an assessment of social pension schemes in … · 4 considerable budgetary allocation is involved...

1

AN ASSESSMENT OF

SOCIAL PENSION

SCHEMES IN KARNATAKA

2

Table of Contents Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 3

List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... 9

List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... 10

List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 11

1 Karnataka State Profile ..................................................................................................... 12

1.1 Demography of Karnataka: ....................................................................................... 12

1.2 State Income .............................................................................................................. 13

1.3 Ration card holders in Karnataka .............................................................................. 14

1.4 Below the Poverty Line Estimates ............................................................................ 15

1.5 Old Age population in Karnataka.............................................................................. 16

1.6 Widows in Karnataka ................................................................................................ 18

1.7 Disabled people in Karnataka ................................................................................... 20

1.7.1 Working Status of Disabled people ................................................................... 21

1.8 Destitute Women in Karnataka ................................................................................. 23

1.9 Aaadhar Card Enrolment in Karnataka ..................................................................... 24

2 Social Security Measures in Karnataka: Overview to Schemes ....................................... 27

2.1 Old Age Pension Scheme: ......................................................................................... 30

2.2 Sandhya Suraksha Yojana: ........................................................................................ 34

2.3 Destitute Widow Pension Scheme ............................................................................ 37

2.4 Physically Handicapped Pension Scheme ................................................................. 40

2.5 Manaswini Scheme ................................................................................................... 43

2.6 Mythri Scheme: ......................................................................................................... 45

3 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 48

4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 53

Reference: ................................................................................................................................ 54

3

Executive summary

Non-contributory pensions, popularly known as “Social pensions”, are a tool used by

governments to ensure against – or at least alleviate poverty through regular cash transfers to

destitute elderly, widows and disabled people who have no regular means of subsistence

from their own sources of income or through financial support from family members or other

sources. These social pensions are referred as non contributory pensions because

entitlements are not based on employment or on a record of payroll contributions. Social

pension serves various objectives like poverty alleviation, consumption smoothening and

insurance in respect of ageing population. The optimal distribution theory is based on the

idea that the elderly need assistance in terms of poverty alleviation and pension helps by

transferring resources from a younger generation to the older generation. It is also generally

assumed that the elderly are less productive than the younger generation and, therefore,

should retire so that there is continuity in deploying efficient means of production. The

magnitude of the woes of persons with disabilities is vast and its impact on the individual,

family and community is severe. The most vulnerable groups among the persons with

disabilities include very young children, women and the aged with disabilities, and the

magnitude is multiplied if the disabled people are from a family belonging to low income

group. For women, destitution in form of widowhood, divorce, or separation from the

husband, leaves most of them economically disadvantaged and they face the problem of

social insecurity and loneliness, raising children, etc. In a socially conservative country like

India, transgender communities face a much more daunting, tedious and uphill battle. Thus,

along with other assistance programs, financial assistance in the form of monthly pension

will help these vulnerable sections of the society in meeting their livelihood requirements.

The Directorate of Social Security and Pensions (SSP), Revenue Department, Govt. of

Karnataka, has been implementing six schemes for poor people in the categories of old age,

widows, destitute women, disabled and transgender. There are two old age pension schemes

namely, Centre and state co-sponsored Old Age Pension scheme and a fully state sponsored

Sandhya Suraksha Yojana (SSY) scheme aimed to help eligible elderly citizens by

providing them with pensions, Destitute Widow Pension Scheme for the empowering

widows, Physically Handicapped Pension Scheme to provide financial assistance to disabled

people, Manaswini scheme for the destitute, divorced and unmarried women aged above 40

years, and Mythri scheme for transgender.

4

Considerable budgetary allocation is involved in running these schemes. Sandhya Suraksha

Yojana Scheme, a State initiative, with highest number of beneficiaries among the 6 schemes

has incurred an expenditure of Rs 1167 crores to State’s exchequer, in percentage terms it is

0.14% of the GSDP for the year 2015-16. Destitute Widow Pension scheme incurred an

expenditure of about Rs.925.57 crores, and Disability Pension Scheme with about 8.28 lakh

beneficiaries has incurred Rs.804 crores. In sum, Government of Karnataka has spent Rs

3548.16 crore to provide financial assistance to the total of 53.84 lakh beneficiaries in these

six schemes. This amounts to 0.45% of the State GDP in the year 2015-16. Due to the

increased spending by the state government in the social assistance sector, in the last 5 years,

nearly 21.93 lakh new beneficiaries have been enrolled in these schemes. In 2015-16 alone,

8.35 lakh new beneficiaries have been enrolled in these flagship schemes. In the last 3 years,

nearly 5 lakh new beneficiaries have been added under these schemes every year. For 2015-

16, there were a total of 53.84 lakh beneficiaries receiving pension under these six pension

schemes.

A significant number of the elderly population continues to participate in the work

force as self-employed. The situation implies that in many cases they do not have any kind of

financial support from the next to kin and have to manage their own financial needs. In this

regard, the present practice of providing old age pension by the government targeting the old

age population in the BPL category can be viewed as a helping hand for the aged. This

would infuse confidence, self-esteem and a sense of social security in them. As February

2016, the OAP scheme covers 7.2 Lakh beneficiaries across Karnataka. With total number of

beneficiaries under the OAP & SSY scheme put together accounting to 29.32 lakh

pensioners, it can be inferred that these two schemes are well targeted and, the schemes are

in active demand among the old age population in Karnataka.

Sandhya Suraksha Yojane scheme is another old age pension programme in

Karnataka implemented by the State Government since 2007. The scheme is fully sponsored

by the state. The purpose of the scheme is to provide financial assistance through cash

transfers of pension amount Rs 500 pm to the elderly people aged above 65 years. With

similar features to OAP, SSY intends to cover a larger section of elderly poor who may not

be covered under OAP. While the benefit amount and age criterion are the same as in the

case of OAP scheme, the difference lies in income eligibility. Pension under SSY scheme

can be availed by elderly persons earning up to Rs. 20,000 per annum and not availing

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pension from any other social scheme. The intended beneficiaries are old age people

employed in occupational groups such as Small farmers, Marginal farmers, Agricultural

laborers, Weavers, fishermen, laborers from unorganized sectors (excluding Building and

other construction workers). As of Feb 2016, there were 22 lakh beneficiaries in the state

availing pension under the scheme. Within a short time frame of 4 years, the size of the

beneficiaries has doubled from 11 lakh in 2011-12 to 22 lakh beneficiaries in 2015-16. While

OAP focuses on the poor elderly under the BPL category, SSY scheme extends the coverage

to include elderly people in the marginally BPL category.

In 2009, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) was

introduced by Government of India under the National Social Assistance Programme

(NSAP). At the time of this research, the scheme was meant to benefit widows aged above

18 years, below poverty line, whose husband is legally dead. The pension amount of Rs 500

pm will be paid till she remarries or her children starts supporting her or her income limit

crosses limit as above or till her death. While IGNWPS is a recent scheme, Destitute Widow

Pension Scheme (DWP) which is a state government’s initiative with similar features to

assist destitute widows in the BPL category, has been in operation since 1984.

There were 15.43 lakh widow pensioners in the state as in 2015-16. In the last one year

alone, nearly 1, 91,000 beneficiaries have been enrolled in the scheme. The DSSP statistics

shows the number of new beneficiaries being added in to the scheme Year-on-Year basis,

since last 5 years, and as per the same more than 1 lakh new beneficiaries have been added in

the scheme every year. This rate of growth is the illustration of popularity of the scheme.

Apart from the flagship Destitute Widow Pension scheme, Government of Karnataka has

taken initiatives for the economic wellbeing of the destitute widows. Udyogini is one such

innovative scheme started in the year 1997-98. This scheme empowers women by providing

loans through banks and other financial institutions. Its benefits are available to all women,

however, widows and destitute women are given special preferences such as relaxing the

income limit, and loans are provided at subsidized rate. There are also various training

programmes conducted to impart skills in assisting self-employment and wage employment.

In Karnataka, as per census 2011, there were 1.32 million differently-abled people. This

accounts to approximately 5 % of the total differently-abled population in India. Among all

the age groups, the proportion of men with disabilities was higher as compared to women.

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Nearly half of the disabled were of age less than 30 and only one-fourth of disabled persons

were of age 50 or more. The total number of persons receiving physically handicapped

pensions in the state was 8.28 lakh in 2015-16. There were 4.84 lakh beneficiaries with

disability below 75% and 3.43 lakh beneficiaries with disability above 75% were receiving

pension under this scheme as on 2015-16. The State has implemented many schemes for the

benefit of disabled people in the areas of rehabilitation, education, skill development and

employment opportunities.

The state government introduced the Manaswini scheme in August 2013 with the

objective of providing financial assistance to poor unmarried, separated and divorced women

aged above 40 years. Under this scheme, a monthly pension of Rs 500 is given to the

beneficiaries. In the first year of implementation, nearly 12000 beneficiaries were enrolled in

the scheme. In the last two years, nearly 30,000 beneficiaries were added to the scheme year-

on-year, counting to 73000 beneficiaries as on year 2015-16. Of the four revenue divisions,

Mysore has highest number of beneficiaries with 36% of total beneficiaries, followed by

Bengaluru division with 30% of total beneficiaries (or) nearly 22,000 beneficiaries as on

year 2015-16.

Mythri Scheme, another state government initiative, was started on August 2013 to

help transgender community and bring them to the mainstream of the society. Under this

scheme, members of sexuality minorities who are aged above 25 years will be entitled for a

monthly pension of Rs.500. The latest census of the KSAPS estimated the numbers of

transgender in State at about 24,500. In the first year of the commencement of the scheme,

only 215 beneficiaries enrolled in the scheme, but it has grown to 1021 beneficiaries as on

2015-16. However, these enrollment numbers seems to be meagre in comparison to the

KSAPS figures on transgender.

Leakage in the pension administration system could take many forms including the

incidence of duplicates in the administrative records, fictitious or ghost pensioners (either

due to fake entries in the administrative records or the non-suspension or continuation for

those who have died or moved or are no longer eligible), and through bribes or theft. In the

absence of computerized records, the current requirement of annual physical verification of

the pensioner at the treasury office is not sufficient to check the incidence of fake pensioners.

Thus, a well-designed and computerized system for application processing, record-keeping

7

and monitoring becomes essential. Another important problem is the delay in the disbursal of

pensions. Though it is recognized that existing banking network is not as wider as postal

network; hence they may face limitations in reaching out to the remote and far off villages,

Reserve Bank of India has taken many steps to redefine banking in India. Payment banking

is one such initiative from RBI. The Reserve Bank expects payment banks to target India’s

migrant laborers, low-income households and small businesses, offering savings accounts

and remittance services with a low transaction cost.

If the household income is taken into account, as per the present eligibility criteria of Rs.

12000 PA in rural areas and Rs. 17000 PA in urban areas for sanction of widow and

disability pension, many households become ineligible. In the present context, where that

the implementation of NREGP which guarantees a minimum of 100 days of employment per

annum and the revised minimum wage of Rs.224 per day in Karnataka according to the

Minimum Wages Act, as on March 2016. Therefore, it is unlikely that the annual income of

a household would be less than income limits criteria of the scheme, even if there is one

worker in the household, thus fixing such an income limit as eligibility for sanction of

pension appears to be unrealistic. State government shall contemplate an upward revision of

the income criteria for sanctioning widow and disability pensions. Also, annual income limit

criteria cannot be viewed in isolation. The indebtedness of the household, the source and

purpose of debt will have a bearing on household income. If the household incurs a debt

from a private source for health or consumption purpose or even for investment on

agriculture, there may be no returns or the rate of return is uncertain, which would make it

difficult for the household to repay it. The expenditure pattern, especially on medical

expenses or education or liquor/gambling, should also be taken into account to judge

whether the income puts the household on a sound footing in economic terms. Similarly, the

monthly pension amount shall be revised every two to three years and changed every six

month based on inflation – in the same manner as is done for salaries of government

servants.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) established a program in 2009

called Aadhaar as a method for providing identification to the marginalized residents of

India. The purpose of the identification project was to promote greater social and financial

inclusion for all residents in the formal economy of India. By providing a clear proof of

identity, the UID number also facilitates entry for poor and underprivileged residents into the

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formal banking system, and the opportunity to avail services provided by the government

and the private sector.

