Even as India claims the spot of the fourth largest economy in the world, the amount of pensions given to senior citizens has remained unchanged at ₹200-500 since 2012, The Indian Express reported.
The newspaper cited an evaluation commissioned by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, which stated that the real value of fixed cash transfers under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) has “significantly eroded” — by around 45% — due to inflation.
When adjusted to the current Consumer Price Index (CPI), a pension of ₹200 should cost ₹353 to retain its original purchasing power.
The evaluation was conducted across ten states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. Thereafter, a report titled Impact Assessment and Evaluation of the National Social Assistance Program was submitted to the ministry.
Unchanged since 2012
The monthly pension amount was last revised in 2012, and has remain unchanged since then. According to the study:
- It is ₹200 per month for people in the 60-79 years age bracket;
- ₹300 per month for widows in the 40-79 years age bracket;
- ₹300 per month for people with disability in the 18-79 years age bracket; and
- ₹500 per month for people above 80 years of age.
A study conducted by Delhi-based research and consulting firm Academy of Management Studies noted that consumption expenditure has grown substantially on the last 15 years.
In that context, it contended, “Considering 2012 as the base with CPI at 100, it rose to 191 in 2024, reflecting a 91% cumulative increase… Based on this increase, the pension amount should have proportionately risen from Rs. 200 and Rs. 500 to Rs. 382 and Rs. 955, respectively.”
The research firm added that an average inflation of about 5% annually has has significantly eroded the real value of these fixed cash transfers.
Launched in 1995, NSAP is a key social welfare scheme that provides pensions to vulnerable groups and currently covers five schemes:
- Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) with over 221 lakh beneficiaries covered;
- Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) with more than 67 lakh beneficiaries,
- Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) with 8.8 lakh benfeciaries,
- National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS), which provides one-time financial assistance of ₹20,000 to families after the death of a primary breadwinner aged 18 to 59 years.
- Annapurna Scheme, which provides 10 kg of food grains per month, free of cost, to those senior citizens who though eligible were not receiving old-age pension.
PM Modi snatching dignity of elderly, widows: Congress
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for to citizens despite spending huge amounts on self-promotion and said the government has not bothered to increase old age pensions for the last 12 years.
In a , Kharge accused the government of snatching the dignity of India’s elderly, widows and people with disabilities by not raising their paltry pensions.
“Narendra Modi ji, you lecture the country on austerity and sacrifice while snatching dignity from India’s elderly, widows, and persons with disabilities. Why? For 12 years, the BJP has refused to increase old age pensions, even by a SINGLE PAISA, as price rise crushes our poor,” he said in his post.
“After a 45 per cent erosion in purchasing power, the ₹200 pension is effectively worth about ₹110 in today’s terms, the ₹300 pension about ₹165, and the ₹500 pension about ₹275. But this shameless government would rather spend nearly ₹1.5 Cr every single day on advertisements and lofty self-promotions!
“Between 2014-15 and 2024-25, the BJP Government spent a total of ₹5,987.46 Cr on self-promotion in the form of advertisements,” he alleged.
The Congress chief alleged that while crores of elderly citizens are forced to survive on low pensions that cannot even cover basic medicines and food, the Modi government and the BJP continue to splurge on extravagant election campaigns, grand convoys, massive events, and nonstop publicity.
“This cruel BJP model strips disadvantaged citizens of their economic dignity while spending extravagantly on political spectacle,” he said.