Maharashtra govt scraps pension scheme for Emergency-era prisoners

The Maharashtra government on Friday scrapped the pension scheme for the prisoners booked under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the 1975-1977 Emergency in the country.

The state government was spending Rs 42 crore annually on beneficiaries since July 2018 when the scheme was implemented by the then BJP dispensation.

A government resolution (GR)on Friday said the scheme was being scrapped to curb "unwarranted expenditure" amid the financial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The beneficiaries were getting Rs 10,000 a month as pension for imprisonment during the Emergency.

The Congress, while in opposition, had alleged that the Fadnavis government had introduced the scheme to benefit the prisoners who were mostly the activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Congress, which was in power at the Centre during the Emergency, is now part of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in Maharashtra.

Senior Congress leader and energy minister Nitin Raut had, immediately after the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power in November last year, had demanded scrapping of the scheme.