“I was getting Rs 1,000 monthly,” Parimala (real name transformed) explained. Pensions have been suspended for the last eight months due to the fact that I possessed two LPG cylinders.
CHENNAI: People living with HIV (PLHIV) claim that revenue authorities stopped paying their widow pensions for the previous eight months, claiming a variety of reasons, including the possession of two LPG cylinders. Around 300 HIV-positive women have been impacted in Chennai and surrounding regions alone, according to campaigners.
According to P Kousalya, president of Positive Women Network, about 50,000 women are receiving anti-retroviral medication (ART), with 30% of them being eligible for Rs 1,000 per month under the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS). Pensions for roughly 300 women in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Tiruvallur have been stopped, according to Kousalya.
“I was getting Rs 1,000 monthly,” Parimala (real name modified) explained. Pensions have been suspended for the last eight months due to the fact that I possessed two LPG cylinders. I work as a housekeeper. My two children attend a government school. My husband died of HIV 13 years ago. “I’m experiencing problems making ends meet,” she went on.
According to a senior tax department official, if the VAO or revenue inspector finds the applicants’ living conditions to be above BPL requirements during their field checking, they will be removed from the pension program.