Two hundred per cent increase in Jharkhand’s pension coverage: Breaking down the numbers

Categories of pensioners and increases in numbers

The state is providing pension to people across five categories and spent roughly Rs 2400 crore on pensions in the 2022-23 financial year.

As on March 27, under the Old Age Pension scheme, 14.25 lakh beneficiaries are being paid, up from 3.45 lakh as on December 31, 2019. The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Pension beneficiaries went from 52,336 to 70,577 while the beneficiaries Destitute Women Pension went up from 1.72 to 3.79 lakh. HIV AIDs patient beneficiaries jumped from 3375 to 5778, while Disability Pension beneficiaries jumped from 87, 796 to 2.44 lakh.

Why this is a big deal – increased, universal coverage

Various states gives pensions to a large number of people. Bihar, for instance, has more than 42 lakh Old Age Pensioners alone – much more than Jharkhand’s total coverage. But Bihar also has an estimated population of around 12 crore, three times that of Jharkhand, which stands around 4 crore as on 2023.

More than that, the big deal is in the drastic increase in the number of beneficiaries in Jharkhand in the last three years. Adding all categories, the number of beneficiaries have increased by 200 per cent. Considering that previous governments in Jharkhand were able to only add 6.6 lakh people as pensioners until 2019, this is a gargantuan increase.

Also, the Jharkhand government has universalised pensions under all categories. For instance, anyone above 60 is now eligible for Old Age Pension. The pensioner must meet only two criteria.

1. The person should not be an income tax payer.
2. The person should not already be a pensioner.

The government gives Rs 1000 each to all pensioners, unlike the Bihar government where the state’s old age pension ranges from Rs 400-500 each.

The Soren government’s concerted efforts to increase coverage

CM Hemant Soren has conducted ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’ programmes twice in all districts, setting camps in rural areas which led to the registration of lakhs of benificiaries under several pension schemes. Officers conducting the programme were given clear directions to add as many people as they can to the pension schemes.

The government has also simplified various processes to become a beneficiary, including the process to certify a person as ‘specially abled’.

Moreover, several districts have increased coverage with their own efforts. For instance, in Gumla district, having a population of 12 lakh, only 10,154 unique disability ID cards had been issued between 2000 and last year. Now, through a door-to-door survey, 8054 new persons have been identified –significant jump of around 80 per cent – and made benificiaries of the state’s disability pension.

The state government will incur an estimated cost of Rs 2600 crore for universal pension the next fiscal.

Challenges to truly universal coverage

Despite the state’s efforts, there remain gaps in coverage and various challenges faced by potential beneficiaries. Several widows have been excluded from the pension umbrella due to the long drawn process of obtaining death cerificates of their husbands and due to errors in Aadhaar card data, which is required for opening bank accounts. Many people in rural areas, such as in the district of West Singhbhum, have thus far been unable to rectify these errors.

Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a civil rights body of which economist Jean Dreze is a member, had submitted a memorandum to the Women, Child Development and Social Security Minister Jobha Manjhi, flagging various issues. “This is a big hindrance for underprivileged women in remote areas. The requirement of a (court) affidavit for death certificate should be abolished and certificate should be issued only on the basis of verification of village-level authorities,” the memorandum submitted in February last year stated.

Siraj Dutta, a JJM member, said: “The coverage is still far from the claims of universalisation. Many elderly and widows are still excluded because of a complex application process. Many elderly have incorrect age on their Aadhaar, and it is difficult to get that rectified. Many widows are unable to get the death certificate. These issues have been flagged several times to minister and bureaucrats.”

Sources in the department said this issue was indeed raised, but since it is governed by the Registration of Birth and Death Act, the process of issuing death certificates cannot be changed “until the state government makes certain rules”.

Contributions of the Centre

Under the National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP), Centre gives pensions to 12.43 lakh benificiaries in Jharkhand under three categories, with the amount given ranging from Rs 200-500. The Jharkhand government also foots the bill to make the pension under NSAP amount Rs 1000 each, covering the extra cost.

For instance, under NSAP the Centre gives Rs 200 each to 8.86 lakh people under Old Age Pension in the age bracket of 60-79 and Rs 500 each to 73,803 people aged 80 and above. However, the Jharkhand government pays Rs 850.91 crore and Rs 44.28 crore annually, to each respective category of NSAP to increase the amount to Rs 1000 per beneficiary. Similarly Centre gives Rs 300 each to Widows and Specially Abled people totalling 2.88 lakh people, where Jharkhand bears an additional cost of Rs 240.4 crore to increase the amount to Rs 1000.

Thus, in Jharkhand, the total number pensioners stand at 33.88 lakh, with 21.45 lakh being covered by the state’s schemes and 12.43 lakh covered under NSAP, which is further supported by state funding.