The above discussion has certain policy implications. The progressive step of RBI issuing

license to setting Payment Banks is a welcome feature. However, facilitating financial

literacy is to move to payment system through banking network. Computerization of data,

introducing online application processing and monitoring systems needs to be expedited to

improve the efficiency of the pension administrative system. Policy regarding the income

criteria for the sanction of pension needs to be revised upwards without any delay so that the

deserving potential beneficiaries could be brought under the purview of pension. Lastly,


month based on inflation. Given the increasing acceptance of Aadhaar, linking Aadhaar

number with the pension accounts has its own benefits. The Aadhaar seeding can help in

identifying fake beneficiaries and detect fraudulent practices by false claimant. In order to

make the pension disbursal system corruption-free and transparent, government shall link

social security scheme beneficiaries’ bank accounts with their Aadhaar card and make their

names public

The steady growth in active pensioners in the state is a step in the right direction, since

projections of elderly populations and their projected socio‐economic status predict higher

dependency ratios for elderly population in the coming years. This is of serious concern as

most of the disabled persons were found to be very young. It also indicates that government

policy and programmes should aim at early mainstreaming of these young persons with

disability for a long-run solution to the problem. The fight for access to education and health,

legal recognition, increased awareness, access to social welfare schemes and end to

harassment requires social mobilization of the transgender community. There is a urgent

need for a government-conducted transgender census to identify targeted beneficiaries to be

enrolled in the scheme. Also, government should take necessary steps in guaranteeing rights

and entitlements, reservations in education, legal aid, skill development and create

employment opportunities for transgender.

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List of Acronyms

BPL Below the Poverty Line

DSSP Directorate of Social Security and Pensions

DWP Destitute Widow Pension

GoK Government of Karnataka

GSDP Gross State Domestic Product

Fig Figure

IGNOAPS Indra Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme

IGNWPS Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme

KSAPS Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society

N .A. Not Available

NPHH Non Priority Households

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NREGP National Rural Employment Guarantee Program

OAP Old Age Pension

pm per month

PA Per Annum

PHP Physically Handicapped Pension

PHH Priority Households

RBI Reserve Bank of India

RC Ration Card

SSY Sandhya Suraksha Yojana

Y-o-Y Year-on-Year

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List of Tables Table No. Title of the Table Page No.

Table1.0.1 : Revenue Divisions of Karnataka 12

Table1.1.1 : Demographic Features of Karnataka 13

Table1.2.1 : Comparison of Karnataka’s GSDP with India’s GDP 14

Table1.3.1 : Districts with highest number of PHH RCs 14

Table 1.4.1 : All India and Karnataka Poverty Line details 16

Table1.5.1 : Demographics of Elderly Population 17

Table 1.6.1 : Age distribution of Widows in Karnataka 19

Table 1.7.1 : Disabled people in Karnataka 21

Table 1.8.1 Age Wise Distribution of destitute women in Karnataka 24

Table1.9.1 : Aadhaar Enrollments in Karnataka till June 2016 25

Table 2.0.1 : Social expenditure Vs. Percentage of State GSDP 28

Table 2.0.2 : Physical Progress in the six schemes 28

Table 2.0.3 : Growth in Beneficiaries of Old Schemes 28

Table 2.0.4 : Growth in Beneficiaries of New Schemes 28

Table 2.1.1 : Central and State Contribution in OAP Scheme 30

Table 2.1.2 : Annual growth in OAP beneficiaries 31

Table 2.1.3 : Revenue division-wise distribution of OAP beneficiaries 32

Table 2.2.1 : Annual growth in SSY beneficiaries 34

Table 2.2.2 : Revenue division-wise new enrollments in SSY 34

Table 2.2.3 : Revenue division-wise distribution of SSY beneficiaries 35

Table 2.3.1 : Annual growth in DWP beneficiaries 38

Table 2.3.2 : Revenue division-wise new enrollments in DWP 38

Table 2.3.3 : Revenue division-wise distribution of DWPS Beneficiaries 38

Table 2.4.1 : Annual growth in PHP beneficiaries 40

Table 2.4.2 : Revenue division-wise distribution of PHP Beneficiaries 41

Table 2.5.1 : Annual growth in Manaswini beneficiaries 43

Table 2.5.2 : Revenue division-wise new enrollments in Manaswini scheme 43

Table 2.5.3 : Revenue division-wise distribution of beneficiaries under

Manaswini

44

Table 2.6.1 : Annual growth in beneficiaries in Mythri scheme 46

Table: 2.6.2 : Revenue division-wise distribution of beneficiaries in Mythri

Scheme

46

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List of Figures

Figure No. Title of the Figure Page No.

Figure 1.3.1 : Ration Card Holders in Karnataka 15

Figure 1.5.1 : Demographics of Elderly Population 17

Figure.1.6.1 : Age distribution of Widows in Karnataka 18

Figure 1.6.2 : Age wise distribution of widows-Rural and urban comparison 18

Figure 1.7.1 : Total Disabled worker 22

Figure 1.7.2 : Disabled Main worker 22

Figure 1.7.3 : Disabled Marginal worker 22

Figure 1.8.1 : Age wise Distribution of destitute women in Karnataka 24

Figure 1.9.1 : Number of Aadhaars in Karnataka till June 2016 25

Figure 2.1.1 : Percentage of OAP beneficiaries in 2015-16 31

Figure 2.1.2 : New Enrollments in OAP in 5 years 31

Figure 2.2.1 : Percentage of SSY beneficiaries in 2015-16 35

Figure 2.2.2 : New Enrollments in SSY Scheme in 5 years 35

Figure 2.3.1 : Percentage of DWP beneficiaries in 2015-16 37

Figure 2.3.2 : New Enrollments in DWPS in 5 years 37

Figure 2.4.1 : Percentage of beneficiaries in PHP in 2015-16 41

Figure 2.4.2 : New Enrollments in PHP in last 5 years 41

Figure 2.5.1 : Percentage of Manaswini beneficiaries in 2015-16 44

Figure 2.5.2 : New Enrollments in Manaswini in 5 years 44

Figure 2.6.1 : Revenue division-wise total beneficiaries in Mythri as on 2015-16 54

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1 Karnataka State Profile

Karnataka, India’s eighth largest state in terms of geographical area (191791 sq.km)

is home to 6.11 crore people (2011 Census). The state’s population has grown by 15.7%

during the last decade, while its population density has risen from 276 in 2001 to 319 in

2011 indicating an increase of about 15.6%. Karnataka State has been divided into four

Revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 30 districts, 177 taluks for administrative purposes. The

jurisdictions of the Revenue Divisions are given in the table.

Table1.0.1: Revenue Divisions of Karnataka.

Name of the

Revenue Division

Location of

the RDC

Districts under Jurisdiction

Bengaluru Division

Bengaluru

Bengaluru urban, Bengaluru rural,

Chikkaballapura, Davangere, Kolar,

Ramanagara, Shimoga, Tumakur,

Chitradurga.

Mysore Division

Mysore

Mysore, Udupi, Mandya, Dakshina

Kannada, Chikkamangaluru,

Chamarajnagar, Kodadu, Hassan.

Belgaum Division

Belgaum

Bagalkote, Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwad,

Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada.

Gulbarga Division

Gulbarga Bellary, Bidar,Gulbarga,Koppal, Raichur,

Yadgir

Source: Karnataka State Profile-2011

1.1 Demography of Karnataka:

As per the 2011 census data, in Karnataka there are 61.09 million persons, comprising

30.96 million male and 30.12 million female population. With the nation’s population being

121.01 billion, the share of Karnataka’s population in the country is 5.04 %. The total area

of Karnataka is 191791 sq. km, which is 6.26 % of India. The density of population is 276

persons live in one square kilometer area, which is lower than the national average of 334

Persons per sq. km. The decadal growth rate of 17.51 whereas national rate is 21.34. The sex

ratio of Karnataka is 973 females per 1000 males. The all India figure is 933, which is less

by 32 points.

Another characteristic of the population, which reflects on social development, is the

literacy rate. The literacy rate of the Karnataka is 75.36 % as against the all India average of

74.04 percent. The male literacy rate has gone up by 6 percent from 76.1 % 2001 to 82.47 %

13

in 2011. Similarly, the female literacy rate has gone up by 11% from 56.9% in 2001 to

68.08% in 2011. Level of urbanization is an indicator of development. Out of total

population of Karnataka, 38.67% (or) 23.6 million people live in urban centers. The urban

population in the last 10 years has increased by 38.67 percent. Sex Ratio in urban regions of

Karnataka was 963 females per 1000 males. For child (0-6) sex ratio the figure for urban

region stood at 946 girls per 1000 boys. Average Literacy rate in urban areas was 85.78

percent in which males were 90.04% literate while female literacy stood at 77.97%.

Table1.1.1: Demographic Features of Karnataka

Demographic Features 2001 2011

Total population 52,850,562 61,095,297

Male population 26,898,918 30,966,657

Female population 25,951,644 30,128,640

Sex ratio 965 973

Density of population 276 319

Literacy rate general in % 67 75.36

Male literacy rate in % 76.1 82.47

Female literacy rate in % 56.9 68.08

% of population living in

urban places

36 28

Source: Census of India 2011

1.2 State Income

The Advance estimate of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) estimates of

state for the year 2015-16 (with 2011-12 as new base year, replacing 2004-05) is expected to

grow at 6.2% and reach Rs7,80,805 crore from Rs7,34,988 crore last year. In the new series,

with 2011-12 as base year, the GSDP estimates are at market prices. Nevertheless, the state

continues to be in the league of middle income states. The level of per capita income at

constant (2011- 12) prices for the year 2015-16 is estimated to reach Rs.1,10,624 as

compared to Rs.1,05,350 achieved in 2014-15 (GoK 2016). Year 2014-15 saw the highest

growth rate in the last 5 years, with GSDP growing Y-o-Y at 7.8 % compared to nation’s

GDP growing at 7.2% Y-o-Y from previous year.

14

Table1.2.1: Comparison of Karnataka’s GSDP with India’s GDP

Year GSDP

(Rs. crore)

Growth Rate of

GSDP (%)

GDP

(Rs. crore)

Growth Rate of

GDP (%)

2011-12 602655 N.A. 8736039 N.A

2012-13 637893 5.8 9226879 5.6

2013-14 681889 6.9 9839434 6.6

2014-15 734988 7.8 10552151 7.2

2015-16 780805 6.2 11350962 7.6

Source: Economic Survey of Karnataka (2015)

1.3 Ration card holders in Karnataka

While it is voluntary to obtain ration cards in India, an Indian ration card is mainly

used for purchasing subsidized food and fuel (LPG, kerosene, wheat and rice) through the

Public Distribution System (PDS). It is an important subsistence tool for the poor, providing

proof of identity and a connection with government databases. Eligibility for the Antyodaya,

BPL and APL ration cards is based on the economic status of the family. It is issued one per

family by the state government. It has three categories – extreme poverty level (Antyodaya),

below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL). These poverty lines are defined by

the Planning Commission of India every few years based on data collection and analysis

from various sources. Till recently, the ration cards were categorized as BPL and APL. But

the new Food Security Act has done away these two categories and introduced priority and

non-priority household categories. As on April 2016, there were 1.31 crore census

households in Karnataka. The number of PHH and Non-PHH ration cards issued were 1.02

crore and 27.09 lakh respectively. The chart below, shows that number of households with

PHH ration cards outnumbered the number of households with NPHH ration cards, in all the

four revenue divisions of Karnataka. This shall show that a large number of households are

still under BPL category and depend on Public Distribution System for the subsidized food

and fuel.

