The Centre has passed on to the states the onus of raising the pension paid to senior citizens, widows and the disabled under a national social security scheme, and of updating the list of beneficiaries.
The pensions and beneficiary lists were last updated between 2007 and 2012, according to official documents. An academic said the Centre’s persistent refusal to add beneficiaries had left the “most vulnerable” and voiceless people in the lurch.
In a written reply placed in the Rajya Sabha last week, junior rural development minister Kamlesh Paswan said the state governments were free to revise the lists of beneficiaries under the National Social Assistance Programme and pay them from their own funds.
Aam Admi Party member Raghav Chadha had sought details about the rural households excluded from the ministry’s welfare schemes because of outdated or incomplete beneficiary data.
The NSAP has three sub-schemes, all named after Indira Gandhi. One provides for a ₹200 monthly pension to people aged 60 to 79; while the two others mandate monthly pensions of ₹300 to disabled adults and to widows aged above 40, respectively.
Once the beneficiaries turn 80, they receive monthly pensions of ₹500 under each of the three schemes.
All the three schemes require the beneficiaries to be from below the poverty line.
Currently, 3.09 crore beneficiaries are covered under the NSAP, with the Centre imposing a state-wise cap on the number of beneficiaries allowed under the programme.
“Under NSAP, if there are more eligible beneficiaries, states have the option to
provide financial assistance from their own sources,” Paswan said.
“As per information received from States/ UTs, about 5.86 crore additional beneficiaries are assisted through State pension schemes.”
Last year, the government was asked in the Lok Sabha about the timeline for revising the NSAP pension. In his reply on February 11, 2025, Paswan said there was no set timeline for revisions under the programme guidelines.
“There is no specific timeline for revision of assistance prescribed under Scheme guidelines. However, the pension amount under the Old Age Scheme was revised from ₹75 to ₹200 in the year of 2007,” he said.
“Old age pension was increased to ₹500 for beneficiaries of 80 years & above in 2011. Further, assistance under Widow Pension and Disability Pension was increased to ₹300 from ₹200 in the year 2012.”
Dipa Sinha, a faculty member at the Azim Premji University who specialises in social policy, said the government “has persistently resisted the revision of beneficiaries under welfare schemes like the NSAP”.
“These (the eligible beneficiaries) are the most vulnerable people with very little say in the political and social structure. The central government is conveniently passing the onus on to the states,” Sinha said.
“But states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, which face a funds crunch, are unlikely to add more beneficiaries or revise the pension amount, denying lakhs of eligible and helpless people.”
The Centre recently added to the states’ welfare bill by changing the funds-share pattern between itself and the states under the rural employment guarantee scheme from about 90-10 to 60-40.
