Kerala Government Decides to Provide Pension to Nuns

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has approved a special scheme to remove existing hurdles for eligible women, including nuns residing in buildings, convents, monasteries, ashrams, and other religious institutions managed by religious organizations, to access the benefits of the government’s social security program. This landmark decision will now enable nuns to receive pensions.

Under the new provisions, unmarried women over 50 years of age who do not currently receive a salary, pension, or any other government benefits and fall into the aforementioned category will be classified as a special beneficiary group. These individuals will be exempted from the general requirement of submitting income certificates and unmarried certificates, which were previously mandatory for pension allocation as per an order dated March 31, 2001. Instead, the cabinet meeting held on January 28 decided to adopt a special application form to streamline the process.