DELIVERY OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND PENSION BENEFITS IN KARNATAKA

Transcription

1 DELIVERY OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND PENSION BENEFITS IN KARNATAKA By D Rajasekhar, G Sreedhar, N L Narasimha Reddy R R Biradar and R Manjula Submitted to Directorate of Social Security and Pensions Department of Revenue, Government of Karnataka Centre for Decentralisation and Development Institute for Social and Economic Change Nagarbhavi PO, Bangalore raja@isec.ac.in February 17,

2 Table of Contents 1) Introduction 3 2) Delivery of Social Security and Pension Benefits in Bellary District 8 3) Delivery of Social Security and Pension Benefits in Chitradurga 39 4) Delivery of Social Security and Pension Benefits in Gulbarga 65 5) Summary and Conclusions 91 2

3 1. INTRODUCTION Pension Schemes in Karnataka The Directorate of Social Security and Pensions (SSP), Revenue Department, GoK, has been implementing nine schemes for the unorganized sector workers in Karnataka. A study by the World Bank concluded that social schemes in Karnataka appear to be a model for other safety net programme, with remarkably low leakages of public funds and pro-poor targeting of benefits (World Bank, 2006). These schemes relate to s for the aged, widows and disabled, one-time benefit to households and insurance. Directorate of SSP implements two old age schemes. The oldest has been Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension. The main purpose of this centrally sponsored scheme is help old age persons. The GoK has been implementing this scheme in The scheme has been, however, modified as National Old Age Pension on August 15, 1995 and implemented as a part of National Social Assistance Programme. The scheme provided s only to destitute belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) households, earning less than Rs. 6,000 per annum. The scheme has been renamed as Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension on November 11, 2007 by relaxing the destitute criteria of the National Old Age Pension. There were 686,666 person obtaining old age in the state in Sandhya Suraksha Yojane is another old age programme in Karnataka implemented by the state government since While the benefit amount and age criterion have been the same as in the case of Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension, the difference lies in income eligibility. Sandhya Suraksha Yojane can given to households earning up to Rs. 20,000 per annum. During , the number of beneficiaries was 26,231 in the state. Destitute Widow Pensions (DWP) have been in Karnataka state since 1984 to assist destitute widows in the age group of above 18 years. The eligibility criteria are that she should belong to BPL household, husband is legally dead and income should not exceed Rs. 6,000 per annum. The is paid until she remarries or her children starts supporting her or her income limit crosses Rs.6000 PA or till her death. Currently, Rs. 400 is paid as per month. The total number of widow ers was 771,165 in the state in

4 Physically handicapped Pensions (PHP) have been given in the state since November 7, 1977 to the blind, mentally retarded, deaf, handicaps and mentally ill. Persons who have accrued disability due to leprosy are also eligible. Any child born with disability mentioned under or disability accrued due to accident with disability above 40% is eligible for. The income limit is Rs. 6,000 per annum. Currently, Rs. 400 is paid as the per month. Recently, it has been decided to pay Rs. 1,000 to those having more than 75 per cent of the disability. The total number of persons receiving physically handicapped s in the state was 464,731 in Delivery of Pension schemes In , lakh persons in the state received s under the above schemes. Over 90 per cent of the s have been delivered to the ers through the postal department. This delivery mechanism is as follows. The sanction order is sent to the respective treasury for payment of to the beneficiaries monthly. Treasury prints money orders. One cheque is sent to the respective post offices along with 100 money orders in one bundle manually. Post offices disburse the as per the address printed on the money order. The money reaches the beneficiaries at the door step. Thus, an important positive feature of the current delivery mechanism is to provide benefits at the door step of the er every month on prescribed date. It is to be noted that the has to be delivered by 7 th of every month. The government has been facing the following problems in the delivery of s. Commission of 5 per cent is being paid to the post office per transaction per beneficiary. This amounts approximately Rs. 40 crores in a year. Huge indirect cost is being incurred by treasury in disbursing s such as the cost of printing, stationery, etc. There is shortage of human resources at the treasury, and this contributes to the delay in disbursement. Post offices take their own time to sort the money orders villages and locality wise, and this contributes to further delay in the disbursal of money orders at the door step. An added problem is that the postman cannot carry more than Rs. 10,000 per day for disbursement for security reasons. This causes further delay in the disbursement. 4

