Old Age Beneficiaries

INTRODUCTION We cannot define Old Age exactly. But we can say that it is an unavoidable which means we can’t avoid it, undesirable which means no one has desire for it and problem ridden phase of life which means a period of life which is full of problems. There are many causes of fear of the Old Age. They are as under:  Diminishing Sense of Importance.  Feeling of Idleness.  Loneliness and Neglect.  Reduced Physical and Mental Resilience. At this stage diminishing sense of importance is the major fear because elder person is not in earning position. His unemployment, reduction in physical and mental strength leads to neglect and loneliness in his life. The erosion of joint family structure has made a great impact on the entire support system within the community available to the needy of all ages and categories. Pressure form Society is major cause of increasing old age problems. At present mentality of society is leaving the Aged persons in an Old Age Home because of it Old Age home are in great demand. We are moving towards a society in which all the young and able-bodied are fully occupied with their own lives and older people are left without any relatives able to help or care for them. Youth wants fully independence. Migration of youth from the rural areas to cities in search of better employment opportunities to fend for themselves is a major reason of their mentality of leaving their aged parents in Old Age Home. The development of the welfare state has not proved an unmixed blessing. It has created a “leaving it to them” mentality, the tendency of the citizen to shrug off his own responsibilities with the comforting reflection that the state provides all that people need. In modern period for society youth is everything. Modern society worship and glorifies the youth and neglect aged persons. Problems of Old Age are Challenge for a person. Many Governmental Policies and Non- Governmental Organizations are working for the welfare of old age persons. GOVERNMENTAL SCHEMES FOR ELDERS The growth rate in the ageing population has become a global phenomenon. The population of older persons in India is increasing at a fast pace. The total population of older persons in India as per Census 2001 is 7.66 crores. Government of India issued many welfare policies for aged persons. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is responsible for welfare of older persons. The National Policy for Older Persons was announced with the objective of: Sl. No. Name of the Min./Department Facilities/Benefits given to Senior Citizens 1 Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is the nodal Ministry responsible for welfare of the Senior Citizens. It has announced the National Policy on Older Persons covering all concerns pertaining to the welfare of older persons. The National Policy on Older Persons recognizes a person aged 60 years and above as a senior citizen. 2. The Ministry is also implementing following schemes for the benefit of Senior Citizens: (a) An Integrated Programme for Older Persons (Plan Scheme) – This Scheme has been formulated by revising the earlier scheme of “Assistance to Voluntary Organisations for Programmes relating to the Welfare of the Aged”. Under this Scheme, financial assistance upto 90% of the project cost is provided to NGOs for establishing and maintaining Old Age Homes, Day Care Centres, Mobile Medicare Units and to provide non-institutional services to older persons. (b) The Scheme of Assistance to Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Voluntary Organizations/Self Help Groups for Construction of Old Age Homes/Multi-Service Centres for older persons (Non Plan Scheme) - Under this Scheme, one time construction grant for Old Age Homes/Multi-Service Centre is provided to non-governmental organizations on the recommendation of the State Governments/ UT Administrations. To encourage families to take care of their older family members; 2 Ministry of Finance Income tax rebate upto an income of Rs. 1.85 lakh p.a. Higher rates of interest on saving schemes of senior citizens. A Senior Citizens Savings Scheme offering an interest rate is 9% per annum on the deposits made by the senior citizens in post offices has been introduced by the Government through Post Offices in India doing savings bank work. 3 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways i) Reservation of two seats for senior citizens in front row of the buses of the State Road Transport Undertakings. ii) Some State Governments are giving fare concession to senior citizens in the State Road Transport Undertaking buses and are introducing Bus Models, which are convenient to the elderly. 4 Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Separate queues for older persons in hospitals for registration and clinical examination. Special Clinics have been started on Sundays for senior citizens of the age of 60 which provide services under medicine, surgery, orthopaedies etc. 5. Department of Telecommunications i) Faults/complaints of senior citizens are given priority by registering them under senior citizens category with VIP flag, which is a priority category. ii) Senior citizens are allowed to register telephone connection under N-OYT Special Category, which is a priority category. 