Overview
- The UDF-led state government announced a pause in rolling out the Sthree Suraksha (Women’s Security) pension while it conducts a detailed verification of beneficiary lists, a stance the chief minister set out during Assembly reply to an adjournment motion on Monday.
- The scheme promises ₹1,000 a month to unemployed women and transgender persons aged 35–60 who are not receiving other pensions and currently lists about 1.6 million beneficiaries with roughly ₹1,770–1,950 crore cited in the budget for the programme.
- The dispute centers on beneficiary selection: the chief minister alleges lists were compiled without field-level verification and by party local units, while LDF leaders say applications came through the K-SMART portal and were vetted by local self-government bodies using Aadhaar, ration-card, SPARK and Treasury checks.
- The controversy spilled into the Kerala Assembly, where the Speaker rejected the Opposition’s adjournment notice, LDF leaders formally marked protests and later staged a walkout after accusing the new government of trying to derail the scheme.
- Separately, opposition members pressed the government over delayed savings‑cum‑relief payments to fishers during a 52‑day trawling ban, and the fisheries minister said the first instalment has been paid in three districts while processing continues in others.