Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal on Saturday said that distribution of welfare pensions for the month of June has commenced, but it will take time to be completed as there are around 62 lakh beneficiaries.

Mr. Balagopal also termed as baseless the allegation by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph that the government had not paid the welfare pension for the month. The Minister said that the allegation was made by the KPCC chief without understanding the procedures and technicalities of pension distribution.

He said that ₹825.71 crore towards welfare pension was sanctioned on June 20 and the amount has been transferred to the banks concerned. A vast majority of the beneficiaries received the pensions in their bank accounts on Saturday itself and the remaining people will get it in the coming days.

Giving details of the disbursement process, Mr. Balagopal, in a statement said that beneficiaries are mustered every month from the 1st to the 15th and the list is finalised after that. Thereafter, based on the number of beneficiaries on the list provided by the Panchayat Director, an order is issued to allocate the amount and the money is transferred. About half of the pensioners will get the money in their bank accounts, he said.

The pension amount of the beneficiaries who get the money at home will be transferred to the District Cooperative Joint Registrar. The Registrar will transfer the money to the cooperative bank through which the pension is distributed, Mr. Balagopal said.

The cooperative bank secretary concerned will hand over the list and money to the officer assigned for distribution in each ward and he in turn will disburse the amounts and file a report. “The money for the welfare fund boards will be handed over to the boards which will distribute the amounts,” the Minister’s statement said.

Mr. Joseph, in a statement, claimed that the Minister announced on June 16 that the pensions will be distributed by June 20, but no one has received any amount till now. The pension announcement was a ploy to influence voters in the Nilambur constituency ahead of the bypoll there on June 19.