Mumbai, Oct 21 (IANS): Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has urged the Uttar Pradesh government to redirect the pension amount of Rs.50,000, which each member of his family was supposed to get every month, to "any noble charitable scheme or cause that benefits the poor and the needy".

According to reports, Amitabh along with his wife Jaya Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan have become the beneficiaries of the state government's latest pension scheme, which grants Rs.50,000 per month for life, to people who have been awarded the state's Yash Bharti Samman.

"I respect the UP government’s honour of the Yash Bharti Award to members of my family, and their decision as per reports in the press, for providing pension of Rs.50,000 per month to each recipient, I am requesting the UP government, with all humility, to redirect the entire amount designated for my family towards any noble charitable scheme or cause that benefits the poor and the needy,” Amitabh said in a statement.

“I shall be writing to the Chief Minister in this regard, in a separate communication,” the 73-year-old added.