Pensioners urged to keep abreast of cash distribution dates

– as cash grant distribution kicks off in Georgetown

Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud has encouraged pensioners across the country to stay abreast with news and social media, so that they can keep track of the dates and locations to uplift the $28,000 one-off cash grant for pensioners across Guyana.

She was speaking on the sidelines of one of the distribution exercises at the Jagan Heritage Home on Tuesday.

The minister stated that in her interactions with pensioners she received a number of suggestions for improving the delivery of service to senior citizens.

“What I have been doing on-site is interfacing with them, to look at how we can better serve, how we can have more efficiency, and how we can see what are some of the things they want to see happen, and I’ve gotten some very good suggestions which I will be putting into place,” the minister said.

These suggestions included having pension forms for ease of pickup at post offices and other locations where the elderly frequent.

The minister also encouraged persons to employ the bank payment system to receive their pension payments. She also reminded persons to be considerate of the elderly.

“The elderly would have asked me for this, and I’m asking the wider public, wherever you see elders and maybe they cannot walk, or they have some level of disability, serve them first.”

Pensioners in receipt of the cash grant lauded the initiative and expressed that the additional cash would assist them in purchasing necessities.

During an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) Zahid Rahat, a 71-year-old pensioner, expressed that the grant would go a long way.

“I’m very grateful for it because I suffer from arthritis pain. All over my body… in my knees, my joints. I’m not working now.”

While he stated that he had previously received stipends from relatives abroad, both of those persons had passed on, leaving him with no source of income aside from his pension.

“So, I going and buy some milk and different things, thing to build up myself…. So, I am very grateful and thankful,” he said.

Another pensioner, Gloria Veronica La Rose, described the cash grant as ‘generous’, and thanked the government for the initiative.

“It will help immensely with everything. So, it’s a good gesture,” she stated.

Carol Richards, another pensioner, echoed similar sentiments and expressed her joy at receiving the cash grant.

“I feel happy. I feel so thankful because we didn’t have to get it, but we get it, we are grateful, and we are hoping this can go a far way in [meeting] whatever needs have to be met…. So, we do appreciate this initiative, and it is welcome.”

The $28,000 cash grant is an integral part of the PPP/C Government’s mandate to create an improved quality of life for senior citizens.

The one-off grant, which will see some 65,000 Guyanese benefitting, will provide an additional $1.8 billion in disposable income to the nation’s pensioners.