NELLORE: Making the festival of Sankranti sweeter for the poor, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has announced an increase in welfare pension amount to Rs 2000 per month from Rs 1000. Naidu said that the benefit will be extended right from the month of January.Addressing a public meeting at Bogule mandal of the district on Friday, chief minister said that revised pension will be disbursed along with the February pension. The announcement received a standing ovation from the public and ruling party leaders on the dais. The crowd shouted slogans and applauded the CM’s announcement.“State is reeling under severe financial crisis. We have been undergoing several troubles. However, I can’t ignore your needs as the eldest son of your families and hence decided to increase the pension amount,” said Naidu. He said that he had been relentlessly working for the welfare of the people. He said that they were capable of creating assets and disbursing the same to the people.Interestingly, Naidu increased the welfare pension amount to Rs 1000 from just Rs 200 in 2014. It was one of his first announcements soon after taking the charge of the state. Chief minister decided to increase the pension amount by 100 percent while getting ready to face yet another election. According to official estimations, about 54 lakh people including elderly, widows, single women and fishermen would get benefitted from the sop.Naidu’s decision to increase the welfare pension came close on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to grant 10 per cent reservations to the economically backward sections among the upper-castes. In fact, the opposition leader in the state, YS Jagan during his long walkathon had promised to increase the pension amount to Rs 2000 after once coming into power in the next elections. Jagan had also promised to cut down the age limit to 60 years from the existing 65 years to receive the pensions.Without giving a scope to the political rivals, Naidu hiked the pension amount by 100 per cent. The move left the political opponents in a surprise. "It is a surgical strike on those who are making false promises. Our CM has proved that he is a man of deeds and not words like Modi and his allies," praised state agriculture minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy.

Stay updated with all the Hyderabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.