The Department of Social Welfare has been tasked with reducing the traditional exploitation of the poor and underprivileged elements of society, as well as bridging social divides among various socioeconomic groups. Various benefit-oriented schemes have been created from time to time to bring the unprivileged and underprivileged into the scheme’s scope, transforming them into valuable citizens of the community and facilitating their lives with dignity and social honor.
One of these systems, the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), was implemented in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1976.
It was in existence for several years but failed to produce the anticipated effects, owing to non-compliance with the rules and poor implementation. To address the flaws, the Government of India overhauled the system in 1995 and called it the Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS), which consists of three sub-schemes: National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS), and National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) (NFBS).
Eligibility and Applicability:
The following are the scheme’s eligibility requirements:
The impoverished (male or female) must be 65 years of age or older.
With effect from April 1, 2011, the age limit has been reduced to 60 years instead of 65 years, as per the amended eligibility criteria. However, due to the late notice of the amended guidelines, they were not implemented in the state of J&K before the end of 2011-2012. He or she must be destitute in the sense that he or she has little or no regular source of subsistence/financial support from other family members or sources.
III. He or she must be a member of a household that falls below the poverty level as defined by the Indian government.
The central pension contribution under the system is Rs.200/- per month per beneficiary, and the state government can pay more from its resources. At the moment, each beneficiary receives Rs.400/- per month, with a central and state contribution of Rs.200/- each. In the updated recommendations, the Central Share for recipients aged 60 to 79 years old will stay intact. With effect from April 1, 2011, it will be increased to 500/- per month for each beneficiary aged 80 and up. By the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year, the revised guidelines had not been implemented in J&K.
Objectives of the Scheme
- The scheme’s goal is to provide social protection to those who qualify.
- The study was designed with the following goals in mind: Evaluate the Scheme’s development about its physical and financial targets.
- To assess the situation on the ground in terms of coverage, case identification, selection, and sanctioning.
- Evaluate the scheme’s impact on the intended beneficiaries.
- To assess the method used and the scheme’s conformity to the established rules in terms of eligibility, payment manner, and timely payments during implementation.
- Assess new case sanctioning and weeding-out of beneficiaries due to non-eligibility, deaths, and other factors.
- To find out what the public thinks about the Scheme and how satisfied they are with it.
- To identify any bottlenecks or obstructions encountered during the scheme’s execution.
- To propose corrective steps based on feedback from beneficiaries/knowledgeable persons to improve the scheme’s implementation.