Pension for more on the anvil

With the country bracing for Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government is set to widen the ambit of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), lowering the age bar for pension for widows to 18 years and covering unmarried, divorced or abandoned women under the scheme.

The government may also modify the eligibility criteria of the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme to cover people with 40 per cent disability. The scheme at present covers only people with 80 per cent disability.

If the government approves the recommendation of a task force set up by the Ministry of Rural Development, the number of beneficiaries of the NSAP will go up from 2.65 crore to 8.14 crore over the next five years. The total budgetary outlay for the NSAP may progressively increase from Rs 14,369 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 55,496 crore in 2016-17. The total financial implication for the 12th Plan period may go up to Rs 131,626 crore if all the recommendations are accepted by the government.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said his ministry was in agreement with the recommendations of the task force headed by Planning Commission member Mihir Shah. He also said the recommendations of the panel would be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval soon.

The NSAP now has four components. They are the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme and the National Family Benefit Scheme.

 The move to expand the coverage of the NSAP comes at a time when the ruling Congress is desperately trying to reconnect itself with “aam admi” to salvage its image, which is perceived to have been severely dented by a series of scams and rising inflation since it retained power in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.