Thanjavur: Unorganized workers registered with Tamil Nadu Manual Workers Welfare Board have not yet received their old age pension for the past six months, thanks to the non-allocation of funds by the State Government.

The board, constituted to execute the scheme, was to maintain and administer the fund, provide social security and welfare measures for the manual workers namely hair-dressers, auto rickshaw drivers, domestic workers, tailors, handicrafts artisans, potters, handloom and silk weavers, goldsmiths, artists, footwear manufacturing and tannery employees and power-loom workers.

Separate social security schemes and welfare schemes have been framed for the manual workers registered with each of the 14 welfare boards.

Senior citizens are to get a monthly pension of Rs 1,000. Female workers will be given Rs 6,000 during pregnancy (Rs 3,000 will be paid in the seventh month and the rest after delivery. They are also entitled to Rs 3,000 in case of miscarriage and for termination.

In case of the natural death of a registered worker, his nominee will get Rs 15,000. If it is an accidental death, his nominee will get up to Rs 1 lakh.

But it has been six months since they have got the benefits as the government is yet to allocate funds.

“There are over 1,600 pensioners in Thanjavur district alone and they have not been disbursed old age pension for the past six months. We are unable to make any payments to other claims such as marriage assistance, educational assistance etc by the members (manual workers) as the government has not made any fund allocation. Without knowing these facts, the workers accuse us of embezzling the funds meant for them”, said an official, on condition of anonymity.

The Government insists that for fund allocation, at least 30 per cent of the total beneficiaries should be Dalits.

The district, known as the ‘Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu’ has a number of agricultural workers, mostly Dalits, who are registered under the Chief Minister’s Farmers Security Scheme (Uzhavar Padukappu Thittam), and hence have not registered with the manual workers board, the official said.