As a North-versus-South population debate rages, another potential concern for southern states with slowing population growth and declining fertility rates is the rising elderly population and expenditure on old-age pensions. Some southern states are among those who offer the highest monthly pensions for senior citizens across India, with schemes that also have among the largest number of beneficiaries. Central and state pension schemes account for a significant chunk of budgetary outlays already and, as the elderly population grows, this will only go up. Under the Old-Age Pension Scheme, a Central initiative within the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), those between the ages of 60 and 79 and belonging to households below poverty line are entitled to Rs 200 per month, with the amount going up to Rs 500 per month for those aged 80 or older. The NSAP guidelines say that states are “encouraged to provide top-up amounts at least equivalent” to what is offered by the Centre. As per a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session this year, states and Union Territories currently offer monthly pensions (over and above the Central scheme) ranging from as low as Rs 50 in Mizoram to Rs 4,000 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with the average being about Rs 1,000. The Central old-age pension scheme has 2.17 crore beneficiaries who were allocated Rs 6,827.6 crore in 2022-23, up from Rs 5,806.4 crore in 2021-22. The 15th Finance Commission for 2021-26, while considering the continuance of the NSAP, had declined to raise the monthly pension sum having considered the “available financial space”. The pension was last hiked in 2006-07, from Rs 75 to the current Rs 200 per month. With India’s 60-plus population expected to account for 11.4% of the total population by 2026 as per Census projections, up from 8.4% in 2011, the southern states are among those with the highest proportions of senior citizens. Though Uttar Pradesh, owing to its large population, has the most senior citizens (those aged over 60) at 2.18 crore, it is Kerala that has the highest estimated proportion of senior citizens at 18.69%, as per Census projections for 2026. Southern states account for five of the top 10 states in terms of proportion of senior citizens. However, given the size of the population in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, these states receive the highest central outlay on old-age pensions despite a smaller proportion of senior citizens. In 2022-23, the Centre released Rs 1,473.6 crore and Rs 1,059.1 crore to UP and Bihar respectively for old-age pensions, the highest in the country. The next highest disbursal was Rs 663.3 crore to Madhya Pradesh. But as far as states’ own contributions to old-age pensions goes, some southern states are among those providing the country’s highest monthly pensions. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for instance, the NTR Bharosa Pension and the Aasara schemes, respectively, grant Rs 4,000 a month to those aged above 60. In fact, in both states, the ruling parties (Telugu Desam Party in Andhra and Congress in Telangana) raised the monthly pension amount after coming to power in recent Assembly polls. Haryana’s Old Age Samman Allowance has the next highest grant at Rs 3,000 a month, though it is restricted to domiciled Haryana residents earning less than Rs 3 lakh a year. In Delhi, where elections are coming, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government last month announced an expansion of the old-age pension amount, saying it would provide Rs 2,000 a month to those aged 60 to 69, and Rs 2,500 to those aged 70 and over. In Rajasthan, the Vridhjan Samman Pension Yojana, which provides Rs 1,000 a month to senior citizens, is among the few schemes to include a fixed annual increment of 15%. In Bihar, the Vridhjan Pension Scheme provides one of the lowest monthly pensions in the country among the large states at Rs 400 for those aged 60 to 79, and Rs 600 for those aged above 80. Until late 2023, Chhattisgarh provided just Rs 300 a month before hiking the pension to Rs 500 ahead of the Assembly polls that year. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, two states that figure in the top 10 for highest 60-plus population, the monthly pension amount is just Rs 600. In terms of the number of beneficiaries, for states that have published this data, some populous states have far fewer senior citizens enrolled in their old-age pension programmes than those with smaller populations. While Andhra Pradesh has one of the highest number of beneficiaries of its old-age pension scheme at about 65 lakh, the considerably more populous Uttar Pradesh has 56 lakh beneficiaries and Bihar has just 4 lakh beneficiaries. Other southern states have similarly high numbers of beneficiaries – Karnataka at about 50 lakh, Kerala at 47.55 lakh and Telangana at 24 lakh. Smaller states like Haryana, Punjab and Odisha too exceed several larger states in terms of beneficiaries, at about 21 lakh, 22 lakh, and 35 lakh, respectively.