5 Due to shortage of human resources at Tehasildar s office and treasury, the for those ers whose money orders have not been acknowledged consecutively for three months are not being suspended or cancelled. Reconciliation of beneficiaries is not being done by Tehasildars. Life certificates per year are being given by the Tehasildars and not being asked by the Treasury for continuation of s. Over time, however, the beneficiaries have also been facing problems in the receipt of s. An important problem is the delay in the disbursal of s. At the national level, the Planning Commission found that 40 per cent of the beneficiaries were not getting their on a regular basis and per cent reported that their payments had been delayed by more than 2 months. Second important problem is the unauthorized payment to the agents delivering the s. The Planning Commission reported that this ranges between Rs. 20 to Rs. 40. Third important problem is significant proportion of the ineligible beneficiaries among ers, and the lack of system to weed out such ineligible beneficiaries. 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. In order to address the above, the Karnataka government has initiated measures towards addressing bottlenecks and move towards the timely delivery of s. One of the measures has been to deliver s with the help of the existing banking network, as current mechanism of delivering s through the postal network has been causing delays. It has been, however, recognized that banking network is not as wider as postal network; and hence it may face limitations in reaching out to the remote and far off villages. To address this, banks would use business correspondents, who will deliver at door steps. The government will continue to use postal network wherever needed by introducing change in mode of delivery from MO to postal account. 5

6 Against this background, the Revenue Department has requested the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, to undertake a baseline survey on the delivery mechanisms and failure to provide benchmark data for Bellary, Chitradurga and Gulbarga districts (where the new strategy will be tried out) on a number of variables that reflect the status of current delivery mechanisms. This information would be useful to gauze the progress in the delivery mechanisms made under the new system of smart cards. Objectives To carry out baseline survey on current mechanisms to deliver social security and benefits under the four schemes mentioned above; To identify the delivery failures in the implementation of social security and programmes; and To prepare a report on the delivery mechanisms and failures in the delivery of social security and benefits, and also provide observations on the impact of schemes on beneficiaries. Methodology The study has been conducted in three districts of the state, viz., Bellary, Chitradurga and Gulbarga. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to select taluks, villages and households in each district, as described below: At the first stage, two taluks with highest number of beneficiaries were selected for the study. The taluks selected were Bellary and Hospet in Bellary district, Chitradurga and Chellakere in Chitradurga district, and Gulbarga and Alland in Gulbarga district. At the second stage, one town and three villages from each taluk were selected based on the highest number of beneficiaries. At the third stage, two wards with highest number of beneficiaries were selected from the chosen urban locality. Similarly, three villages with 60 or more beneficiaries (bigger villages) were selected from each taluk. In addition, three more villages, adjacent to the chosen villages but located away from the main road with 15 to 20 beneficiaries (smaller villages) were selected from each taluk. 6

