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Eligible beneficiaries dropped from pension list in Rajasthan

It was a Rashomon moment for the readers of the First Common Review Mission report when they heard activists complaining about the pension system of Rajasthan during a recent press conference held in the capital.

The First Common Review Mission (CRM) report, which was prepared during the month of May this year by a team of 32 experts had observed that pension related payments under the National Social Assistance Programmes (NSAP) were regular in Rajasthan. The CRM report, prepared under the guidance of Sumit Bose, had confirmed that beneficiaries were satisfied with the pension system. The disbursement of pensions happened on time regardless of the receipt of funds from the Centre. In Rajasthan, pensions are paid online through banks and bank passbooks were found to be up to date. However, the CRM report had mentioned that there were procedural difficulties in getting certified, especially by women who were deserted or those who were mentally challenged.

In the press conference held at the Indian Women’s Press Corps on 1st July 2016, aggrieved pensioners from Rajasthan revealed that their names were struck off due to which they did not receive their old age, widow and disability pensions. Civil society activists Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey from Suchana Evam Rojgar Adhikar Abhiyaan (SR Abhiyaan) said that 2.95 pensions got cancelled since the pensioners were considered as dead by the state government officials.

Pension Parishad 1 July 2016
Eminent citizens Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Annie Raja, Kavita Srivastava and Shiv Visvanathan were present during the Jan Sunwai  (public hearing) before the press, which was organized by SR Abhiyaan and Pension Parishad at Indian Women's Press Corps, New Delhi on 1st July 2016
 
Updated information shared by Nikhil Dey with media persons during the conference indicated that out of the total 7.6 lakh pensions that were cancelled, 38.8 percent were due to death of pensioners, 22.7 percent due to duplicate pensions and 31.4 percent on account of ‘other’ reasons. The ‘other’ category has not been explained fully by the state government.

After manual verification done at several villages of Bhim tehsil in Rajsamand district by SR Abhiyan and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) teams, it was found that:

* In the Tibana revenue village of Togi panchayat, although 9 pensioners were actually dead, officially 12 pensioners were counted as dead (verification of 2 persons could not be done).

* In the Chak Hiraat revenue village of Kushalpura panchayat, although 2 pensioners were actually dead, 11 pensioners were counted as dead by the state government officials.

* In the Dhorela revenue village of Kushalpura panchayat, although 2 pensioners were actually dead, officially 5 pensioners were counted as dead.

* In the Attoliya revenue village of Kushalpura panchayat, although 1 pensioner was actually dead, officially 5 pensioners were counted as dead (verification of 6 persons could not be done).

Dey told the media persons that a similar exercise was undertaken by an Udaipur divisional commissioner to assess the stoppage/ cancellation of pensions in several blocks. In that attempt, it was found that pensions of 12,000 beneficiaries had been wrongly stopped.

Following the complaints by many such pensioners concerning the sudden stoppage of their pensions and non-disbursement of pensions since the last 6 months, a dharna was organized near the Shahid Smarak in Jaipur (Rajasthan) for 22 days in the month of June.

It needs to be added here that the aggrieved pensioners were making the rounds of panchayat offices, banks and E-Mitra kiosks, without any idea about whom to approach or how to restart their pensions. During the Jawab Do Dharna, the SR Abhiyaan activists came to know from the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (Rajasthan) that out of a total 68.5 lakh pension accounts, the state government in the last few months first stopped the transfer of pensions to 10 lakh accounts and then out of those cancelled nearly 6.9 lakh accounts by the middle of June this year. Despite taking such a drastic measure, the state government did not bother to share that information with the public.  

It must be noted that in Rajasthan the nodal officer in the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment verifies eligibility with the Gram Panchayat regarding exclusion and inclusion of a person for pensions. Pensions are universal and not limited only to BPL category.

