Pension for seafarers via social welfare

Panaji: The disbursal of pension for retired seafarers under the Goa welfare/pension scheme for seafarers will soon be implemented through the social welfare department.

“We have already transferred all the data to the social welfare department. Earlier, there used to be cases where people would draw pension from the social welfare scheme as well as from the seafarers scheme which is not permissible,” director for NRI affairs Anthony D'Souza stated.

This integration of the scheme with the DSSS will streamline the process, D’Souza said.

The scheme introduced in 2012 provides financial assistance in the form of gross monthly pension of Rs 2,500 to retired Goan Seamen on completion of 60 years of age who were employed on lowly paid jobs on board the ship and retired, including seamen invalidated from sea service on medical grounds before retirement and widows of deceased seamen on compassionate grounds, provided the annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs 1.2 lakh.