6 Ministry of Railways a) Indian Railways provide 30% fare concession in all Mail/Express including Rajdhani/Shatabadi/Jan Shatabadi trains for senior citizens aged 60 years and above. b) Indian Railways also have the facility of separate counters for Senior Citizens for purchase/booking/cancellation of tickets. c) Wheel Chairs for use of older persons are available at all junctions, District Headquarters and other important stations for the convenience of needy persons including the older persons. d) Ramps for wheel chairs movement are available at the entry to important stations. d) Specially designed coaches with provisions of space for wheel chairs, hand rail and specially designed toilet for handicapped persons have been introduced. 7 Ministry of Civil Aviation 1. Indian Airlines is providing 50 per cent Senior Citizen Discount on Normal Economy Class fare for all domestic flights to Indian senior citizens who have completed the age of 65 years in the case of male senior citizens and 63 years in the case of female senior citizens subject to certain conditions. 2. Air India is offering discount to senior citizens of 60 plus on flights to USA , UK and Europe . Further, Air India has now decided to reduce the age of 60 plus for discount on their domestic routes as well with immediate effect. 3. Sahara Airlines is offering 50% discount on basic fare for travel on its domestic flights only to senior citizens who have attained the age of 62 years. Discount is applicable in economy class only. 8 Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution i) Under the Antyodaya Scheme, the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families which also include older persons are provided food grains at the rate of 35 kgs. per family per month. The food grains are issued @ Rs.3/- per kg. for rice and Rs.2/- per kg. for wheat. The persons aged 60 years above from the BPL category were given priority for identification. (ii) Under the Annapoorna Scheme being implemented by the States/UT Administration, 10 kgs. of food grains per beneficiary per month are provided free of cost to those senior citizens who remain uncovered under the old age pension scheme. iii) Instructions to State Governments for giving priority to the Ration Card holders who are over 60 years of age in Fair Price Shops for issue of rations. 9. MCD, Delhi (i)MCD, Delhi , has opened a separate counter to facilitate the senior citizens for submission of property tax bills. (ii) A rebate of 30% of the property tax due on the covered space of a building up to one hundred sq. mtrs. of the covered space has been allowed by the corporation in the case of any self-occupied residential building singly owned by a man who is 65 years or more in age. 10 Miscellaneous (i) Courts in the country accord priority to cases involving older persons and ensures their expeditious disposal. (ii) Under the Old Age Pension Scheme, monthly pension is given at variable rates to the destitute old by various State Governments/UT Administrations. In the 2007-08 Budget, the Finance Minister has proposed to provide monthly income to seniors and develop new health insurance schemes. For the benefit of senior citizens it has been proposed that –  The National Housing Bank will introduce a 'reverse mortgage' scheme under which a senior citizen who owns a house can avail of a monthly stream of income against mortgage of the house. The senior citizen remains the owner and occupies the house throughout his or her lifetime, without repayment or servicing of the loan. Regulations are to be put in place to allow creation of mortgage guarantee companies.  An exclusive health insurance scheme for senior citizens is to be offered by the National Insurance Company. Three other public sector insurance companies as mentioned in the Medical Insurance section, are to offer a similar product to senior citizens.  The Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill of 2007 – This bill has been recently introduced in Parliament. It provides for the maintenance of parents, establishment of old homes, provision of medical care and protection of life and property of senior citizens. These all are the Government Schemes for welfare of Old Age persons. Many Non Governmental Organizations are also working for benefit of Elder persons. Old Age Home run by NGOs in Delhi: 1. Godhuli – Senior Citizens’ Home (Servants of people Society – Delhi Branch) 2. Nirmal Hriday (Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity) 3. Ozanam Home Society 4. Home for the Aged (Delhi Christian Friend-In-Need Society) 5. Ayudham Society for the Old and Infirm 6. Elders Home Society 7. AASTHA, Senior Citizens Home 8. Shri Geeta Vridh Ashram 9. Anand Dham & Vridh Ashram NGOs WORKING FOR OLD AGE PERSONS ARE: Age Care India Agewell Foundation Ashirwad- Senior Citizens Council Help Age India Nai Roshni Home for the Aged Trust etc. PENSION SCHEME FOR OLD AGE Economic insecurity is a major fear of Old Age. Many NGOs like Age Care India, HelpAge India try to set up income generation projects for elders. The governmental scheme of Old Age Pension is a great relief for elders. But is it really successful? National Old Age Pension Scheme was introduced as a public response to the deprivation, and insecurities faced by the aged. Firstly, adults in poor households themselves face insecurity of work and income in their quest to lead lives of security and some dignity. Secondly, in India the aged are generally dependent on their children for support. The presence of the aged in poor families adds to the financial burden and further deprivation of the family as a whole. Under National Old Age Pension Scheme, Central Assistance is available on fulfillment of the following criteria • The age of the applicant (male or female) should be 65 years or more. • The applicant must be a destitute in the sense that he/she has no regular means of subsistence from his/her own source of income or through financial