Table1.3.1: Districts with highest number of PHH RCs

District Name PHH RCs

Mysore 594895

Belgaum 843083

Gulbarga 449666

Tumkur 574663

Source: Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Dept. (Gok.)

15

0100000200000300000400000500000600000

Mysore Division

PHH RCs

NPHH RCs

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

BA

LLA

RI

BID

AR

KA

LAB

UR

AG

I

KO

PP

AL

YAD

GIR

RA

ICH

UR

Gulbarga division

PHH RCs

NPHH RCs0100000200000300000400000500000600000

Bengaluru division

PHH RCs

NPHH RCs

Figure 1.3.1: Ration Card Holders in Karnataka (as on April 2016)

Source: Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Dept. (GoK.)

The above tables show the districts with highest number PHH RCs issued, within their

respective revenue division. Belgaum district has the highest number of PHH RCs issued

among all the districts of Karnataka, followed by Mysore with 5.94 lakh PHH RCs as on

April 2016.

1.4 Below the Poverty Line Estimates

Identification of urban and rural poor households is a necessary condition for more

effectively targeting the beneficiaries under various poverty alleviation programmes being

implemented by the Central and the State Governments. The individual or family income of

which is not adequate to ensure them the minimum requirements of life (e.g. nutrition,

clothing and shelter) is stated to be the poverty line. The all India poverty line is the per

capital per month expenditure that corresponds to the all India poverty ratio. It also indicates

the monthly per capita among rural and urban people in different states of India.

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

Belgaum Division

PHH RCs

NPHH RCs

16

Table 1.4.1: All India and Karnataka Poverty Line details

Year

State /

Union

Territory

Rural Urban Combined

Number

of

persons

(Lakh)

% of

persons

Poverty

line

(Rs)

Number

of

persons

(Lakh)

% of

persons

Povert

y line

(Rs)

Number

of

persons

(Lakh)

% of

persons

2011-

12

Karnataka 9280 24.53 902 3696 15.25 1089 12976 20.91

All India 216658 25.7 816 53125 13.7 1000 269783 21.92

Source: RBI, 2013.

The total number of people below the poverty line in the country has been estimated

at 269.7 million people in 2011-12, of which 216.5 million people reside in rural areas,

while, 53.12 million people live in urban areas. In Karnataka, out of 12.97 million people

below the poverty line, nearly 9.2 million people were living in rural areas and 3.6 million

people in urban center. The state's poverty percentage is lower than the national average.

These poverty lines would vary from state to state because of inter-state price differentials.

The poverty line was calculated on the basis of a monthly per capita income of Rs.902 for

rural areas and Rs.1089 for urban areas. Thus, for a family of five, the state’s poverty line in

terms of consumption expenditure would amount to about Rs. 4510 per month in rural areas

and Rs. 5,445 per month in urban areas. Poverty in India is a hurdle for economic prosperity.

The Governments at the state levels should expedite measures to improve the income level

of the people.

1.5 Old Age population in Karnataka

The number of elderly in India is rising rapidly. India’s elderly population is estimated at

10 crore in 2011, and is projected to reach 20 crore by 2030. The proportion of elderly

persons in the total population is expected to increase from 8.3 percent in 2011 to 12.4

percent in 2026. In this context, a few important characteristics need to be considered. In

2010, about two-third of the elderly lived in villages and nearly half were of poor socio-

economic status. Half of the elderly are dependents mainly due to widowhood, divorce or

separation and a large number of these are females (Singh, 2013).

While the shift from a young to an older age structure reflects a successful record in health

improvements in the country, the fact that individuals are reaching the older ages in

unprecedented numbers and with varying needs and resources is likely to pose many policy

challenges arising out of increasing proportions of elderly and decreasing proportions of

children. This trend leads to a decreasing support base combined with higher levels of old

17

0

10,00,000

20,00,000

30,00,000

40,00,000

Demographics of elderly population

Male

Female

age dependency. Fewer working age persons supporting more number of elders, greater

likelihood of experiencing the loss of one's spouse, especially for women, and low levels of

literacy are some of the sources of vulnerability that are faced in old age.

With the number of older persons in general increasing and highest elderly population in the

age group of 60-64, increased longevity of women has jointly resulted in higher numbers of

female population in the age group of 60 years and above. According to census 2011, there

were 57, 91,000 people in the above 60 years age group. In the entire age bracket above the

60 years age group, there were more numbers in female population than men. The highest

numbers were found in the age group of 60-64 years where there were 10, 65,422 elderly

women in Karnataka during the census period.

Table1.5.1: Demographics of Elderly Population

Figure 1.5.1: Demographics of Elderly Population

Source: Karnataka Census-2011.

While the number of older persons in general is increasing, the increase among the oldest old

of 80 years and above, who will have special needs for health and support, is particularly

sharp. Further, women constitute a major portion of this increase as they live longer than

men, particularly after 75 years of age, as we can see, out of 11, 49,736 people in the age

Karnataka Census-2011 data

Age-group Persons Male Female

60-64 20,60,052 9,94,630 10,65,422

65-69 15,20,119 7,23,687 7,96,432

70-74 10,61,125 5,10,419 5,50,706

75-79 5,24,426 2,49,834 2,74,592

80+ 6,25,310 2,68,502 3,56,808

total 57,91,032 27,47,072 30,43,960

Source: Karnataka Census-2011.

18

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

20

-24

30

-34

40

-44

50

-54

60

-64

70

-74

80

+

Urban

Rural

0

200000

400000

600000

20

-24

30

-34

40

-44

50

-54

60

-64

70

-74

80

+

Widows in Karnataka

Total-Females

group of 75+ years of age, there were 1, 13,064 more elderly women than the total number

of elderly men in that age group i.e. elderly women formed 54% of the total population in

that age group.

A growing older population implies the need for a higher quantity and quality of

geriatric services, arrangements of income security and improved quality of life in general.

Studies point out that low-income household cannot cope with increased dependency

because they work in informal labour markets and have fewer work opportunities at a time

when there will be fewer children for parents to count on in their old age. The need for social

pension payments and resulting financial outlays to meet the increasing old age dependency

and decreasing support base becomes more important. Further, older persons and their

families will have to deal with challenges arising out of increased longevity.

1.6 Widows in Karnataka

A major transition in old age occurs due to the loss of spouse that contributes to a

feeling of increased insecurity among both men and women. According to the 2011 Census,

there were 29,77,672 widows in Karnataka, of which 67% of them live in rural areas and

remaining 33% or 9,91,530 widows live in urban areas. Similarly, the age wise distribution

shows that the highest number of widows is in the bracket of 60-64 years of age both in rural

and urban areas. But, otherwise, widowhood is more prominent across all age brackets in

rural areas than in urban centers (Fig 1.6.2). There is also significant increasing numbers of

oldest old (or) above 80 years population, counting to 2, 66,336 elderly widows, of which

70% of them live in rural Karnataka.

Figure.1.6.1: Age distribution of Figure 1.6.2: Age wise distribution of

Widows in Karnataka widows-Rural and urban comparison

Source: Karnataka Census-2011

19

Table1.6.1: Age distribution of Widows in Karnataka


Not having a spouse in the older ages is a cause for concern for both men and women. For

Indian women who have lost their spouse, financial security poses a problem, since women

generally do not own land or other assets and are dependent on their children, particularly

sons (Lekha, 2011). These elderly women will have special needs for health and support.

While the Government of India has enacted several policies and programmes for destitute

women in India such as Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) 40

under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), Antyodaya Anna Yojana,

Annapurna scheme, Swadhar scheme, and various schemes sponsored by the respective

States, there have been gaps in implementation of the schemes. Though there is a substantial

amount of growth in the number of beneficiaries enrolled in various schemes, a large number

of widows, primarily in the rural areas, are either not aware about their entitlement to a

pension or do not know how to access it. Also, for the uneducated widows in the rural areas

there is difficulty in obtaining relevant documents such as birth and death certificates and

paper work that are required to access their entitlements. Acquiring death certificates within

the stipulated period of 30 days after the death of the husband is difficult given the socio-

Age-group Total-Females Urban Rural

20-24 22486 7614 14872

25-29 53738 18076 35662

30-34 87813 30566 57247

35-39 149452 54327 95125

40-44 191670 70215 121455

45-49 254571 95871 158700

50-54 288563 106887 181676

55-59 280821 106595 174226

60-64 434387 142078 292309

65-69 395104 118838 276266

70-74 361940 101685 260255

75-79 190791 59893 130898

80+ 266336 78885 187451

20

economic condition of widows and stigma and discrimination faced following the loss of

their spouses. Travelling to district office to get the relevant forms for pension, opening bank

accounts to access the pension is equally difficult and complex for widows, especially for the

older ones. These challenges are compounded with limitations of financial literacy.

1.7 Disabled people in Karnataka

The Constitution of India ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals

and implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all including the persons with disabilities.

The Constitution in the schedule of subjects lays direct responsibility of the empowerment of

the persons with disabilities on the State Governments Therefore; the primary responsibility

to empower the persons with disabilities rests with the State Governments. The various types

of disability that are considered are: disabled in –seeing, speech, hearing, movement and

mental.

The official estimates of disabled persons in India, obtained through the latest Population

Census and National Sample Survey Organization’s comprehensive surveys on disability,

put the figure as about 26.8 million. In percentage terms, this stands at 2.21 %. In Karnataka

there were 1.32 million differently-abled people, as per census 2011. This accounts to

approximately 5 % of the total differently-abled population in India. Highest number of

disabled population of about 4, 81,294 persons with disability were found in the age bracket

10-19 and 20-29. Among all the age groups, the proportion of men with disabilities was

higher as compared to women. Again out of total disabled population, nearly 7.5 per cent

suffered from more than one type of the disabilities. In this category the in the advanced age,

the proportion of women with disability was higher as compared to men. The types of

disability covered were (i) mental disability in the form of (a) mental retardation or (b)

mental illness, (ii) visual disability in the form of (a) blindness or (b) low vision, (iii) hearing

disability, (iv) speech disability, and (v) locomotor disability. In the case of locomotor

disability, more than one type of locomotor disability was considered as multiple disabilities.

21

Table 1.7.1 Disabled people in Karnataka

Karnataka Disability Data-Census 2011

Total number Disabled Persons in Karnataka Person with multiple disabilities

Age group Total Male Female Total Male Female

0-4 58602 30721 27881 4508 2523 1985

5-9 93449 51342 42107 11435 6709 4726

10-19 237332 130720 106612 24226 13759 10467

20-29 243962 133564 110398 16238 9035 7203

30-39 193941 108554 85387 10840 5979 4861

40-49 157235 91900 65335 8398 5053 3345

50-59 118482 67791 50691 6012 3612 2400

60-69 113719 60679 53040 7033 3816 3217

70-79 69151 34765 34386 6084 2966 3118

80-89 28285 12345 15940 3633 1507 2126

90+ 8513 3298 5215 1521 529 992

Total 1324205 726521 597684 100013 55532 44481


1.7.1 Working Status of Disabled people

Literacy and economic support are the two far-most important basic needs of the disabled to

rehabilitate them. Providing education and creating opportunities for participation in

economically productive activities changes the disabled people’s life styles in many ways

and brings self-confidence in them.

