themselves virtually at sea over receiving their monthly pension from the government.
Leave alone a permanent scheme, the retired seafarers and widows have no idea whether they would receive the pension for the month of December. Reason: The government pension for the retired seafarers and widows had expired in November and the government has till date not renewed the pension scheme.
Inquiries with the office of the NRI Commissioner has revealed that no new notification has been issued by the government to extend the pension scheme for the retired seafarers and widows as on Thursday. And, given that Friday is the last working day of the month and the year, seafarers as well as the officials are keeping their fingers crossed whether the scheme will be extended again, and if yes, whether it would be permanent or for a specific period.
When the government had notified the pension scheme in June last, it was meant to be in force for a period of six months, which has ended in November. The government had the entire month at its disposal to come out with a fresh notification, either extending the scheme for a further period of six months or to come out with a permanent scheme like any other social welfare scheme.
The Goan understands that the office of the NRI Commissioner has funds at its disposal to fund the scheme, but the office has been waiting for a notification to credit the pension amount in the accounts of the retired seafarers and widows.
An official informed that the office of the NRI Commissioner headed by former MP Narendra Sawaikar has already processed the file
for extension of the scheme of the pension scheme for the seafarers, but the file has not returned back till date from the Finance department.
Sources further informed that retired seafarers may receive the pension late this time round by 4-5 days in the event the government clears the file in a day or two.
The pension scheme for the retired seafarers and widows was the brain child of former BJP Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar, who had come out with the scheme for the seafaring community after coming to power in 2012 riding on a strong anti-Congress wave.
The scheme, however, lapsed around October 2019 and the present government headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant showed no haste in reviving the scheme since then till June this year, where it was revived for a period of six months which ended in November last.
Incidentally, seafarers and seamen’s organisations have long been demanding a permanent scheme for the retired seafarers and widows a la other social welfare schemes.
