Shivani Pai

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jun 13: The financial state of the elderly in the country is disappointing. This group of individuals finds it difficult to look after themselves. Seeing a need to safeguard their interests, the government has put in place several schemes. Most notable of them is old-age pension scheme.

According to a report by an activist group, 'Pension Parishad', majority of the Indian states are paying less than Rs 500 per month. Meanwhile, the other half are paying below Rs 1,000.

The situation is more problematic than it seems. The Central government is paying a meager Rs 200 per person every month. The State contribution ranges from zero to Rs 1,800 per person per month. Besides, there have been delays in the payment of the money as well.

If we take a look at the statistics, as per the reports published last year, the numbers are alarming. Manipur and Mizoram are providing the lowest recorded pension amount of Rs 200 and Rs 250. Nagaland, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat the amount ranges from Rs 300 to Rs 400. Then there is Karnataka where Rs 500 is the contribution towards the scheme.

The areas where the pension amount is better are Andaman and Nicobar, Delhi, Goa, Kerala, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh. These states or union territories contribute an amount which ranges from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.

It is quite unfortunate to see Karnataka at the bottom of the pyramid. It is reported as the only southern state where contribution is the least.

Prabhat Patnaik an active voice in this regard has condemned the government attitude on the matter. According to him, there have been no proactive measures taken. He pointed out that the beneficiary list in this case has been curtailed and that no calculations have been done against inflation.

The protest held towards this issue had the elders speaking against the paltry amount. They voiced in favour of receiving pension of around Rs 3000 or half the minimum wage.