7 At the fourth stage, the list of ers falling under different schemes was prepared for each ward/nagar and also for each village. The ers were divided into three strata based on the scheme under which they were sanctioned, viz., 1) Old age ers, 2) Destitute widow ers and 3) Disability ers. We have selected 30 ers from each ward for an in-depth study based on stratified proportionate sampling method. Similarly, 30 beneficiaries each were selected from the bigger villages and 10 each from smaller villages for an in-depth study, following the same procedure. In the event of non-availability of the sample ers (permanent migration, etc.) thus chosen, they were duly substituted with the reserve provided in the list. The study covered a sample of 180 ers spread over 2 wards, 3 bigger villages and 3 smaller villages from each taluk. Thus, 360 ers were selected from each district, comprising 120 from the urban areas and 240 from the rural areas. The total sample for the study was 1080 ers drawn from the three broad categories namely OAPs, DWPs and PHPs in the three study districts taken together. In addition to interviewing the sample ers chosen for the study, village and ward level interviews were held with the key informants in each selected village/ ward to to elicit their views and to assess the overall performance of the delivery system. Besides, secondary data/ information was collected from the Tehsildar office, Sub-treasury office and the Taluk post office to understand the progress of the SSP schemes and operation of the delivery system and to ascertain the reasons for delay. The study results have been presented in five chapters. In Chapters 2 to 4, the findings on the delivery of social security and benefits in Bellary, Chitradurga and Gulbarga have been, respectively, presented. In the final chapter, conclusions have been provided. 7

8 2. Delivery of Social Security and Pension Benefits in Bellary District INTRODUCTION This chapter is devoted to the study of delivery of Social Security Pension benefits in Bellary district. The total sample for the study, comprising 361 ers in two taluks of Bellary and Hospet, represents all the three categories of ers, viz., Old Age Pensioners (OAP), Destitute Widow Pensioners (DWP) and Physically Handicapped or Disabled Pensioners (PHP). In the first section of this chapter, the progress of schemes and the arrangements to distribute s in the district are analysed with the help of the secondary data available and discussions with officials of the concerned departments. This is followed by the analysis with regard to the socio-economic profile of the sample households and ers chosen for the study. In the subsequent sections, a detailed analysis of primary data has been made covering different aspects such as s, delivery mechanisms, delay in the delivery of s, unauthorised payments, behaviour of the delivery agent, work status of ers before and after obtaining, level of security among ers and the issues relating to ineligible ers. PROGRESS OF THE PENSION SCHEMES IN THE DISTRICT The progress of the social security schemes in terms of growth rate in the number of beneficiaries in Bellary district from to is shown in Table 2.1. Nearly 20,000 new ers were added under different schemes during the last two years. The growth rate in the number of ers has been 29 per cent, highest in the case of OAP, followed by DWP and PHP. The reasons for such rapid growth are the following: First, there was a change in the eligibility criteria for OAP. Initially, s for the elderly were restricted to the destitute; but this criterion was relaxed. This resulted in several people applying for the s. Secondly, the increase in the amount to Rs. 400 motivated several people to apply for the scheme. Third, during , the state government introduced a new scheme called Sandhya Suraksha Yojana (SSY) for the benefit of old age ers, and undertook enrolment drives. Under the SSY scheme, only 1411 ers have been given so far. By December 2008, there were a total of 88,288 ers, of whom 41 per cent were receiving PHP, 35 per cent OAP and 23 per cent DWP. 8

9 Table 2.1: Growth rate in the number of ers in Bellary District Sl. No. Scheme Number of Pensioners % of growth (up to Dec 08) over Old Age Pension scheme 22,345 24,169 31, (32.6) (33.7) (35.3) 2. Widow Pension scheme 15,662 15,962 19, (22.9) (22.2) (22.6) 3. Disability Pension scheme 30,429 31,630 35, (44.5) (44.1) (40.5) 4. Sandhya Suraksha Yojana , (1.6) 68,436 71,761 88, (100) (100) (100) Source: Data provided by the Directorate of Social Security and Pensions, Revenue Department, GoK Table 2.2 on growth rate in the expenditure on social security and benefits (including administrative expenditure) in Bellary district from to shows that the expenditure increased by about 10 times from Rs.3.25 crores in to Rs crores in (up to December 2008). Table 2.2: Expenditure (Rs.) on social security and benefits in Bellary district Sl. No. Scheme Expenditure (Rs.) % of growth (up to Dec 08) over Old Age Pension scheme Widow Pension scheme Disability Pension scheme Sandhya Suraksha Yojana Source: Data provided by the Directorate of Social Security and Pensions, Revenue Department, GoK The higher growth rate in the expenditure when compared to that of the number of ers could be attributed to an increase in the monthly amount from Rs.200 to Rs.400 in , and the consequent spurt in the demand for from the potential beneficiaries. 9