Census classifies workers as Main workers and marginal workers. Main Workers are

those workers who had worked for the major part of the reference period i.e. 6 months or

more. Marginal Workers are those workers who had not worked for the major part of the

reference period i.e. less than 6 months. The Main workers are classified on the basis of

Industrial category of workers into four categories as Cultivators, Agricultural Laborers,

Household Industry Workers and Other Workers. Non-workers are students, household

workers, pensioner, beggars, rentiers, and those who are dependent on others for their

survival. Most of the disabled workers from both rural and urban areas are in the age group

of 15-59 years. Nearly 51% of disabled male workers and nearly 22 % of the disabled female

workers are in the “main worker” category.

22

Age wise and gender wise distribution of disabled workers

Figure 1.7.1 : Total Disabled worker


Figure 1.7.2 : Disabled Main worker


Figure 1.7.3 : Disabled Marginal worker


The Government of India, through Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and

the Government of Karnataka through the Department of Social Welfare & disabled are

entrusted with responsibility of providing welfare measures to handicapped children. The

Department of welfare provides various types of the benefits in the form of education,

0-14 15-59 60+ 0-14 15-59 60+

Rural Urban

Male 88727 271934 77575 57797 196134 33512

Female 71548 204908 77311 50564 161391 31270

050000

100000150000200000250000300000

0-14 15-59 60+ 0-14 15-59 60+

Rural Urban

Male 1862 143238 26245 1517 118013 9926

Female 1287 58097 9098 1082 36721 2769

020000400006000080000

100000120000140000160000

0-14 15-59 60+ 0-14 15-59 60+

Rural Urban

Male 1070 25501 4646 1262 14607 1639

Female 1016 26884 4830 1164 9729 1169

05000

1000015000200002500030000

Disabled-Marginal worker

23

employment and training, rehabilitation and social security measures to improve the

capabilities of the disabled. However, the census statistics show nearly half of the disabled

were of age less than 30 and only one-fourth of disabled persons were of age 50 or more.

This is of serious concern as most of the disabled persons were found to be very young. The

Governments, both at center and state, have to take necessary steps for the upliftment of this

section of the society.

1.8 Destitute Women in Karnataka

Desertion is the failure of marital life, and therefore, it has serious repercussions on

the individual, family and the community. The most basic and also the foremost problem that

these women face is the problem of social insecurity and loneliness. Deserted women come

across other problems too, of accommodation, raising children, etc. Studies of widows and

divorced or separated women show that the financial problems of single mothers are severe.

Many live at a bare subsistence level and face continuing difficulties in providing food,

clothing and shelter for themselves and their children. Problems of desertion are entirely

different from that of divorce. A divorcee is legally free to remarry whereas desertees are

not.

The aim of this section is to use census 2011 data to understand the distribution of

destitute women in the age group between 40 years to 60 years of age, and using the review

of literature, highlight the problems that the women desertees encounter after desertion. As

per census 2011, the incidence of the desertion was higher in the age group of 50-54 years,

and it is more prominent in rural areas than in urban areas. Among the various types of

classification, incidence of widowhood is much higher across all the age brackets in the rural

and as well as in urban areas. There were 10.15 lakh widows, 93,570 unmarried women and

73,182 women separated from their spouse, and 9,654 divorced. Thus, it can be inferred

from the above statistics that divorce is not a common practice though a large number of

married women were deserted by their husbands.

24

Figure 1.8.1: Age wise Distribution of destitute women in Karnataka


Table 1.8.1: Age wise Distribution of destitute women in Karnataka

Urban/Rural Age-group Never Married Widowed Separated Divorced Total

Rural 40-44 17527 121455 19733 2129 160844

45-49 12654 158700 15964 1647 188965

50-54 9592 181676 11094 1155 203517

55-59 6436 174226 6502 716 187880

Urban 40-44 16592 70215 7125 1485 95417

45-49 12651 95871 6128 1218 115868

50-54 10072 106887 4030 751 121740

55-59 8046 106595 2606 553 117800


1.9 Aaadhar Card Enrolment in Karnataka

Aadhaar number is a unique 12- digit number provided by the Unique Identification

Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the Government of India. This number will serve as

a proof of identity and address anywhere in India for an individual, irrespective of age and g

ender, who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the

UIDAI. A problem in reaching benefits to poor and marginalized residents is that they often

lack the identification documents they need to receive benefits of government sponsored

schemes (SharmaV. 2011). Thus, by providing a clear proof of identity, the UID number

facilitates entry for poor and underprivileged residents into the formal banking system, and

the opportunity to avail services provided by the government and the private sector.

0

100000

200000

40

-44

45

-49

50

-54

55

-59

40

-44

45

-49

50

-54

55

-59

Rural Urban

Marital status

Never Married

Widowed

Separated

Divorced

25

0

5000000

10000000

15000000

20000000

25000000

Bengaluru

Division

Gulbarga

division

Belgaum

Division

Mysore

Division

Series1 20023198 1,00,10,474 1,40,36,953 11944194

No

. o

f A

ad

ha

ars

Table1.9.1: Aadhaar Enrolments in Karnataka till June 2016

Source: Government of Karnataka.

Figure 1.9.1: Number of Aadhaars in Karnataka till June 2016

Source: Government of Karnataka.

Of the 4 revenue divisions in the state, the division with the least Aadhaar enrolment is

Gulbarga division, followed Belguam division. Bengaluru division has seen the highest

enrolment with over 2 crore people enrolled for Aadhaar cards. Of all the 30 districts in

Karnataka, the highest enrolment is in Bengaluru with over 80 lakh people enrolled in

Mysore Division

District Name No. of Aadhaar

Chamrajanagara 939187

Chikkamangaluru 1064603

Mangalore 1938299

Hassan 1658678

Kodagu 493209

Udupi 1168026

Mandya 1658482

Mysuru 3023710

Bengaluru Division


Bengaluru 8037478

Bengaluru Rural 888275

Chikkaballapur 1106684

Davangere 1797636

Kolar 1368990

Ramanagar 968168

Shimoga 1588909

Tumakur 2736710

Chitradurga 1530348

Belgaum Division


Bagalkot 1753572

Belgaum 4582523

Bijapur 2055942

Dharwad 1822049

Gadag 969885

Haveri 1508185

Karwar 1344797

Gulbarga division


Ballari 2242481

Bidar 1529857

Gulbarga 2289774

Koppal 1235246

Yadgir 1044413

Raichur 1668703

26

Aadhaar scheme, while Kodagu has seen the lowest with only close to 5 lakh people having

enrolled in the scheme. Given the increasing acceptance of Aadhaar, linking Aadhaar number

with the pension accounts has its own benefits. The Aaadhar seeding can help in identifying

fake beneficiaries and detect fraudulent practices by false claimants. Clear accountability and

transparent monitoring would significantly improve access and quality of entitlements to

beneficiaries and the agency alike. In order to make the pension disbursal system corruption-

free and transparent, government shall link social security scheme beneficiaries’ bank

accounts with their Aadhaar card and make their names public.

27

2 Social Security Measures in Karnataka: Overview to Schemes India’s national and State social pension schemes aim to alleviate chronic poverty

through regular cash transfers to destitute elderly, widows and disabled people who have no

regular means of subsistence from their own sources of income or through financial support

from family members or other sources. Until the recent introduction of the National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act, social pensions were the most significant cash-only social

protection transfer In India and remain a critical source of support for vulnerable groups

(Dutta, 2008).

The Directorate of Social Security and Pensions (SSP), Revenue Department, Govt. of

Karnataka, has been implementing six schemes for the poor people in old age, widows,

destitute women, disabled and transgenders. These are two old age pension schemes, namely

Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), a centrally sponsored scheme

and Sandhya Suraksha Yojana (SSY), a fully state funded scheme, aimed to help eligible

elderly citizens by providing them with direct cash pensions. The other four schemes are

Destitute Widow Pension Scheme for the empowering widows, Physically Handicapped

Pension Scheme to provide financial assistance to Disabled people, Manaswini scheme for

the destitute, divorced and unmarried women aged above 40 years, and Mythri scheme for

transgenders.

The pension schemes mentioned above are part of the larger structures being built to

provide safety net mechanisms to the disadvantaged section of the society. Considerable

budgetary allocation is involved in running these schemes. Sandhya Suraksha Yojana, a fully

State sponsored scheme, with the highest number of beneficiaries among the six schemes has

incurred an expenditure of Rs.1167 crores to State’s exchequer, in percentage terms it is

0.14% of the GSDP for the year 2015-16. Destitute Widow Pension scheme incurred an

expenditure of about Rs. 925.57 crore and Disability Pension Scheme with about 8.28 lakh

beneficiaries has incurred Rs. 804 crore in the same financial year. In sum, Government of

Karnataka has spent Rs 3548.16 crore to provide financial assistance to the total of 53.84

lakh beneficiaries in these six schemes. This amount to 0.45% of the State GDP in the year

2015-16.

28

Table 2.0.1: Social expenditure Vs. Percentage of State GSDP

Name of the Scheme Total Beneficiaries % of Total Expenditure % age of GSDP

Old Age Pension 726658 13.5 601.7 0.077

Destitute Widow Pension 1543240 28.66 925.57 0.119

Physically Handicapped Pension 828429 15.39 804 0.103

Sandhya Suraksha Yojana 2206296 40.97 1167 0.149

Manaswini 73008 1.36 31.5 0.004

Mythri 1021 0.02 0.95 0.0001

Endosulphon Victim pension 5,852 0.11 17.44 0.002

total 5384504 100 3548.16 0.454

Karnataka GSDP (at 2011-12 constant price) Rs.7, 80,805.00 crore for FY 2015-16.

Source: Finance Department, Govt. of Karnataka, Beneficiary data from DSSP.

Due to the increased spending by the state government in the social assistance sector, in the

past 5 years, nearly 21.93 lakh new beneficiaries have been enrolled in these schemes. In

2015-16 alone, 8.35 lakh new beneficiaries have been enrolled in these flagship schemes. In

the last three years, nearly 5 lakh new beneficiaries have been added under these schemes

every year. As of year 2015-16, there were a total of 53.84 lakh beneficiaries receiving

pension under these six schemes.

Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP, Author own calculation.

Table2.0.2 :Physical Progress in the six schemes

year Total Beneficiaries New Beneficiaries

2011-12 3190913 N.A.

