A civil society group has urged the government to update the pension amount and the list of beneficiaries as the budget allocations for a pension scheme for the elderly, physically disabled and widows have seen a minimal increase over the past 18 years.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated ₹9,652 crore to the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) of the rural development ministry for 2025-26, mirroring the amount pledged in 2024-25.

The NSAP has three sub-schemes — the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) which provides ₹200 to Below Poverty Line (BPL) people aged 60-79, the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) that gives ₹300 to people above 18 with a disability level of 80 per cent, and the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) which offers ₹300 to widows over 40 years. After attaining the age of 80, all of them get ₹500 per month. Several states add to the amount from their kitty.

The amount under the NSAP was last revised by the Centre in 2007. For the last 18 years, the pension amount determined by the Centre has remained unchanged while the amount under every other scheme has increased.

In a statement, the civil society group Pension Parishad said the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) in 2012 found there were over 10.4 crore senior citizens in India. But the beneficiaries for the NSAP have not been revised from time to time, said Nikhil Dey of the Parishad. Only 3 crore people get the benefits under NSAP.

“The government did not revise the pension amount for the last 18 years when the normal inflation is about 7 per cent. Neither has the list been revised to include new beneficiaries,” Dey said.

He cited the example of Rajasthan where over 1 crore residents are getting the benefits. However, only 14 lakh of them get pension under the Centre’s NSAP while the state provides the benefit to others from its funds. Pensioners also face delays of three to four months in receiving payments in violation of Supreme Court orders, he said.

The Parishad demanded that the pension amount be increased to ₹4,000 a month and the amount should be equally shared by the states and the Centre. The amount should be inflation-indexed. It demanded that NSAP benefits be extended to all families receiving free rations.