10 Thus, there has been a huge demand for social security s, especially under the SSY. For instance, in Hospet taluk alone, 1753 persons were sanctioned s in December 2008, of whom a majority (75.4%) fall under the SSY. Nearly 3000 applications for sanction of were reported to be under process. It was informed by the treasury officers in the study area that there was no dearth of funds for social security benefits as they fall under non-plan expenditure. Arrangements to Distribute the Pensions The applications for sanction of s are submitted to the Tehsildar. The Revenue Inspector (RI) with the help of the Village Accountant scrutinises the applications, including the physical verification of the applicants in accordance with the eligibility criteria. Based on the report of the RI, the Shirastadar sends in the papers to the Tehsildar for sanction. Upon sanction of, the order copy is sent to the applicant and the Sub-treasury Officer (STO). The STO gets the data entered into the computer, and releases the amount. The existing arrangements to distribute the amount consist of two methods, viz., 1) through post offices and 2) through banks. The STO releases the amount through cheques to the Post Master, Taluk Post Office and to the concerned banks. Most of the s are being distributed through the post offices. The STO sends the cheques for every 100 Money Orders (MOs) to the Taluk Head Post Office. But, in the case of Bellary taluk, cheques have been sent for every 500 MOs. From the taluk post office, the amount is sent to the sub-post offices for booking of MOs. The process of booking the MOs at the subpost offices takes about a week s time. From the sub-post offices, the MOs will be sent to the branch post offices. At the branch post office level, the postmaster has to make indents to sub-post office, obtain the amount, and arrange for the distribution of money to the ers through the postman. The major difficulties faced by officials from different departments in the district could be listed out as follows: Revenue department Dearth of staff to scrutinize applications and for physical verification to adhere to the eligibility criteria Overload of work for the RI and village accountant, especially in urban areas Quantum jump in applications in the recent past Pressure from local politicians to expedite the process of sanctioning No feedback from the STO to the Tehsildar regarding stoppage of 10

11 Treasury department Dependence on Tehsildar s office for deputing case workers to enter data into the computer Large number of MOs to be printed Frequent repair of printers Power cut problem Postal department Delay at the sub-post offices for booking the MOs Postman cannot carry more than Rs per day The usual practice in the study area is to release once in two months from the treasury. The time taken for the release of 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 through post offices in the district. A few ers have been receiving the through their bank accounts. The existing procedure for distributing through banks stipulates that the er has to open a savings bank account at any bank branch, and make an application in the prescribed form to the STO. The STO sends the amount to the concerned banks, where it is credited to the account of the er every month. Thus, there is no delay in the distribution of s through banks. However, the number of ers receiving the through banks is very less. For instance, in Hospet taluk, it was found that out of 17,724 ers, only 862 (4.9%) were receiving through banks. In the case of unclaimed MOs, the amount has to be sent back to the treasury once in three months. In Bellary taluk, 510 MOs were returned to the treasury during June to November 2008, while the corresponding figure was 221 in Hospet. At the treasury level, the amount will be kept under sus for three months, and thereafter it will be stopped. The banks are also supposed to send the un-drawn amount to the treasury after three months. But, there is no mechanism to address the unclaimed cases from the treasury to the Tehsildar s office. The discussions with the District Treasury Officer and the Tehsildar, Bellary revealed that, in Bellary taluk efforts have been initiated to introduce the smart card system for which physical verification of the ers and data updating was under progress. The photographs and the 11

