There is an important news for crores of pensioners of India. That is, the central government is making up its mind to decide to change the rules for increasing the pension. On the recommendation of a parliamentary committee, the government may soon take a decision regarding the payment of additional pension to the pensioners.
It is believed that the government can make any provision regarding payment of additional pension to crores of pensioners of the country. However, on the recommendation of the Standing Committee, the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs has also asked the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare that the government’s liabilities for payment of arrears of pension to lakhs of pensioners of the country have increased even as the additional pension payments If provision is made, where will the money come from for that?
The biggest obstacle in the life of single family pensioners
In the recommendation made by the Standing Committee of the Parliament, it has been mentioned that the committee is quite familiar with the social churning and changes taking place in our society over the years. There has been a system of joint family in our country and nuclear family is taking its place.
The growth of nuclear families has further increased individualism and individualistic thinking and a generation is growing up which wants to do away with the tutelage of elderly parents or grandparents as per the tradition of joint families. In such a situation, the problem of taking care of the elderly is increasing day by day.
Pensioners organization demanded additional pension
The Standing Committee has also said in its recommendation that according to an estimate, by 2050, the number of elderly people above 60 years of age in the country’s population is expected to increase significantly. So, looking at such changes at the societal level, we need a strong pension system for the elderly, which can help them survive in this world without being a burden on anyone.
The standing committee, in its recommendation, has said that pensioners’ organizations have asked the government to give 5 percent additional pension to pensioners who attain the age of 65 years, 10 percent to 70 years, 15 percent to 75 years and 20 percent to 80 years. has demanded. The committee said that the government should sympathetically consider the demands of pensioners’ organizations.
Where will the money come from for additional pension payment?
The Standing Committee has recommended that the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) should proceed seriously with the Ministry of Finance and apprise the Committee about the same. On the recommendation of the Standing Committee, the Department of Expenditure advised on 5 April 2022 that the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has not told how the additional financial burden will be met by the government.
Therefore, it is advised to first wait for the comments of the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs.
Additional burden on the government
As advised by the Department of Expenditure, the matter was referred to the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs on 07 April 2022 for seeking their comments on the proposal. The Department of Economic Affairs said in its reply on 2 May 2022 that due to the old pension scheme, the pension liabilities of the government have not only reached Rs 2.07 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23, but are also increasing year by year.
Further increase in these liabilities due to the present proposal will put significant pressure on the government, which may not be desirable when the government is engaged in providing higher resources for productive investment while following the path of fiscal consolidation. In addition, with improvements in health infrastructure and demographic changes, the overall life expectancy is expected to increase further.
