Chandigarh, Feb. 25 -- The shrill war of words over the "old age samman allowance" that Congress had sparked by accusing the Haryana government of discontinuing pension of the elderly on flimsy grounds echoed inside as well as outside the assembly on Tuesday. Armed with detailed figures, the Nayab Singh Saini government tabled official data in the House in response to a question of Congress legislator and mounted a strong counterattack, accusing the Congress of deliberately spreading falsehood and misleading public for political mileage. From November 1, 2025, the Haryana government has been paying Rs.3,200 monthly remuneration to beneficiaries of nine key social security schemes, including pensions given to elderly, differently abled, destitute women and widows, dwarfs and eunuchs. The data showed that the number of beneficiaries rose from 33,67,651 in August 2024 to 36,43,092 on January 31, 2026, registering increase of 2,75,441 beneficiaries. The old age samman allowance registered a rise from 20,38,552 beneficiaries to 22,23,690 during this period of 18 months. And the widow pension beneficiaries increased from 8,71,928 to 8,98,000, while disability pension beneficiaries rose from 2,02,229 to 2,12, 473. A sharp jump is visible in financial assistance to widower and unmarried persons, which nearly doubled from 36,951 to 76,964 beneficiaries. The Ladli Social Security Allowance beneficiaries increased from 38,834 to 43,776. The financial assistance to persons suffering from rare diseases saw a notable rise from seven to 57 beneficiaries. Ahead of the Budget session sitting, the Congress staged a sit-in protest outside the assembly during which the alleged discontinuation of old-age pensions was also flagged. "Congress has been misleading people...we have not stopped pension. Conducting a verification of those receiving pension is the responsibility of the government," cabinet minister Krishan Kumar Bedi said after tabling the data in response to a question of Congress MLA Shishpal Keharwala (Kalawali). As the Congress objected to the manner in which minister was responding, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini interjected. "The opposition has committed a sin by spreading rumours that government is stopping pension of elderly people," Saini said, adding that pension was put on hold for some time as verification was underway. The social security pension of 1,11,120 beneficiaries was discontinued between August 2024 and January 2026 with deaths accounting for 91% of total removals, according to official data. The data showed that 1,01,452 beneficiaries were removed from the rolls due to death, while 9,668 were cancelled, suspended or marked ineligible by district social welfare officers. As many as 78,320 beneficiaries under the old age samman allowance accounted for the largest share of deletions due to death and 5,666 were cancelled or marked ineligible, taking the total removals in this category to 83,986. Under the widow pension scheme, 14,293 beneficiaries were removed due to death and 1,687 were cancelled. The disability pension scheme recorded 5,199 deaths and 915 cancellations. Together, these three major pension schemes-old age, widow and disability-account for 1,06,080 of the total 1,11,120 discontinuations (95% of all removals) and they also account for 97,812 of the 1,01,452 deaths recorded. Among other smaller categories, financial assistance to destitute children recorded 1,422 deaths and 872 cancellations. The Ladli Social Security Allowance saw 506 beneficiaries' death and 387 cancellations....