Will examine whether to go ahead with ‘Sthree Suraksha’ pension scheme: Satheesan

The State government will examine whether to go ahead with the ‘Sthree Suraksha’ pension scheme or not, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has said.

Responding to questions on the scheme by MLAs during Question Hour in the Assembly on Monday, the Chief Minister said it had been implemented through a government order issued on November 1, 2025, and the first instalment of pension was paid to over 10 lakh beneficiaries in February this year.

However, the government was reviewing aspects of the scheme, including the financial burden, since it had been launched by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) just before elections even though it had been in power for two successive terms. Only then could it be implemented.

Mr. Satheesan denied the Opposition charge that the United Democratic Front government was discontinuing welfare schemes. “This Onam, the government had given all arrears that the LDF government had not paid.”

Instead of announcing this scheme just before polls, the LDF government should have paid the arrears due to many segments, including retiring workers, he added.

The government was not claiming that all beneficiaries were ineligible. However, it had to look into complaints pertaining to beneficiary selection that had arisen at the time of elections itself. Without it, there was no way of determining the actual beneficiaries, Mr. Satheesan said.

He added that complaints had been given to the then Chief Electoral Officer about misuse of scheme beneficiary data for election campaigning. However, the UDF government had not ordered an investigation into the complaints, he said.

The government would also examine whether the scheme was effective and its implementation.

The Chief Minister said the government would announce and implement multiple schemes in a time-bound manner to bring women into the mainstream. He cited the Priyadarsini free travel scheme and the increase in honorariums and pensions for ASHAs, anganwadi workers, pre-primary teachers, and midday meal cooks that had already been implemented.

To empower women, the government wanted to bring out schemes to make the women financially independent, provide them revolving fund, provide them guidance, be it technical or marketing or management.