Emergency Facilitator Kamal Nath Halts Payment Of Monthly Pensions To Victims Of Emergency In Madhya Pradesh

The Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh (MP) has put on hold the payment of a monthly pension to those detained during Emergency under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Rules, reports The Indian Express.

Around 2,000 people jailed during the Emergency get a monthly pension of Rs 25,000 under the Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan Samman Nidhi Niyam. This number, the national head of the Loktantra Senani Sangh says, includes 300 widows who receive half the pension.

Kamal Nath, the current CM of MP is remembered as being part of Sanjay Gandhi’s inner circle during the imposition of emergency.

His government has now put pension payments on hold citing a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, which has said that amounts exceeding the budgetary allocation have been spent under the scheme. The BJP government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan introduced the scheme in 2008.

The move has drawn flak from the BJP, which has called the decision a ‘political vendetta.’ BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kailash Soni stated that there have never been any irregularities in the pension scheme and even some Congress activists avail its benefits.

Soni warned of taking the matter to court if the Congress administration tried to scrap or change the scheme. Congress’ leadership hit back at the BJP and accused it of creating confusion over the circular, claiming that it was only intended to create transparency.