12 fingerprints of the ers are being recorded and the ers are being issued a Fingerprint Enrolment Copy as an acknowledgement. This was corroborated by the fact that in one of the sample villages, the process took place on November 8, In another sample village, the smart cards were also distributed and the business correspondent appointed by Syndicate Bank, Emmiganur branch was seen distributing the s. In view of this, the government instructed the treasury officer to stop the release of the amount from October onwards in Bellary taluk. In other taluks including Hospet, the distribution of s through post offices is being continued. PROFILE OF SAMPLE HOUSEHOLDS The profile of the sample households is analysed here in terms of religion and caste background, housing status, access to PDS, and composition of the household members by gender, age group, educational status, occupational status and dependency ratio, which will enable us to understand the socio-economic background of those benefiting under the social security benefit schemes. Nearly 87 per cent of the er households were Hindus, while the others were Muslims (Table 2.3). The distribution of ers by religion is more or less the same across the three categories of ers. The caste composition of the ers (Table 2.4) reveals that the SCs and STs accounted for about 46 per cent of the er households. The backward castes accounted for about 29% of the ers, while Muslim minorities accounted for 13%. Thus, a vast majority of the ers belonged to the depressed castes. There are certain variations in the caste composition of ers across the three categories. Table 2.3: Distribution of Households in Bellary by Religion and Pension Type (%) Religion Old age Widow Disability Hindu Muslim

13 Table 2.4: Distribution of Pensioner Households in Bellary by Caste Category and Type of Pension (%) Caste Category Old age Widow Disability SC ST Backward Caste Minorities Others House type, Sanitation and possession of ration cards Regarding housing status of the ers (Table 2.5), about 40% were residing in pucca houses and 23% in semi-pucca houses. While 23% of the ers were residing in katcha houses, 12% did not have their own house and were residing in rented houses. Further, about 77% of the ers had no access to sanitation facility. Thus, the housing status of a majority of the ers could be considered as poor. However, the percentage of households residing in pucca/rcc houses is relatively higher among the PHP (51%) when compared to the OAP and the DWP (37% and 38% respectively). Table 2.5: Access of Pensioner Households in Bellary to Housing, Sanitation and PDS (%) Old age (N=113) Widow (N=131) Disability (N=117) (N=361) House status No house Katcha Semi-Pucca Pucca RCC house Sanitation facility Individual sanitation Community latrine Open defecation Type of ration card BPL Card - AAY BPL Card - Akshaya APL Card No ration card

14 With regard to access to ration cards (Table 2.5), it was found that 65% of the ers had accessed the BPL card Akshaya and 11% the BPL card AAY. About 11% of the ers had APL cards, their share being higher in the case of PHP when compared to DWP and OAP. It is a matter of concern that 13% of the ers had no access to PDS, more so among the OAP when compared to the DWP and the PHP. Distribution of household members by Age and Size of the family The household composition of the ers (Table 2.6) indicates that there were more females (53.4%) than males (46.6%) in the sample households. This is due to the presence of more females among the DWP and OAP households. The average household size worked out to 4.7, being higher among the PHP households (5.2) when compared to the OAP (4.6) and the DWP (4.3). Table 2.6: Distribution of sample household members in Bellary by sex (%) Old age Widow Disability Sex Male Female Average HH size The age group composition of the sample household members (Table 2.7) indicates that children (14 years and below) constituted 24% of the household members, while the aged (above 65 years) accounted for 12%. About 65% of the household members belonged to the economically productive age group (15-64 years), being higher among the PHP households (73%) when compared to the OAP (52%) and widows (68%). Table 2.7: Distribution of sample HH members in Bellary by age (%) Old age Age group Widow Disability <= >=

