The Kerala government’s plan to replace doorstep cash delivery of social welfare pensions with Aadhaar-linked bank transfers has ignited a fierce political debate, highlighting tensions over assistance for the state’s most vulnerable populations.
Kerala’s Congress-led United Democratic Front government is facing a sharp backlash after moving to end most doorstep cash delivery of social welfare pensions and shift the monthly ₹2,500 payment to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through direct benefit transfer. The change affects a scheme that reaches about 62 lakh people, including older adults, people with disabilities, widows, agricultural labourers and single women over 60, and marks a significant departure from the home-delivery model used by the previous Left Democratic Front administration.
The immediate political fight has centred on the decision to restrict cash delivery through service cooperative banks to bedridden recipients. K.N. Balagopal, a CPI(M) leader and former finance minister, told reporters that the government was building unnecessary red tape around a system meant for people at the lowest economic levels. He warned that many beneficiaries are not comfortable with banking procedures and said fresh biometric verification and related formalities could delay payments for lakhs of eligible pensioners.
Balagopal also argued that the government was overstating the problem of pension money being wrongly paid into the accounts of deceased recipients. He said such cases were rare and could be dealt with through financial reconciliation with cooperative banks. He further criticised the argument that the ₹30 service charge paid for doorstep delivery was too expensive, saying the amount remained the same even when multiple months’ pension were handed over at once. He added that the UDF had campaigned on a promise to raise the welfare pension to ₹2,500 a month.
CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan said his party was not trying to turn the issue into a political spectacle, but accused the government of taking an anti-poor step that had forced the Left into protest. The dispute comes amid broader uncertainty over welfare policy in Kerala, with recent reports pointing to confusion over other promises and benefit schemes. The latest row suggests that pension delivery, long a politically sensitive issue in the state, is likely to remain a major flashpoint between the two alliances.
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