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Prime Minister of India - Keep Your Promises, Give Pensions And Stop Savage Budget Cuts

15 December 2013

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Prime Minister Of India: Keep Your Promise, Give Pensions, and Stop Savage Budget Cuts

It is shocking that today, India’s elderly, over 9.65 crore citizens, above 60 years of age, physically exhausted and frail are left to fend for themselves. More than 93% of the working population works in the unorganised sector and does not get pensions linked to their jobs. The Indian Government currently provides an old age pension of a pitiful and shameful amount of rupees 200 per month, that too to less than 2.3 crore members of the total population.

The Pension Parishad, a conglomerate of civil society groups (www.pensionparishad.org) has been agitating for immediate implementation and enhancement of universal social security pensions for the elderly, disabled, and single women since 2012. Old people from across the country gathered in New Delhi every time the parliament was in session to demand their pension rights. The Government of India responded by giving them an assurance to take up this issue and implement our demands.

When the government failed to meet its assurances, over 300 elderly citizens under Pension Parishad gathered on the 26th of November and have since been on an indefinite dharna at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

So far there have been no evidence of the government meeting its commitments to the Pension Parishad and the elderly of the country. “Lack of funds†is now being used as a smoke screen by many Ministers to deny the poor their rights. Meanwhile huge budget cuts (to the tune of Rs. 20,000 crore from just the Rural Development Ministry) have been announced in the social sector, which will further affect the most poor and vulnerable in India and prevent any extension of pension benefits. The Government claims that these amounts are unspent balances. If this is in fact the case, we demand that these amounts be used to fulfill the Government’s promise and immediately issue pensions.

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