When the SR Abhiyaan met the officials of Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, they gave a list of 25 reasons why a pensioner’s pension can be stopped, which is provided below:

1. Pensioner’s age is below the eligible age for receiving pension.
2. Pensioner does not fall in the below poverty line (BPL) category (Not in effect).
3. Death of a pensioner.
4. Duplicate pension.
5. A pensioner gets employment somewhere (Not in effect).
6. When a pensioner’s pension arrives at the last date (Not in effect).
7. The husband is a government pensioner.
8.  The beneficiary himself/ herself is a government pensioner.  
9. Incomplete address provided.
10. Invalid E-Mitra verification during which Aadhaar card’s name mismatches.
11. Invalid E-Mitra verification during which annual income of the pensioner is greater than the eligible income set by the government.
12. Invalid E-Mitra verification during which it is found that the pensioner has remarried.
13. Invalid E-Mitra verification during which it is found that the pensioner has a government job.
14. Deletion of pensioner’s name under the National Pension Scheme (Not in effect).
15. Non-disbursement of pension since a long time (Not in effect).  
16. Other reasons (Not in effect).
17. The pensioner has moved out of the state.
18. The pensioner is absent from his/ her residence since a long time.
19. The pensioner fails to appear before the pension disbursement officer (Not in effect).
20. Remarriage of the pensioner.
21. Pensioner finds employment.
22. The age of pensioner’s son is greater than the eligible age set by the state government (Not in effect).
23. The pensioner’s son gets a job (govt. job).
24. Undrawn pension for more than a year (Not in effect).
25. Wrong bank details given by the beneficiary.
 
Although many of the reasons for stopping/ cancellation of pensions were outdated, officials still followed those rules, said Nikhil Dey. For example, stopping of a person’s pension if s/he is not found at her residential address could happen due to a faulty mechanism of reporting done by officials.
 
Pension Parishad 2
Aggrieved pensioners from Chak Hiraat revenue village of Rajsamand district at the press conference to show that despite being alive, they were denied pensions 
 
The pension account of a person would be cancelled if someone is found ineligible based on the guidelines used for accepting or denying new pension applications. After cancellation of someone’s pension, s/he is required to appeal the decision within 90 days (giving the official 15 days to re-investigate), after which the affected person can apply afresh. Ground level situation indicates that several beneficiaries were not informed by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment about the cancellation of their pension accounts due to which they could not appeal the decision. Even if a beneficiary’s pension account is wrongly cancelled by the government department, s/he has to undergo the lengthy process of applying afresh and also bear the loss of pension for months (without any compensation) till her new application is approved.   

Although the SR Abhiyaan could access from the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment the figures on how many pensions were cancelled, it could not get any data on how many pensions were re-started.

Dey said that although by entering a PPO number, it can be checked from the online portal of Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (http://www.sje.rajasthan.gov.in/) whether someone's pension has been stopped or cancelled, the reasons for stoppage/ cancellation of a person's pension is not provided by the portal.     

About the National Social Assistance Programmes

The CRM report says that under the National Social Assistance Programmes (NSAP), which was launched on 15th August 1995, the Central Government provides financial support to the aged, disabled, and widows.

The eligibility criteria and amount provided as pension by the Centre under each of the NSAP schemes is as follows:

* Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) - @ Rs.200/- per month for persons aged 60 years & above.
* Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) - @ Rs.300/- per month for widows aged 40-79 years.
* Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) - @ Rs.300/- per month for disabled aged 18-79 years.
* Pension is enhanced to Rs.500/- per month on attaining 80 years in all the above pension schemes.
* National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) – One time assistance of Rs.20,000/- on the death of primary breadwinner.
* Annapurna Scheme – Provision of 10 kg food grains per month for the old who could not be covered under Old Age Pension Scheme.

The CRM report says that nearly 2.02 crore persons benefited from the NSAP during 2015-16.

Table 1: NSAP allocation, release and expenditure (Rs. in lakh)


Source: Report of the First Common Review Mission (2016) prepared by Department of Rural Development based on Ministry of Rural Development’s (MoRD) Annual Reports of 2013-14 and 2015-16

The table 1 shows that between 2012-13 and 2015-16 the allocation to NSAP has reduced by 5.5 percent, whereas total funds released has fallen by 26.9 percent and total expenditure has gone down by 18.5 percent.

