Chandigarh, March 4 -- The Congress on Tuesday attacked the BJP government in Haryana for drastically reducing the budgetary allocation for social security pensions including the Old Age Samman allowance for 2026-27 fiscal. Quoting from budget documents, Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, Randeep Singh Surjewala at a briefing said that allocation for Old Age Samman allowance was decreased by about 40% fromRs.6,700 crore (as per 2025-26 revised estimates) toRs.3,970 crore in the 2026-27 budget estimates presented by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday. "This shows that the BJP government is preparing for large scale deletions of beneficiaries of old age pensions,'' the Congress leader said. Surjewala, a former Haryana minister said as per the budget documents, the allocation for widows and destitute women has also been decreased byRs.685 crore. "In 2025-26 revised estimates, the allocation under this head wasRs.2,960 crore. In 2026-27 budget estimates, the allocation has been slashed toRs.2,275 crore. Similarly, pension for persons with disabilities has also been cut byRs.136 crore - fromRs.651 crore in 2025-26 revised estimates toRs.515 crore in 2026- 27," he said. The MP said the budget for the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee accident assistance scheme has also been slashed by 86% fromRs.1.50 crore in 2025-26 revised estimates to a mereRs.20 lakh in 2026-27 budget. The budget for the CM Maternity Scheme has also been reduced by 33% - fromRs.30 crore in 2025-26 budget estimates toRs.20 crore in 2026-27 budget estimates. Haryana social justice and empowerment minister Krishan Bedi, however, rejected Opposition's claims of cuts in allocation for social security pensions, maintaining that the state government has not paucity of funds for welfare schemes. Responding to concerns over reduced allocations in 2026-27 budget estimates, Bedi told HT the state government remains committed to protecting the interests of elderly beneficiaries, widows, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable sections. "We will not leave any stone unturned. Adequate provisions would be made to ensure uninterrupted disbursement of pensions. Any additional requirement of funds would be met through supplementary grants during the next financial year," Bedi said. The Congress general secretary said since the BJP government was unable to garner resources, it ended up inflating the budget estimates only to reduce it in the revised estimates. "The BJP government presented a budget ofRs.1,89,877 crore in 2024-25 only to reduce it toRs.1,80,314 crore in 2024-25 revised estimates. Itactually ended up spending onlyRs.1,75,801 crore. Similarly,the outlay in 2025-26 budget estimate wasRs.2,05,017 crore which was reduced toRs.2,02,017 crorein revised estimates,'' Surjewala said. Citing BJP's Sankalp Patra (election manifesto) for 2024 assembly polls, Surjewala said that party had promised a monthly financial incentive ofRs.2,100 to every woman in the state. However, of about 95 lakh women in Haryana, the Lado Lakshmi Scheme has benefited only 9.22 lakh women....