2012-13 3485348 294435

2013-14 4042131 556783

2014-15 4549384 507253

2015-16 5384504 835120

Table2.0.3 : Growth in Beneficiaries of Old Schemes

Scheme Beneficiaries

Growth Growth % 2011-12 2015-16

OAP 571984 726658 154674 27

DWP 936125 1543240 607115 64.85

PHP 552891 828429 275538 49.83

SSY 1129913 2206296 1076383 95.26

Table 2.0.4 : Growth in Beneficiaries of New Schemes

New Schemes

Scheme Beneficiaries

Growth Growth % 2013-14 2015-16

Manaswini 11915 73008 61093 512.74

Mythri 215 1021 806 374.8

29

One of the state government’s flagship schemes with largest number of beneficiaries,

the Sandhya Suraksha Yojana scheme has seen around 95 % growth in the number of

beneficiaries in the last 5 years. From 11 lakh beneficiaries in 2011-12, the scheme’s

beneficiaries’ size has grown to nearly 22 lakh pensioners as on 2015-16. In the same

period, Destitute widow Pension Scheme beneficiaries’ size has grown by 64% from 9.36

lakh beneficiaries to 15.43 lakh pensioners. Similarly, under the Physically Handicapped

Pension Scheme, there were about 8.28 lakh disability pensioners, adding about 2.75 lakh

beneficiaries in the last 5 years. The Old Age Pension Scheme saw about 27% growth of

beneficiaries in past five years with a total of 7.26 lakh beneficiaries receiving pension under

this scheme, as on 2015-16. It is appreciable to note that the new scheme, Manaswini,

introduced in the year 2013, saw nearly 12,000 recipients enrolled in the same year, and

added another 61,000 beneficiaries during the next two years. There were nearly 73000

pensioners receiving financial assistance under this scheme of year 2015-16. However,

Mythri, a scheme designed for providing financial support to transgender saw only 215

beneficiaries enrolled in its commencement year, and had added only 806 beneficiaries since

the last two years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies endosulphan moderately hazardous

pesticide while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) classifies it as a highly

hazardous pesticide. This hazardous material is readily absorbed by the stomach, by the

lungs, and through the skin, meaning that all routes of exposure can pose a hazard. People

exposed to Endosulphan may suffer from problems like congenital deformities, mental

retardation and physical deformities. The Karnataka Cashew Development Corporation

(KCDC) had resorted to aerial spraying of endosulfan right from 1980 to 2000 in various

districts of Karnataka- Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and parts of Malnad area. It affected

almost 20 villages in the state. Though the aerial spraying was stopped in year 2000, many

children in more than 92 villages in four taluks of Dakshin Kannada district were born with

serious mental and physical problems. Many families have fallen into the debt trap to treat

patients. In 2015-16, 5852 such victims have received monthly pension under the

Endosulphan Victim pension scheme to meet their expenses. Though the pension could offer

financial assistance, preventive steps like ultrasound examination of pregnant women in the

affected areas for detection of fetal defects, health check-up of all marriageable age youth in

the affected areas are needed to reduce the future disease load, permanent care centres for the

affected people and comprehensive rehabilitation programme for the victims are needed.

30

2.1 Old Age Pension Scheme:

In India, most of those who have worked in organized sector get pension and other

retirement benefits after attaining the age of superannuation varying between 52 to 65 years.

But for others, which constitutes majority, are either self-employed or employed, lack of

such benefits means living with financial constraints (Kanchan, 2013). This may be the

reasons that among various support/schemes for elders, economic security remains the

foremost priority. OAP is one of the major welfare schemes for the aged. For those elderly

populations belonging to BPL family, the scheme brings in income security Pension serves

various objectives like poverty release, consumption smoothing and insurance in respect of

ageing population (Charan, 2013).

Directorate of SSP implements two old age pension schemes, Old Age Pension

Scheme and Sandhya Suraksha Yojana Scheme. The earliest schemes was the Old Age

Pension Scheme, which the Govt. of Karnataka has been implementing since 1964. The

scheme, however, was merged with Indra Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme

(IGNOAPS) on August 15, 1995 and implemented as a part of National Social Assistance

Programme. Under this IGNOAPS scheme, Government of India provides central assistance

with funds, and encourages States to add their own contribution. The merged scheme is

implemented as Old Age Pension Scheme in Karnataka. The scheme provides pensions only

to old age people above 60 years of age and belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL)

households. The pension amount is Rs.200 pm for the elderly in the age band of 60 - 64

Years, and for those in the age band of 65 - 79 Years receive pension amount of Rs.500 pm

in which Government of India contributes its share of Rs.200 and Government of Karnataka

adds Rs.300. The oldest of the old, who are above 80 years receive pension amount of

Rs.750 pm in which central government’s contribution is Rs.500 and state contributes

Rs.250. The shares of centre and state contribution in the pension amount is given in the

below table.

Table2.1.1: Central and State Contribution in OAP Scheme

Age Bracket Pension Amount Central: State Contribution

60 - 64 Years Rs. 200 Rs. 200: 0

65 – 79 Years Rs. 500 Rs. 200: 300

Above 80 Years Rs. 750 Rs. 500: 250

Source: DSSP.

As of February 2016, OAP covers 7.2 Lakh beneficiaries across Karnataka, adding nearly

1.23 lakh new beneficiaries in the scheme. This is contrasting to performance in previous

31

38367

191

23011

93105

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

BengaluruDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

26%

16%

21%

37%

BengaluruDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

years, where-in, only less than 10,000 beneficiaries have been added in the scheme, year-on-

year.

Table2.1.2: Annual growth in OAP beneficiaries

Year Total Beneficiaries New Beneficiaries

2011-12 571984 N.A.

2012-13 581558 9574

2013-14 591532 9974

2014-15 596812 5280

2015-16 720350 123538

Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP, Author own calculation.

Among the five revenue divisions, Mysore division has seen the highest growth in the

enrollment of new beneficiaries. With total of 2.70 lakh beneficiaries, nearly 37% of the

pensioners are from Mysore division. The second in rank is Bengaluru division with 1.86

lakh beneficiaries as of 2015-16. In the last five years, nearly 93,000 new beneficiaries in

Mysore division, and 38,000 new beneficiaries from Bengaluru division have been enrolled

in the scheme. Surprisingly, only 191 new beneficiaries have been added in Gulbarga

division. The total number of pensioners in this division has not grown in the last five years

and has remained at nearly 1.4 lakh beneficiaries as of 2015-16.

Fig 2.1.1: percentage of OAP Fig 2.1.2: New Enrollments

In Beneficiaries in 2015-16 OAP in 5 years

Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP

Among their peer group in their respective revenue divisions, districts with highest

number of pension beneficiaries were Belgaum, Ramanagar, Gulbarga, Chamrajanagar.

Districts with lowest number of pension beneficiaries: Shimoga, Yadgir, Haveri, Kodagu.

Among all the districts in the state, only Chamarajanagar is the only district wherein the

number of OAP beneficiaries is significantly larger than that of SSY. There were 92,404

32

beneficiaries under OAP scheme and 53,225 in SSY scheme from Chamarajanagar district,

according to pension beneficiary data provided by DSSP.

Table 2.1.3: Revenue division-wise distribution of OAP beneficiaries (from 2011-12 to

2015-16)

Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP.

Bengaluru Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bengaluru Urban 25,726 27463 27113 28,274 29,903

Bengaluru Rural 18,066 19647 23785 25781 26,358

Chikka Ballapur 9,861 12281 11701 11,807 11,990

Davangere 8,138 9716 11423 12,452 13,031

Kolar 27,600 27875 29030 32,407 34,539

Ramanagara 27,169 27116 27242 28,829 30,325

Shimoga 5,671 5987 6789 7,566 8,139

Tumakur 18,117 18621 17985 18,083 18,408

Chitradurga 7,564 7483 7349 7,213 13,586

Belgaum Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-

16

Bagalkote 11,090 11843 12898 13,165 12,795

Belgaum 45,388 44780 44814 25,781 42,707

Bijapur 32,716 32679 30638 30,364 29,280

Dharwad 14,796 14858 15231 16,406 27,902

Gadag 17,472 24228 24548 26,750 29,726

Haveri 6,501 6658 6884 6,607 6,308

Karwar 4,513 4892 5244 5,777 6,769

Mysore Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Chamraja nagar 37,944 37765 42548 49,723 92,404

Chikka mangaluru 5,159 5108 5322 5,918 6,426

Mangalore 5,545 5226 4893 4,525 4,433

Hassan 52,858 53258 52442 53,600 55,047

Kodagu 2,600 2513 2371 2,397 2,669

Udupi 1,870 2206 3346 3,722 3,963

Mandya 38,955 36505 37351 39,272 77,168

Mysuru 32,503 29517 28747 28,458 28,429

Gulbarga Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Ballari 26,576 25610 25860 26,009 28,368

Bidar 13,826 14743 14027 13,280 13,201

Gulbarga 38,332 37668 36309 35,784 36,186

Koppal 12,579 11901 11133 10,755 10,381

Yadgir 7,077 7199 6515 6,491 6,215

Raichur 15,772 16212 17994 19,616 20,002

33

India does not have a population-wide mechanism of providing social security,

because of which, people work as long as possible to support themselves. Therefore, a large

population of the elderly continues to participate in the work force with nearly 95 percent of

them self-employed. The impact of rising inflation lowers the income that may be allocated

to health (Charan, 2013). There are large numbers of elderly population who are performing

actively or engaged in certain job to sustain themselves and their family, and remain

resourceful to family. Earlier census reports on India reveal that nearly forty percent of the

old population face financial constraints and are living in poor status; of these, around ninety

percent belong to households engaged in the unorganized sector with no sustainable

economic security (kanchan, 2013). Private saving is often difficult or entirely infeasible for

many Indians for several reasons: earnings are low, a significant portion of the economic

activity is informal and may not be tied to cash exchange, and, given that seventy percent of

the aging population in India lives in a rural area, bank accounts are often not available.

Hence, to continue to remain engaged in labour force is the only option available to many of

the elderly. The employment of elderly also implies that in many cases they do not have any

kind of financial support from the next to kin and have to manage their own financial needs.

An earlier survey based study on 1136 OAP beneficiaries in Gulbarga, Mandya and Kodagu

districts of Karnataka shows that 94.67 percent of beneficiaries have utilized some amount

from their pension for food, 84 percent for cloth, 89.94 percent for medicine and 30.78

percent utilized some portion of the amount for relatives from the pension amount. Thus, in

this regard, the present practice of old age pension by the government mainly focused on

BPL population can be viewed as a helping hand for the aged. This pension benefits infuse

confidence and self-esteem in elderly along with imparting in them a sense of social security

as well as of economic relevance.

A Simplistic comparison between the size of the elderly people in Karnataka which

was around 57.91 lakh according to census 2011. And the total number beneficiaries

accounting to 29.32 lakh pensioners in 2015-16 under the OAP & SSY scheme put together

shows that nearly 50 % of the total elderly population in Karnataka are benefiting under

these two schemes. Thus, it can be inferred that these two schemes are well targeted and, the

schemes are in active demand among the old age population in Karnataka.

34

2.2 Sandhya Suraksha Yojana:

Sandhya Suraksha Yojane is another old age pension programme implemented

by the State Government since 2007. The scheme is fully sponsored by the State. The

purpose of the scheme is to provide financial assistance through cash transfers of pension

amount Rs 500 pm to the elderly people aged above 65 years. With similar features to OAP,

SSY intends to cover the larger section of poor elderly who may not be covered through

OAP. While the benefit amount and age criterion have been the same as in the case of OAP,

the difference lies in income eligibility. Benefits under SSY can be availed by elderly

persons earning up to Rs. 20,000 per annum and those who were not availing any other

benefits like family pension, widow pension, physically handicapped pension and old age

pension. The intended beneficiaries are from occupational groups such as Small farmers,

Marginal farmers, Agricultural laborers, Weavers, fishermen, laborers from unorganized

sectors (excluding Building and other construction workers). As on February 2016, there

were 22 lakh beneficiaries across the state availing pension under the scheme. Table shows

the annual growth in number of beneficiaries of SSY in Karnataka. It can be seen from this

table that, within the short time frame of 4 years, the size of the beneficiaries has doubled

from 11 lakh in 2011-12 to 22 lakh beneficiaries in 2015-16.

Table 2.2.1: Annual growth in SSY

Beneficiaries

Year Total

Beneficiaries

New

Beneficiaries

2011-12 1129913 N.A.

