The Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme, launched on the late prime minister's 90th birth anniversary, is expected to be projected as one of the major achievements of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the next general elections, due by 2009.
The new welfare scheme seeks to provide Rs.200 per month as the central government's contribution and a matching amount by the states to each beneficiary. Citizens above the age of 65 in the below poverty line (BPL) category can avail the benefits of the scheme.
The central government has been providing Rs.75 to each person in the National Old Age Pension Scheme launched in 1995.
Launching the new scheme at a function held at the Parliament Library building here, Manmohan Singh said the states should implement it at the earliest.
'Today our government has taken a small step to bring a smile on the face of our senior citizens.
'Ownership of the scheme and contribution to it by the state is necessary for the successful implementation of the scheme. I would like all states to own this scheme as their own, increase their contribution to the benefits that are being given and ensure that no one is left out,' the prime minister told a gathering, which also included senior citizens from different parts of the country.
He pointed out that many elderly people in the country have been facing difficulties in sustaining themselves in the old age due to rapid urbanisation with the breakdown of the joint family system, the growth of nuclear families and the increasing longevity.
He also said: 'The Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension scheme is a demand driven social security programme and is not restricted by budget allocations. The new criteria will almost double the coverage under the programme from about 8.7 million now to almost 16 million.'
The prime minister said the scheme would be extended to cover all the widows and physically disabled among the senior citizens in the BPL category.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who was present at the function along with Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, asked the state governments to ensure that the beneficiaries open accounts in a bank or post office to receive money.
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