The total release of funds for NSAP as a percentage of total allocation has declined from 94.8 percent in 2012-13 to 73.4 percent in 2015-16.

Since the expenditure on NSAP has been significantly lesser than the amount released, it means that many of those who were to receive pensions did not actually receive them. One can observe that the total expenditure on NSAP as a percentage of total release of funds has risen from 64.3 percent in 2012-13 to 71.6 percent in 2015-16.

Table 2: Variation in monthly pension reaching the beneficiaries (in Rs.)

Table 2
 
Source: Data reported by CRM teams visiting states and information from MoRD

The CRM report has found that there is variation in the old age, widow and disability pensions across 8 states, which depends on the extent to which a state supplements or tops up the amount provided by the Centre. For example, for the age group 60 to 79 years, the old age pension provided in Madhya Pradesh is Rs. 275, whereas the same in Rajasthan is Rs. 500.  

Several states have initiated pension schemes of their own and a number of them have enlarged the scope of coverage by beginning their own independent schemes, or using different age criteria or including the non-BPL population, says the CRM report. For example, Rajasthan has launched a state disability pension that covers individuals with more than 40 percent disability.

Among other things, the CRM report has recommended for increasing the old age pension amount to a reasonable level which is adequate for subsistence, and linking annual increment in old age pension to inflation in consumer price index (CPI). The report has also asked for automatic inclusion in the Widow Pension Scheme of widows suffering from a chronic disease irrespective of BPL criteria and removal of age restrictions for disability pension and reducing the extent of disability to 40 percent.

It should be mentioned here that the CRM report, which was released on 3rd June this year, covers 5 rural development schemes i.e. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and National Social Assistance Programmes (NSAP).


References

Report of First Common Review Mission, Department of Rural Development (Volume-1), Ministry of Rural Development, 3 June, 2016, please click here to access
 
Rising elderly population needs a broad-based support system, Inclusive Media for Change newsalert, please click here to access
 
Elderly in India: Profile and Programmes 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, please click here to access

The State of Social Safety Nets 2015, World Bank, published in July 2015, please click here to access

WorldSocial Protection Report 2014/15: Building economic recovery, inclusivedevelopment and social justice, International Labour Organization, published in 2014, please click here to access

Elder Abuse in India (2014) by HelpAge India, please click here to access  

World Social Security Report 2010/11: Providing coverage in times of crisis and beyond, ILO, please click here to access

Report on Status of Elderly in Select States of India (2011), UNFPA India, please click here to access

Situation analysis of the elderly in India, June 2011, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, please click here to access

Powerpoint presentation of Dr. C Chandramouli on age-data highlights of Census 2011, prepared on August 2013, Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, please click here to access

Social Safety nets require more public funding, Inclusive Media for Change newsalert, please click here to access

Alarming rise in elder abuse in urban India, Inclusive Media for Change newsalert, please click here to access

Give universal pension for a dignified life, Inclusive Media for Change newsalert, please click here to access

More Evidence on the need for old age pension, Inclusive Media for Change newsalert, please click here to access  
 
Pensions of ‘dead’ persons restored -Mohammed Iqbal, The Hindu, 9 July, 2016, please click here to access

Rajasthan: Pension revived for 8 who were struck off list as ‘dead’ -Naveed Iqbal, The Indian Express, 7 July, 2016, please click here to access

No pension for months, Rajasthan villagers declared 'Dead' in records -Ketki Angre, NDTV, 3 July, 2016, please click here to access

Rajasthan pensioners declared dead, come to Delhi with appeal -Naveed Iqbal, The Indian Express, 2 July, 2016, please click here to access

Jawab Do dharna ends: 'No one for the poor to turn to' -Rosamma Thomas, The Times of India, 23 June, 2016, please click here to access 
 
Image Courtesy: Inclusive Media for Change/ Shambhu Ghatak