2012-13 1257753 127840

2013-14 1558201 300448

2014-15 1781827 223626

2015-16 2206296 424469

Table2.2.2: Revenue division-wise new

enrollments

Revenue

Divisions

Total

Beneficiaries

New

Enrollments

Bengaluru 7,58,696 376561

Gulbarga 3,81,970 177442

Belgaum 5,25,597 225064

Mysore 5,40,033 297316


Among the four revenue divisions, Bengaluru division saw the highest number of

enrollments in last 5 years with 3.76 lakh beneficiaries being added in to the scheme with

total of 7.58 lakh beneficiaries receiving pension. This forms nearly 34% of total

beneficiaries under the scheme. This is followed by Mysore division with 5.4 lakh

beneficiaries as on 2015-16, which forms 25 % or one-fourth of total beneficiaries in the

State, and nearly 2.97 lakh new beneficiaries have been enrolled in last 5 years. The third in

the list is Belgaum with 5.25 lakh beneficiaries and, fourth is Gulbarga with 3.81 lakh

beneficiaries adding 1.7 lakh beneficiaries in last 5 years.

35

376561

177442225064

297316

Bengaluru

Division

Gulbarga

division

Belgaum

Division

Mysore

Division

34%

17%24%

25%

Bengaluru

Division

Gulbarga

division

Belgaum

Division

Mysore

Division

Fig 2.2.1: Percentage of SSY Fig 2.2.2: New Enrollments in SSY

Beneficiaries in 2015-16 Scheme in 5years

Source: Beneficiary data provided by DSSP.

In a short span of five years since the commencement, SSY scheme has become one of

the most popular pension schemes in Karnataka. New beneficiaries have been enrolled in the

scheme from all the districts, year-on-year. This shows that the scheme is in demand among

the potential beneficiaries, and the pension amount is creating economic value to them. An

inter-district comparison shows that, while in some districts such as Chitradurga, Mandya

and Belguam, there has been substantial growth in the number of new beneficiaries, in few

other districts such as Gadag, Karwar, and Haveri, only about 4000 new beneficiaries have

been enrolled. Tumakur in Bengaluru division has the highest number of beneficiaries with

1.42 lakh pensioners as of 2015-16, while Kodugu, with only 17,711 beneficiaries has the

lowest. Urban Bengaluru, Tumakur, Chitradurga, Belagum Mandya and Mysore districts

have more than 1 lakh beneficiaries, each.

Table 2.2.3: Revenue division-wise distribution of SSY beneficiaries (from 2011-12 to 2015-

16)

Bengaluru Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bengaluru Urban 60,987 70658 81650 1,05,355 1,19,957

Bengaluru Rural 31,741 32182 36468 39,753 43,316

Chikkaballapur 26,332 36065 46649 57,493 67,659

Davangere 49,337 54071 61104 68,305 73,601

Kolar 45,028 48101 61008 71,687 79,012

Ramanagar 36,371 38748 50184 72,040 81,142

Shimoga 29,312 29688 33289 40,030 45,285

Tumakur 68,107 75031 96379 1,20,345 1,42,207

Chitradurga 34,920 38895 58341 75,821 1,06,517

36


A study by Kanchan and Charan (2013) notes that large populations of the elderly

continue to participate in the work force as self-employed even in their old age. This

situation implies that in many cases they do not have any kind of financial support from the

next to kin and have to manage their own financial needs. Thus, by relaxing the eligibility

criteria of minimum income levels with the intention to cover the larger section of poor

elderly who may not be covered through OAP, SSY scheme has been in well-targeted

direction. While OAP focuses on the poor elderly under the BPL category, SSY scheme

extends the coverage to include elderly people in the marginally BPL category. Kanchan

and Charan (2013) also recommend that, the governments should consider for providing

universal old age pension in order to include all elderly people under social security network.

This would infuse confidence and self-esteem in elderly along with imparting in them a

sense of social security as well as economic relevance. The Fiscal cost of the SSY and OAP

Gulbarga Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Ballari 40,784 43455 48598 54,230 62,485

Bidar 47,262 52223 56783 65,522 76,032

Gulbarga 36,356 37116 45427 58,521 68,946

Koppal 34,999 38413 47867 57,287 62,987

Yadgir 25,213 28046 35461 45,550 52,240

Raichur 19,914 23620 35634 47,011 59,280

Belgaum Division

District Name 2011 -12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bagalkote 46,203 48259 56418 63195 66876

Belgaum 85,251 94759 114571 39753 163641

Bijapur 41,447 46325 63362 82133 92055

Dharwad 38,620 41534 44522 47228 69469

Gadag 24,702 28294 32379 35853 39261

Haveri 41,848 43715 50795 54094 57490

Karwar 22,462 24016 27844 32508 36805

Mysore Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Chamrajanagar 21,668 25337 33846 39892 53225

Chikka mangaluru 21,682 26146 33170 39984 49155

Mangalore 20,846 24296 28706 36178 42288

Hassan 27,736 37997 59801 71,926 80,671

Kodagu 7,580 12832 15558 16,047 17711

Udupi 34,094 36096 41986 48,273 52653

Mandya 55,440 60690 76730 91203 125875

Mysuru 53,671 61145 83671 104610 118455

37

30%

17%25%

28%

BengaluruDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

197003

104252

169441 171772

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

BengaluruDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

scheme for the year 2015-16 was 0.22% of state GDP. With the Karnataka GSDP growing at

6.5% year-on-year on an average in the last five years, the state government may consider

expanding this scheme to provide universal pension scheme for the elderly people. If

universal pension is not immediately feasible, considering universal coverage of old age

health insurance would be a welcome effort as the health related expenditure rises

significantly with age for the elders.

2.3 Destitute Widow Pension Scheme

While the Government of India has enacted several policies and programmes for

destitute women in India, there is one specific national pension programme for widows. In

2009, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) was introduced by

Government of India under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). At the time

of this research, the programme was meant to benefit widows between 40 to 59 years living

below the poverty line (BPL), excluding widows who do not fall in this age group. Though

IGNWPS is a recent scheme, Destitute Widow Pensions scheme (DWP), a Government of

Karnataka initiative, has been in operation since 1984 to assist destitute widows in the age

group above 18 years. The eligibility criteria are that she should belong to BPL household,

husband is legally dead and her income should not exceed Rs. 12000 PA in rural areas and

Rs. 17000 PA in urban areas. The pension is paid until she remarries or her children starts

supporting her or her annual income limit cross the limit as mentioned above or till her

death. Currently, Rs.500 is provided as pension per month. After the age of 60, the widows

become eligible for the old age pension. There were 15.43 lakh widow pensioners in the state

in as on 2015-16. In the last one year alone, nearly 2.51 lakh new beneficiaries have been

enrolled in the scheme. The table 2.3.Shows the number of new beneficiaries being added in

to the scheme year-on-year basis. Since last 5 years, more than 1 lakh new beneficiaries have

been added in the scheme every year. This shows the Popularity and demand for the scheme.

Fig 2.3.1: Percentage of DWP Fig 2.3.2: New Enrollments

Beneficiaries in 2015-16 in DWPS in 5 years


38

Table 2.3.1: Annual growth in DWP Table 2.3.2: Revenue division-wise

Beneficiaries’ new enrollments in DWP

Year Total

beneficiaries

New

Beneficiaries

2011-12 900772 * N.A

2012-13 1040633 139861

2013-14 1207320 166687

2014-15 1292034 84714

2015-16 1543240 251206 Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP

Among the four revenue divisions, Bengaluru division has seen the highest number of

beneficiaries- with 1.97 lakh beneficiaries receiving widow pension, closely followed by

Mysore division with 1.71 lakh beneficiaries, as on 2015-16. In percentage terms, they

contribute 30% of the beneficiaries from Bengaluru division followed by 28% of the

beneficiaries from Mysore division. Bengaluru-Urban, Bellary, Belgaum, Mandya districts

have seen the highest number of beneficiaries among their peer districts.

Table 2.3.3: Revenue division-wise distribution of DWPS Beneficiaries

(From 2011-12 to 2015-16)

Bengaluru Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bengaluru Urban 45,238 54553 67024 85,965 98,708

Bengaluru Rural 19,104 19602 23255 85,965 27,146

Chikkaballapur 21,105 25796 29556 32,524 34,581

Davangere 29,636 37577 43854 49,295 53,182

Kolar 30,757 33224 37911 41,502 43,435

Ramanagara 33,121 34146 40333 44,572 47,759

Shimoga 22,217 24518 27899 32,062 35,057

Tumakur 37,484 43540 52846 61,894 67,406

Chitradurga 23,636 25992 33040 36,807 52,027

Revenue

Division

New

Enrollments

in last 5 years

Total number

of Beneficiaries

Bengaluru 197003 4,59,301

Gulbarga 104252 2,56,462

Belgaum 169441 3,87,708

Mysore 171772 4,39,769

Mysore Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Chamraja Nagar 30,624 33383 37278 39,533 57,086

Chikka mangaluru 15,782 19454 22962 25,958 28,595

Mangalore 24,749 26722 30116 34,259 37,718

Hassan 47,085 51446 57929 61,953 64,723

Kodagu 8,431 10164 11574 11,479 12,368

Udupi 21,999 24602 26131 28,672 30,787

Mandya 66,755 71758 79621 84,927 1,21,648

Mysuru 52,572 57226 68568 80,473 86,844

39


Apart from this flagship Destitute Widow Pension scheme, Government of

Karnataka has taken various initiatives for the economic wellbeing of the destitute

widows. Udyogini is one such innovative scheme started in the year 1997-98. This

Udyogini scheme empowers women by providing loans through Banks and other

financial institutions. The benefits of the scheme are available to all women, however,

widows and destitute women are given special provisions such as relaxing the income

limit, and loans are provided at subsidized rate. There are also various training

programmes conducted to impart skills for self-employment and wage employment.

These programmes are conducted through Government & Quasi Government

Technical Institutions and NGOs with good track records.

Belgaum Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bagalkote 35,353 39895 45983 50,991 54139

Belgaum 62,630 68111 80186 25764 101671

Bijapur 35,155 38446 45075 50959 54511

Dharwad 35,488 38487 40997 43212 58706

Gadag 24,878 28594 31680 34355 35824

Haveri 39,338 41977 47511 50376 52823

Karwar 20,778 23297 25748 28251 30034

Gulbarga Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Ballari 42,130 45696 52710 58,842 67,438

Bidar 21,649 25460 30008 34,606 38,322

Gulbarga 26,810 28096 32966 38,742 43,524

Koppal 22,747 26024 30676 34,235 36,120

Yadgir 14,196 14983 17323 21,124 23,106

Raichur 24,678 27864 36560 42,938 47,952

40

2.4 Physically Handicapped Pension Scheme

Physically Handicapped Pension (PHP) scheme has been implemented in the state since

the year 1977 to provide a monthly pension to blind, mentally retarded, hearing impairment,

locomotor disability handicaps, disability accrued due to leprosy and mentally ill. Handicap

persons already inmates of the Govt./Aided/ private institutions are not eligible. Under this

Social Security Scheme, persons with disability whose economic condition is so poor as to

not be able to meet his/her basic needs and unable to maintain himself/herself with food

clothing and shelter are covered under this scheme. A monthly pension amount of Rs.500 pm

is provided for a person having disability above 40% & below 75%, and Rs. 1200 pm for

persons having disability above 75%. The income criterion for eligibility is that his/her

annual income should not exceed Rs 12,000/- PA in rural areas and Rs. 17000 PA in urban

areas. Identity cards are issued to eligible persons to enable them to avail the entitled benefits

under various governmental schemes. Tahasildar of the taluk is the sanctioning authority.

