Kolkata:
Over 1,000 elderly people of Kolkata and five districts of south Bengal have received pension at their doorstep during the last fortnight of the lockdown, thanks to the efforts of the India Post.
Payments to the tune of more than Rs 90 lakh have been made to these people of North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and Birbhum, besides the city, said Postmaster General of Kolkata Region, Niraj Kumar.
“We are not charging anything for this service. Our objective is to help people especially the elderly and the needy, when they are unable to come out of their homes due to the lockdown,” Kumar told PTI on Thursday.
Apart from bringing pension, employees of the postal department have disbursed Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments to around 10,000 beneficiaries, including women and BPL family members, of various government schemes during the past two weeks, he said.
“Some of the beneficiaries do not have accounts in post offices. But postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks are handing over cash to them with the help of technology available with the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB),” Kumar said.
These payments are being made by accessing their accounts in other banks through the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System at the doorstep of the beneficiaries by using Micro ATM devices of the IPPB.
“These beneficiaries are located mainly in Kolkata and predominantly in the rural areas of North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and Birbhum districts,” the postmaster general added.
During the last fortnight, the department has also delivered a large number of parcels containing medicines, testing kits and other medical equipment to hospitals and individuals in these areas by making special arrangements via its mail motor vehicles, Kumar said.
The India Post has also entered into a tie-up with the Newtown Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) for delivering medicines to senior citizens and sick people at their doorsteps free of cost, he said.
Under this initiative, services were started in areas under East Kolkata Division like New Town, Salt Lake and Rajarhat from April 20, Kumar said.
The East Kolkata Division has also opened a facility of receiving medical supply requisition for senior citizens and sick people of these areas over Whatsapp (6292132450).
India Post is mulling the option of extending this service to other areas he added.
