The Delhi government today proposed setting up of a commission for senior citizens in the budget to look into their welfare and safety related issues.
Delhi has a population of around 12 lakh of the elderly people (60 years and above). The Census puts the population of elderly people being 6.8 per cent of the total population in national capital.
Presenting the budget for 2017-18, Deputy CM and Finance minister Manish Sisodia proposed an allocation of Rs 3,467 crore for social security and welfare head.
It includes an expenditure of Rs 3,081 crore for various schemes, programmes and projects for social security and welfare undertaken by the government.
The government's pension scheme for senior citizen, specially-abled persons, widows and homeless women covers around 6.3 lakh.
The budget allocation for these pensions in 2017-18 will be Rs 1,595 crore. The estimates on this head it in the 2016-17 budget was Rs 1,137 crore.
The government has also proposed to allocate Rs 900 crore, a rise of around 27 per cent from the last fiscal, for scholarships to students belonging to SC, ST, OBC and Minorities.
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