Any child born with disability mentioned in the scheme, or disability accrued due to accident

with disability above 40% is eligible for pension. The total number of persons receiving

disability pensions in the state was 8.28 lakh as on year 2015-16. A comparison between

Table PHP – Total & PHP- below 75 % shows that there were more number of beneficiaries

with below 75% disability than the beneficiaries with above 75% disability. There were 4.84

lakh beneficiaries with disability below 75% and 3.43 lakh beneficiaries with disability

above 75% receiving pension under this scheme.

Table 2.4.1: Annual growth in PHP beneficiaries

PHP-Total

Year Total

Beneficiaries

New

Beneficiaries

2011-12 552891 N.A.

2012-13 896447 343556

2013-14 1423776 527329

2014-15 706983 -716793

2015-16 828429 121446

PHP-below 75%

Year Beneficiaries-

Total

New

Beneficiaries

2011-12 388400 N.A.

2012-13 404342 15942

2013-14 416207 11865

2014-15 406173 -10034

2015-16 484873 78700

41

34%

20%

24%

22%

BangaloreDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

Fig 2.4.1: Percentage of beneficiaries Fig 2.4.2: New Enrollments

in PHP in 2015-16 in PHP in last 5 years


Among the four revenue divisions, Bengaluru division has seen the highest number

of beneficiaries being enrolled in the scheme in the last 5 years with 2.43 lakh beneficiaries,

closely followed by Belgaum division with 2.42 lakh beneficiaries, as on year 2015-16. In

percentage terms, they contribute to 36% of the beneficiaries from Bengaluru division,

followed by 24% of the beneficiaries from Belguam division. Tumakur, Chitradurga,

Bellary, Belgaum, Mandya districts have seen the highest enrollment of beneficiaries in the

last 5 years.

Table2.4.2: Revenue division-wise distribution of PHP Beneficiaries (from 2011-12 to 2015-

16)

243634

155314

242422

153129

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

BangaloreDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

Bangalore Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bengaluru Urban 17648 42982 60630 36267 40817

Bengaluru Rural 8308 8679 9389 10,350 11012

Chikkaballapur 11144 21399 32543 19026 20807

Davangere 18170 31041 49211 25801 27128

Kolar 15329 28270 43599 20346 21002

Ramanagara 14609 22680 37289 18353 19265

Shimoga 14930 23749 38679 18122 19039

Tumakur 29606 47467 77073 40123 42148

Chitradurga 20501 35119 55620 27543 42416

42


The state government has implemented multiple schemes and created provisions for

the benefit of persons with disabilities in the areas of education, rehabilitation, social

security, and employment. The PWD Act mandates that at least 3% of government jobs be

reserved for persons with disabilities. The state government has also provided applicants

with disabilities an age relaxation of 10 years over the maximum age limit prescribed for the

post. Disabled candidates writing exams conducted by the Karnataka Public Services

Commission are allowed a scribe (where the candidate is visually impaired) in addition to

provision of extra time to complete these exams. All employed disabled persons are also

exempt from payment of Professional Tax. Rehabilitation efforts in mainly consist of

providing shelter homes and special homes for the disabled apart from financially aiding

them in accessing aid and appliances designed for the disabled.

Mysore Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Chamrajanagar 13889 21617 35506 18149 27432

Chikkamangaluru 9343 16132 25475 12912 13908

Mangalore 13954 21535 35489 17666 17007

Hassan 21223 29576 50799 25441 26215

Kodagu 3781 6226 10007 4456 4691

Udupi 10418 15824 26242 12099 11689

Mandya 27327 38771 66098 32651 49538

Mysuru 26597 43862 70459 34479 36579

Belgaum Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bagalkote 24293 37875 62168 31281 32606

Belgaum 48611 80664 129275 10350 67980

Bijapur 24306 33712 58018 31195 33373

Dharwad 20472 30930 51402 24230 34691

Gadag 19682 31508 51190 24443 25740

Haveri 25405 41168 66573 32082 33761

Karwar 12649 17572 30221 14563 14271

Gulbarga Division

District Name 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Ballari 23180 36939 60119 29422 33886

Bidar 15540 25860 41400 24642 27647

Gulbarga 21809 32721 54530 29099 32756

Koppal 17986 29281 47267 23434 24752

Yadgir 9310 16252 25562 13154 14475

Raichur 12871 22778 35649 19387 21798

43

The state government, acknowledging the needs of various aids and gadgets such as

tricycles, artificial limbs, crutches etc., introduced a scheme of assistance to help disabled

persons to purchase aids and appliances. By way of this scheme, persons with disabilities

who fulfill the necessary criteria are eligible for financial assistance to purchase aids and

gadgets. With regard to setting up of homes for disabled persons, the state government has

provided for the setup of a special home ‘Manasa Kendra’ to care for mentally ill persons in

five districts in Karnataka namely, Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Raichur and Shimoga. In

the area of housing, state has issue orders directing the Karnataka Housing Board to provide

for a 3% reservation for persons with disabilities in all housing schemes initiated for the

poor, impoverished, slum dwellers and economically weaker sections of the society. The

state also facilitates for the issuance of an original Identity card as proof of their disability.

This ID card can be utilized for obtaining free bus pass, concessional rate of train fare,

concessional rate of airfare and other amenities.

2.5 Manaswini Scheme

The Karnataka state government started Manaswini scheme in August 2013 with the

purpose to provide social assistance to poor unmarried, separated and divorced women aged

above 40 years. Under this scheme, a monthly pension of Rs 500 pm is given to

beneficiaries. In the first year of implementation, nearly 12000 applicants were enrolled as

beneficiaries. In the last two years, nearly 30,000 beneficiaries were added to the scheme

year-on-year, with counting around total of 73000 beneficiaries added in to the scheme as on

year 2015-16. This shows that the scheme is welcomed greatly by the beneficiaries.

Table 2.5.1: Annual growth in Manaswini Table 2.5.2 : Revenue division-wise

new enrollments in beneficiaries Manaswini scheme

year Total

Beneficiaries

New

Beneficiaries

2013-14 11915 11915

2014-15 42408 30493

2015-16 73008 30600

Source: Beneficiary data provided by DSSP, Author own calculation

Of the four revenue divisions, Mysore division has the highest number of

beneficiaries with 36% of total beneficiaries (or) about 26,000 women benefit from this

scheme, followed by Bengaluru division with 30% of total beneficiaries (or) about 22,000

Revenue

Division

Total

Beneficiaries

New Enrollments

in 3 years

Bengaluru 22,193 18268

Gulbarga 5,503 5134

Belgaum 18,847 15169

Mysore 26,465 22,508

44

18268

5134

15169

22508

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

BengaluruDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

beneficiaries. Since the commencement of the scheme, nearly 18,000 beneficiaries from

Bengaluru division and about 22,000 beneficiaries from Mysore division have been added in

the scheme. Gulbarga division has the lowest number of beneficiaries among the peer

divisions.

Fig 2.5.1: percentage of Manaswini Fig 2.5.2: New Enrollments in

Beneficiaries in 2015-16 Manaswini in 5 years

Source: Beneficiary data provided by DSSP

Table 2.5.3: Revenue division-wise distribution of beneficiaries under Manaswini scheme (2013-

14 to 2015-16)

Bengaluru Division

District Name 2013-

14

2014-

15

2015-

16

Bengaluru Urban 43 768 1,455

Bengaluru Rural 97 660 948

Chikkaballapur 112 1124 1,719

Davangere 389 2,054 3,070

Kolar 2 313 716

Ramanagara 365 1,747 2,443

Shimoga 313 1421 1,968

Tumakur 1522 5,199 6,721

Chitradurga 1082 2478 3,153

Belgaum Division

District

Name

2013-

14

2014-

15

2015-

16

Bagalkote 349 1,335 1,805

Belgaum 1671 660 6,522

Bijapur 291 1,660 3,054

Dharwad 417 1,547 2,826

Gadag 399 1231 1,769

Haveri 220 919 1,365

Karwar 331 1056 1,506

Gulbarga division

District Name 2013

-14

2014-

15

2015

-16

Ballari 31 742 1,320

Bidar 27 266 526

Gulbarga 12 299 806

Koppal 247 1000 1,454

Yadgir 14 274 535

Raichur 38 365 862

Mysore Division

District Name 2013-14 2014-15 2015-

16

Chamrajanagar 0 0 5,235

Chikkamangalur

u 340 929 1,422

Mangalore 505 2,397 3,541

Hassan 312 1560 2,474

Kodagu 219 556 801

Udupi 471 1,761 2,542

Mandya 684 2,687 3,541

Mysore 1426 5,401 6,909

Source: Beneficiary data provided by DSSP

30%

8%26%

36%

BengaluruDivision

Gulbargadivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

45

Tumakur, Belgaum and Mysore districts have highest number of beneficiaries each

with more than 6000 beneficiaries. Similarly, Bidar and Yadgir in Gulbarga division has the

lowest number of beneficiaries among all the districts of Karnataka. Both in Kolar and rural

Bengaluru, there has been a minimal enrollment since commencement of the scheme.

Desertion or separation from the husband accounts for one of the most serious types

of broken families. It leaves most married women economically disadvantaged and they

face the problem of social insecurity, loneliness, hardship in raising children, etc. A survey

based study on post-desertion problems of deserted women shows that, although a majority

of the respondents were working on daily or contract or salary basis, their financial condition

was vulnerable. A large portion of the earnings was spent on food, shelter and medicine.

While the educated women may find jobs and financial supports, illiterate deserted women

live at a bare subsistence level and face continuing difficulties in providing food, clothing

and shelter for themselves and their children (Renuka and Dr. Kazi (2013)). Another study

finds that women were considerably more likely than men to experience financial hardship

following divorce/ desertion (Pothen, 1986). A survey based study by Shanta and

Tamragundi (2013) finds that Women Training Programme and Nagar Stree Shakti

programmes are helpful in achieving socio-economic development of women in general and

the society as a whole. Thus, financial assistance through monthly pension and skill

development programmes to enhance employment opportunity for these destitute women

will be a welcome step towards their both economic prosperity and welfare.

2.6 Mythri Scheme:

The state government had started the Mythri program on August 2013 to help transgender

community and bring them to the mainstream of the society. Under this scheme, members of

sexual minorities aged above 25 years will be eligible for a monthly pension of Rs. 500. The

applicants will be required to submit relevant documents including a medical certificate from

the Department of Health and Family Welfare to prove their gender. Beneficiaries under this

scheme are not entitled to pension from any other social pension scheme. Due to the absence

of official census on transgenders, State government has no estimate on the number of

transgenders. Hence, they have to depend on KSAPS census for the estimate, thus

identifying the beneficiaries’ remains a hurdle. The latest census of the KSAPS estimates

that there are around 24,500 transgenders in the state. In the first year of the commencement

46

of the scheme, only 215 beneficiaries enrolled in the scheme, but the numbers have grown to

1021 beneficiaries as on year 2015-16. However, these enrollment numbers seems to be

meagre even when compared to KSAPS’ census figures on transgenders.

