A ray of hope for those in sunset years

New Delhi: Activists Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Baba Adhav have sparked a debate on rights of citizens and obligations of the state. Does every citizen above the age of 60 deserve a pension of Rs 2000 a month? Is it the duty of the state to mobilise resources to guarantee this? We are talking about those who have spent all their working years earning irregular and meager wages, negotiating survival without any safety nets.

On Wednesday, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was face to face with some of the most vulnerable people when he visited Jantar Mantar; some could hardly walk, others could hardly speak and many did not have a BPL card. The old and destitute from across India had been on a dharna since April 7 demanding a monthly pension of Rs 2000.

In a simple and frank engagement with the aged, Ramesh made it clear where exactly he stood with each of their demands. Currently, only those in the BPL list are entitled to pension under the centrally funded Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension scheme and, the primary demand is to do away with this determinant. Fully endorsing this, Ramesh said, "We know that the current BPL list has not only excluded many who genuinely deserve to be there but has also included the non deserving. In fact, the BPL list is a political list." He conceded that even the new methodology that his ministry was working on, could exclude 15 to 20 per cent of the poor.

Ramesh also agreed that Rs 200 per month for those above 60 and Rs 500 for those above 80 years were simply not adequate. On the demand of the Pension Parishad to enhance this to Rs 2000 per month, the minister said that while he could not give an assurance he would take it up with the prime minister and the finance minister.

Ramesh, however, struck a note of dissent on the demand for universalising old age pensions, "countries that have universal pension schemes are small countries while India is number two in terms of population. Every month, we cannot distribute pension to 10 crore people. There is no precedent in history." He requested members of the Pension Parishad to work with the government and define exclusion indicators to filter those who genuinely do not deserve the support of the state.

Babasaheb Adhav welcomed Ramesh's assurance while disagreeing with his contention that India cannot find funds for a universal pension scheme. On whether old age pensions should also come under the frame work of rights, Aruna Roy said, "in a frame work where there are no securities and responsibilities of the state are shrinking, rights become very important." Roy, however, said that it was still being debated both within the alliance and outside whether old age pensions would take the shape of legislation or a scheme.

With the countdown to 2014 general elections having begun, will promise of universal pension for the elderly make its way into the Congress party's 2014 manifesto?