support from family members or other sources. The Congress Government introduced the National Old Age Pension Scheme in 1995 as a response to the economic insecurity faced by our elderly. It has certainly proved beneficial. The Hon’ble Prime Minister has announced to provide an old age pension to all citizens above the age of 65 years and living below the poverty line in his Independence Day Speech on 15 August, 2007. He also launched this scheme as “Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme”. The number of beneficiaries covered under this scheme state-wise during 2007-08 is given as under: States/ UTs No. of Beneficiaries reported under NOAPS during 2007-08 Andhra Pradesh 919230 Bihar 1415179 Chhattisgarh 451066 Goa 5013 Gujarat 62691 Himachal Pradesh 83678 Haryana 130306 J&K 72038 Jharkhand 623654 Karnataka 811726 Kerala 141956 Madhya Pradesh 1222212 Maharashtra 828193 Orissa 643400 Punjab 61371 Rajasthan 631040 Tamilnadu 636384 Uttar Pradesh 2426481 Uttrakhand 65752 Arunachal Pradesh 14500 West Bengal 1046470 Assam 628949 Manipur 63412 Meghalaya 32740 Mizoram 15516 Nagaland 28053 Sikkim 15169 Tripura 136592 A$N Islands 702 Chandigarh 5619 D& N Haveli 6956 Daman & Diu 630 NCT Delhi 94000 Lakshadweep 142 Pondicherry 3566 Total 13324386 Source : http://rural.nic.in/PRCmeeting0809/PRC_AGENDANOTE.pdf OLD AGE PENSION SCHEMES FOR PERSONS BELOW 65 YEARS IMPLEMENTED BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT FROM THEIR OWN RESOURCES 1 Andhra Pradesh 2187000 15.80 345546 2 Bihar 2049000 41.40 848286 100000 200 60 to 64 years 3 Chhattisgarh 572000 40.90 233948 100809 200 65 years & above 4 Goa 30186 13.80 4166 14207 1000 60 years & above 5 Gujarat 1365000 16.80 229320 89129 200 60 years & above 6 Haryana 471000 14.00 65940 943176 300 65 years & above 7 Himachal Pradesh 184000 10.00 18400 86223 300 60 years & above 8 J & K 252000 5.40 13608 200 60+men, 55+women 9 Jharkhand 678000 40.30 273234 71820 400 60 years & above 10 Karnataka 1491000 25.00 372750 Age above 65 years 11 Kerala 1109000 15.00 166350 558362 130 12 Madhya Pradesh 1479000 38.30 566457 537905 200 60 years & above 13 Maharashtra 2666000 30.70 818462 397461 250 Below 65 years 14 Orissa 1044000 46.40 484416 600000 200 60 years & above 15 Punjab 656000 8.40 55104 25000 250 60+women, 65+men 16 Rajasthan 1356000 22.10 299676 402188 150 58+men, 55+women 17 Tamilnadu 2152000 22.50 484200 Age 65, Income Nil 18 Uttar Pradesh 4079000 32.80 1337912 1200000 300 60 & 65 years 19 Uttarakhand 234000 39.60 92664 16313 400 60 years & above 20 West Bengal 2154000 24.70 532038 40582 500 60 years & above, BPL 21 Arunachal Pradesh 24222 17.60 4263 22 Assam 580000 19.70 114260 23 Manipur 50606 17.30 9969 24 Meghalaya 51156 18.50 10078 25 Mizoram 19603 12.60 3862 26 Nagaland 43903 19.00 8649 27 Sikkim 11932 20.10 2351 28 Tripura 70578 18.90 13904 29 A&N Island 7977 22.60 1572 30 Chandigarh 20173 7.10 3974 5476 250 60 years &above 31 D&N Haveli 4939 33.20 973 32 Daman & Diu 519 10.50 102 33 NCT Delhi 322000 14.70 47334 116000 1000 Age 60 & Income limit 60000 34 Lakshadweep 1358 16.00 200 35 Pondicherry 21824 22.40 3208 30000 55 years & above TOTAL 27442000 27.50 7546550 5334651 Note : The projected population for the age 60-64 years in respect of NE States except Assam is 272000. This population has been distributed among these States in the ratio of its individual population of Census, 2001. All India projected population for the age 60-64 years as on 1st March, 2006 is 27442000 and projected population for the age 60-64 respect of 28 States / UTts (except Goa, A & N Islands, Chandigarh, D & N Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry) is 27352000. The defferences between the both figures is 90,000. These population (60-64 years) has been distributed among these State/Uts in its groups population Census 2001. CONCLUSION What Government Can Do? The common problem of those persons who are not getting pension is lack of knowledge about the procedure of this scheme. Government can popularize not only the scheme but the proper procedure by different means or advertisements. Local MLA/MCs can play a major role in popularizing this scheme. The other problem is relating to verification. Persons are not aware about the way of verification and how much time will be consumed in this process. So steps should be taken to aware people about verification process, how much time it will take and in case if the forum is rejected, why it is rejected proper reason should be given. Only sanctioning money is not enough, its proper utilization is also important. For this government should try to aware common man by promoting the effect of RTI. So that proper utilization of money should be assured, variation in the amount of pension should be prevailing over and problem of corruption should be triumph over. What NGOs can DO? NGOs can help government by awaking people about their rights, about public laws and procedures for implementing these laws because the main problem is lacking of awareness. Any thing which we can do for awaking people is important for them as well as for government. At present, need is to change the mentality of common man (what they can do, what are their rights etc.) and for this NGOs can play a good and effective role. What People can do? People need to understand: what are their rights? What are the laws of the country? How can they keep checks on public offices? What is their real power? They need to learn how they can keep pressure on government and insist them to make good law and proper implementation of those laws.

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