7101 - Rush kills widow in pension queue - Telegraph India

Rush kills widow in pension queue

Our Special Correspondent

Hyderabad, Dec. 22: An elderly widow waiting to collect pension died today after a "near stampede" outside a Vijayawada post office triggered by a rush to grab slips needed for the payment of Rs 1,000.

Padala Shantamma, 65, had been in the queue along with several others since 3.30am, braving the cold to reconfirm her eligibility for the Andhra pension scheme. The reconfirmation is an annual formality aimed at verifying in person whether the beneficiaries are alive and meet other norms.

All was well till the doors of the Chittinagar post office opened and the staff started handing out the slips around 8am, triggering a ruckus with everyone trying to get in, according to police and eyewitnesses who described the scrum as a "near stampede".

In the commotion, Shantamma fell on rocks adjacent to the queue and suffered chest injuries, police said. She was rushed to a local hospital and later to the town's larger Government General Hospital where she died while undergoing treatment, the police said.

Shantamma - survived by three sons, who are farm labourers - and the others in the large crowd outside the post office had flocked there in the wee hours fearing failure to carry out the reconfirmation could result in their names being struck off the pension list.

The rush - not unfamiliar in Bengal where snaking queues for pensions and other payments are seen outside several post offices - was sparked by reports that scores of people had been dropped from the list after failing to appear in person and submitting papers such as age certificates and Aadhaar cards afresh.

The process is usually carried out at the end of the year, after which payments are directly credited online to post-office accounts and physical presence is not required.

Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has ordered a probe into today's incident. Local CPM leaders staged a demonstration demanding action against the authorities.

The Naidu-led Desam government hiked the monthly payments under the pension scheme for the elderly from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 after coming to power following the summer polls. As a result, the state's bill has gone up four fold, from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 4,500 crore.

This is the second such death in the state in less than two months. An elderly man died after a stampede at a centre in Anantapur district where Aadhaar papers were being distributed.