Table 2.6.1: Annual growth in beneficiaries in Mythri as on 2015-16

Year Total Beneficiaries New Beneficiaries

2013-14 215 215

2014-15 715 700

2015-16 1021 306

Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP, Author own calculation

Fig 2.6.1: Revenue division-wise total beneficiaries in Mythri scheme


Table: 2.6.2: Revenue division-wise distribution of beneficiaries in Mythri Scheme

(From 2013-14 to 2015-16)

Bangalore Division

District Name 2013-14 2014-

15

2015-

16

Bengaluru

Urban

79 238 251

Bengaluru Rural 23 38 39

Chikkaballapur 6 55 62

Davangere 1 4 25

Kolar 1 5 9

amanagara 0 28 34

Shimoga 5 6 14

Tumakur 33 52 50

Chitradurga 13 18 19

Mysore Division

District Name 2013-

14

2014-

15

2015-

16

Chamrajanagar 0 0 7

Chikkamangaluru 1 2 3

Mangalore 0 4 6

Hassan 0 5 4

Kodagu 0 1 1

Udupi 0 3 26

Mandya 0 5 8

Mysuru 11 32 61

503

160242

116

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

BangaloreDivision

Kalaburagidivision

BelgaumDivision

MysoreDivision

47

Source: Beneficiary Data provided by DSSP

In a socially conservative country like India, transgender community faces a much

more daunting, tedious and uphill battle. The fight for access to education and health, legal

recognition, increased awareness, access to social welfare schemes and end to harassment

requires social mobilization of the transgender community. There is a urgent need for a

government-conducted transgender census to identify targeted beneficiaries. Also,

government should take necessary steps in guaranteeing rights and entitlements, reservations

in education, provide legal aid, and create employment opportunities for transgender.

Belgaum Division

District Name 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Bagalkote 1 44 65

Belgaum 20 38 64

Bijapur 7 13 60

Dharwad 0 18 31

Gadag 1 1 5

Haveri 1 5 17

Karwar 0 33 0

Gulbarga Division

District Name 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Ballari 1 40 50

Bidar 3 6 16

Gulbarga 7 16 27

Koppal 1 2 5

Yadgir 0 2 18

Raichur 0 1 44

48

3 Discussion The Government of India has recently announced a dramatic expansion of social

pension schemes both in terms of coverage and benefit levels. Participation in these social

pension schemes is an outcome of the following two factors –one, the demand for pensions

from potential recipients (in turn, contingent on awareness of the scheme, complexity of the

application procedure and perceived benefits) and two, the supply of pensions (linked to

possible rationing of pensions by area, depending on the availability of funds and/or on

administrative capacity). A survey based study reveals that pensions are the primary source

of financial support for three-fourths of the beneficiaries, while further 21% pensioners cite

these are their second main source of support. Half the current pensioners report spending

the pension benefits on their own needs while 39% report sharing these benefits with their

families. Only very few pensioners are in a position to save for future consumption (Puja

2008). On the administration front, several basic issues relating to implementation need to be

addressed, particularly with respect to transaction costs in the sanction of pensions, inter-

district variations in performance within the state, inadequate record-keeping and

monitoring. There is a strong case for moving towards a single system of automated

disbursements through money orders or directly into bank or post office accounts paid out

according to a uniform schedule (Puja 2008).

A significant number of elderly population continues to participate in the work

force as self-employed. The employment of elderly also implies that in many cases they do

not have any kind of financial support from the next to kin and have to manage their own

financial needs. In this regard, the present practice of providing old age pension by the

government targeting old age population in the BPL category can be viewed as a helping

hand for the aged. This would infuse confidence, self-esteem and a sense of social security in

them. As well, the pension amount has an economic relevance to the beneficiaries. With the

Karnataka GSDP growing at 6.5% year-on-year on an average in the last five years, the state

government shall consider to create additional fiscal space for expanding the present scheme

to a universal pension scheme for all the elderly people in Karnataka. If universal pension is

not immediately feasible, considering universal coverage of old age health insurance would

be a welcome effort as the health related expenditure rises significantly with age for the

elders.

49

With total 22 lakh beneficiaries, the recently introduced SSY scheme with the

intention to cover the larger section of poor elderly who may not be covered through OAP,

the scheme has been in well-targeted direction. While OAP focus on the poor elderly under

the BPL category, SSY scheme extends the coverage to include elderly people in the

marginally BPL category.

A survey based study on delivery of three pension schemes - OAP, DWP, PHP by

Rajeshekar,et.al (2009) finds that among the pensioners engaged in economic activities, most

of them were engaged in the unorganized sector, undertaking wage employment in

agriculture or self-employment in the non-agricultural sector. As such, it appears that most of

the pensioners are in a disadvantageous position in terms of demographic, physical and

economic status. The targeting of the social security and pension benefits appears to be in the

right direction, indicated by the large-scale coverage of weaker sections including women.

Desertion or separation from the husband accounts for one of the most serious types

of broken families. Studies show that women are considerably more likely than men to

experience financial hardship following divorce/ desertion. It leaves most women

economically disadvantaged and they face the problem of social insecurity, loneliness, and

face hardship as single parent raising children. Majority of the single mothers either become

dependent on their family, or find themselves working on daily or contract or salary basis.

Their financial condition is vulnerable. For those working women in low income group, a

large portion of the earnings is spent on food, shelter and medicine. While the educated

women may find jobs and financial support, illiterate deserted women live at a bare

subsistence level and face continuing difficulties in providing food, clothing and shelter for

themselves and their children. Training and skill development programmes for these

destitute women are helpful in achieving socio economic development. Thus, financial

assistance through monthly pension and skill development programmes to enhance

employment opportunity for these destitute women will be a welcome step towards their

both economic prosperity and welfare.

In a socially conservative country like India, transgender communities face a much

more daunting, tedious and uphill battle. There is a dire need for a government-conducted

transgender census to identify targeted beneficiaries to be enrolled in the scheme, as well,

government should take necessary steps in guaranteeing rights and entitlements, reservations

50

in education and jobs, provide legal aid, and offer programmes for the skill development for

transgenders.

Leakage in the pension administration system could take many forms including the

incidence of duplicates in the administrative records, fictitious or ghost pensioners (either

due to fake entries in the administrative records or the non-suspension or continuation for

those who have died or moved or are no longer eligible), and through bribes or theft.

Administrative capacity could also influence expressed demand – for instance, complex and

lengthy procedures may discourage potentially eligible individuals to apply for pensions. A

survey based study by Puja (2008) finds that the average time taken for sanctioning pensions

is about six months, with some variation across districts. In the absence of computerized

records, the current requirement of annual physical verification of the pensioner at the

treasury office is not sufficient to check the incidence of fake pensioners. Thus, a well-

designed and computerized system for application processing, record-keeping and

monitoring becomes essential. An online application processing and record keeping system

shall help in effective monitoring system by being able to generate accurate and consistent

aggregate figures at any level of disaggregation and details even at the lowest level of

disaggregation (i.e., the individual pensioner). Such a system would help in weeding process

such as removing the duplication, fake and deceased beneficiaries from the passionaries’ list.

Also, online application processing shall reduce costs involved in administrative process, and

reduce the processing time. Also, providing necessary assistance to the needy applicants

during filling and submission of enrollment online application forms shall be an

encouragement to the new applicants to choose online submission of the application forms.

It could also be used as a platform to link into other state schemes to expand social security,

for instance through the ongoing state life insurance scheme to provide survivor benefits to

BPL households or the recently launched national initiative to provide subsidized health

Insurance for BPL households through the Rashtrya Swasthya Bima Yojna (Puja 2008).

Another important problem is the delay in the disbursal of pensions. At the national

level, the Planning Commission found that 40 per cent of the beneficiaries were not getting

their pension on a regular basis and 18.83 per cent reported that their pension payments had

been delayed by more than 2 months. Second important problem is the unauthorized

payment to the agents delivering the pensions. The Planning Commission reported that this

ranges between Rs. 20 to Rs. 40. The usual practice in the sample study area was to release

51

pension once in two months from the treasury. The time taken for the release of pension

from the treasury to the beneficiary ranges between 10 and 30 days or more. Thus, on the

whole, it takes more than two months for the distribution of pension through post offices in

the district. Thus, it is widely perceived that the current delivery mechanisms cause delays in

the disbursal of the benefits, appropriation of benefits by the middlemen, delivery to benefits

to ineligible persons, etc. In addition, the Revenue Department is also incurring considerable

expenditure in the form of commission to the postal department. One of the measures has

been to deliver pensions with the help of the existing banking network, as current mechanism

of delivering pensions through the postal network has been causing delays (Rajashekar,

2009). Though it is recognized that existing banking network is not as wide as postal

network; hence they may face limitations in reaching out to the remote and far off villages,

Reserve Bank of India has taken many steps to redefine banking in India. Payment banking

is one such initiative from RBI. The Reserve Bank expects payment banks to target India’s

migrant laborers, low-income households and small businesses, offering savings accounts

and remittance services with a low transaction cost. It hopes payments banks will enable

poorer citizens who transact only in cash to take their first step into formal banking. The

innovation is also expected to accelerate India’s journey into a cashless economy. However,

facilitating financial literacy to pensioners particularly in rural areas where the literacy is

generally low, is one of the crucial factors if the pension delivery through banking network

to become a success. Meanwhile, government could continue to use postal network wherever

needed by introducing change in mode of delivery – from MO to postal account.

The Aaadhar seeding can help in identifying fake beneficiaries and detect fraudulent

practices by false claimant. Clear accountability and transparent monitoring would

significantly improve access and quality of entitlements to beneficiaries and the agency

alike. In order to make the pension disbursal system corruption-free and transparent,

government shall link social security scheme beneficiaries’ bank accounts with their Aadhaar

card and make their names public. Such an arrangement will help the government to monitor

whether the intended beneficiaries actually receiving the benefits. It will also facilitate the

government to formulate new social development plans and policies on targeted population.

If the household income is taken into account, as per the present eligibility criteria of

Rs. 12000 PA in Rural areas and Rs. 17000 PA in urban areas for sanction of widow and

disability pension, many households become ineligible. But, in the present context, where

52

that the implementation of NREGP which guarantees a minimum of 100 days of

employment per annum and the revised minimum wage of Rs.224 per day in Karnataka

according to the Minimum Wages Act, as on March 2016. Therefore, it is unlikely that the

annual income of a household would be less than income limits criteria of the scheme, even

if there is one worker in the household, thus fixing such an income limit as eligibility for

sanction of pension appears to be unrealistic. State Government shall contemplate an upward

revision of the income criteria for sanctioning widow and disability pensions. Also, annual

income limit criteria cannot be viewed in isolation. The indebtedness of the household, the

source and purpose of debt will have a bearing on household income. If the household incurs

a debt from a private source for health or consumption purpose or even for investment on

agriculture, there may be no returns or the rate of return is uncertain, which would make it

difficult for the household to repay it. The expenditure pattern, especially on medical

expenses or education or liquor/gambling, should also be taken into account to judge

whether the income puts the household on a sound footing in economic terms. Similarly, the


month based on inflation – in the same manner as is done for salaries of government

servants.

53

4 Conclusion

There has been a spurt in the demand for pensions during the last decade as indicated

by the growth in the number of new beneficiaries being added year-on-year basis in the last

five years. This can be attributed to increase in the monthly pension amount and the

proactive role of the government. The steady growth in active pensioners is a step in the right

direction, as indicated by the large-scale coverage of weaker sections including women. The

phenomenal growth in the number of beneficiaries in the SSY and DWP shows that among

the elderly population and widows, there is a higher dependency ratio and pension is one of

the important sources of financial support to them. The steady growth in number of

beneficiaries in the schemes also indicates that these pension schemes are in high demand

in the state.

The above discussion has certain policy implications. The progressive step of RBI

issuing license to setting Payment Banks is a welcome feature. However, facilitating

financial literacy is critical for shifting the pensioners from other payment system to banking

system. Computerization of data, introducing online application processing, and monitoring

systems needs to be expedited to improve the efficiency of the pension administrative

system. Policy regarding the income criteria for the sanction of pension needs to be revised

upwards without any delay so that the deserving potential beneficiaries could be brought

under the purview of pension. Lastly, monthly pension amount shall be revised every two to

three years and changed every six month based on inflation.

54

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