As with the North-versus-South population debate, another potential concern of population growth and declining fertility rates for Southern states is a growing elderly population and spending on old-age pensions. Some southern states are among those offering the highest monthly pensions for senior citizens across India, with schemes that have the largest number of beneficiaries.
Central and state pension schemes already account for a significant portion of the budget outlay and, as the aging population continues to grow, this will only increase.
Under the Old Age Pension Scheme, a central initiative under the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP), persons in the age group of 60 to 79 years and households below the poverty line are entitled to Rs 200 per month. 500 per month for 80 and above.
The NSAP guidelines say states are “encouraged to provide top-up amounts at least equal” to what the Center offers. States and Union Territories currently offer monthly pensions (above the central scheme) ranging from Rs 50 in Mizoram to Rs 4,000 in Andhra Pradesh, according to a question asked in the Lok Sabha during this year’s monsoon session. In Telangana, the average is around Rs 1,000.
The Central Old Age Pension Scheme has 2.17 crore beneficiaries for which an allocation of Rs 6,827.6 crore was made in 2022-23, as against Rs 5,806.4 crore in 2021-22. The 15th Finance Commission, while considering the continuation of the NSAP for 2021-26, had declined to increase the monthly pension amount considering the “available financial position”. The pension was last increased in 2006-07 from Rs 75 to the current Rs 200 per month.
India’s over-60 population is estimated to be 11.4% of the total population by 2026, up from 8.4% in 2011, with southern states among the highest proportions of senior citizens, according to Census of India estimates. Although Uttar Pradesh, due to its large population, has the highest number of senior citizens (above 60 years) at 2.18 crore, it is Kerala that has the highest estimated proportion of senior citizens at 18.69%, as per the 2026 census estimates. Southern states account for five of the top 10 states in proportion of senior citizens.
However, given the size of the population in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, these states receive the highest central outlay on old-age pension despite having a small proportion of senior citizens. In 2022-23, the Center released Rs 1,473.6 crore and Rs 1,059.1 crore to UP and Bihar respectively, the highest in the country. The next highest disbursement was Rs 663.3 crore in Madhya Pradesh.
But as far as states’ own contributions to old-age pensions go, some southern states are among the highest monthly pension providers in the country. For example, the NTR Bharosa Pension and Asara schemes in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, respectively, provide a monthly subsidy of Rs 4,000 to those above 60 years of age. In fact, the ruling parties in both the states (Telugu Desam Party in Andhra and Congress in Telangana) increased the monthly pension amount after coming to power in the recent assembly elections.
Haryana’s Old Age Honorary Allowance has another high subsidy of Rs 3,000 per month, though this is restricted to Haryana residents earning less than Rs 3 lakh per annum. In Delhi, where elections are coming up, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government last month announced an increase in old-age pensions, saying it would provide Rs 2,000 a month to those aged 60 to 69 and Rs 2,500 to the elderly. 70 and above.
In Rajasthan, the Vridhajan Samman Pension Yojana, which provides Rs 1,000 per month to senior citizens, is one of the few schemes that includes a fixed annual increase of 15%.
In Bihar, the Old Age Pension Scheme provides the lowest monthly pension among large states at Rs 400 for 60 to 79 year olds and Rs 600 for those above 80 years. By the end of 2023, Chhattisgarh has provided only Rs.300. A month before the pension was increased to Rs 500 before the assembly elections that year.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the two states in the top 10 for the highest population over 60 years, have a monthly pension of just Rs 600.
In terms of the number of beneficiaries, for the states that publish this data, states with some populations have significantly fewer senior citizens enrolled in their old-age pension programs than states with smaller populations. While Andhra Pradesh has one of the highest number of beneficiaries of its old age pension scheme at around 65 lakh, the significantly more populous Uttar Pradesh has 56 lakh beneficiaries and Bihar has only 4 lakh beneficiaries.
Other southern states also have a similarly high number of beneficiaries – about 50 lakh in Karnataka, 47.55 lakh in Kerala and 24 lakh in Telangana. Smaller states like Haryana, Punjab and Odisha also outnumber many larger states in terms of beneficiaries, with around 21 lakh, 22 lakh and 35 lakh respectively.
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