15 Educational Profile The educational profile of the household members (Table 2.8) indicates that about half of them were illiterate, such a percentage being higher among the aged when compared to the widows and the disabled. About 26% of the members had primary education. Only 14% had high school education, such a percentage being higher among the PHP households when compared to that of the DWP and OAP. Thus, the educational profile of the members is quite low. Table 2.8: Distribution of sample HH members in Bellary by educational level (%) Old age Widow Disability Educational level Illiterate Yet to be admitted into school Primary (1-7) High school (8-10) Pre-university Technical education Degree Post graduation Occupational Profile The working status of the household members (Table 2.9) shows that wage labour is the single largest occupation in which 25% of the members were engaged, mostly in agriculture. The next important occupation is self-employment (in small manufacturing, hotels, transport and personal services), which accounted for 11% of the members, followed by agriculture (7%). There were a few salaried employees, but mostly in the private sector and in low-paid occupations. While 18% of the members cannot work, 8% were engaged in household work. Students constituted 20% of the members, while 6% were too young to go to school. 15

16 Table 2.9: Distribution of sample HH members in Bellary by working status (%) Old age Widow Disability Work status Wage labourer in agriculture Wage labourer in non-agriculture Self-employed in agriculture Self-employed in small manufacturing/ hotel/ transport/personal services Salaried employee Household work Unemployed Student Cannot work Too young to go to school The ratio of dependents to workers is zero in about 14% households, and up to one in about 43% households. In the case of the remaining 43% households, the dependency ratio is greater than one and even exceeds three. The percentage of households with more than three dependents is highest in the case of OAP households, followed by PHP and DWP (Table 2.10). Table 2.10: Distribution of Pensioner households in Bellary by the dependents ratio (%) Old age Widow Disability Ratio of dependents to workers 0* > Thus, the profile of the sample households indicates that the PHP households appeared to be better placed when compared to that of the DWP and OAP in terms of percentage of households living in pucca/ RCC houses, possessing APL ration card and containing a higher proportion of members in the economically productive age group. 16

17 PROFILE OF THE SAMPLE PENSIONERS The profile of the sample ers is examined here in terms of their personal characteristics such as gender, age, marital status, education and working status. Gender Females outnumbered males among the ers, accounting for 74% of the total across all the three categories. Besides DWP, the share of females was very high (80%) among the OAP. The share of females was, however, less (40%) in the case of PHP (table 2.11). The higher proportion of females in so far as OAPs are concerned can be attributed to increased longevity of women as compared to men and targeting on account of their greater vulnerability. Table 2.11: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by sex (%) Old age Widow Disability Sex Male Female Age Group The distribution of the ers by age (Table 2.12) indicates that among the OAP, over 91% were aged 65 years or more. Most of them in the age group of years were closer to the upper limit. There was only one case of a er whose age was less than 55 years. Even among the DWP, a majority (54%) were above 55 years in age. A majority of the PHP (61%) were, however, less than 25 years of age. On the whole, the age appears to be not on the side of the ers, as 39% of them were aged 65 years or more and another 6% children. Table 2.12: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by age (%) Disability Old age Widow Age group >=

18 Marital Status The marital status of the ers (Table 2.13) indicates that a majority of them (55%) were widowed, such a percentage being very high among both the DWP and OAP (99% and 65% respectively). Among the PHP, however, more than two-thirds (68%) were unmarried. Table 2.13: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by marital status (%) Old age Widow Disability Marital status Unmarried Married Widowed Divorced Separated Deserted Educational Level The educational level of the ers (Table 2.14) indicates that the proportion of illiterates was very high among the OAP (97%) and DWP (93%). However, 67% of the PHP were literate, but their educational levels could be termed low, as most of them did not cross high school level. Table 2.14: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by educational level (%) Old age Widow Disability Educational level Illiterate Yet to be admitted into school Primary (1-7) High school (8-10) Pre-university Degree Post graduation Working Status The working status of the ers (Table 2.15) indicates that among the OAP, over threefourths (77%) cannot work. A few of them were, however, engaged as wage labourers in agriculture or self-employed in non-agricultural pursuits. Among the DWP, while 42% cannot work, the rest of them were mostly engaged as wage labourers in agriculture or selfemployed in small manufacturing/hotel/transport/personal services. In the case of PHP, those who cannot work constituted 48%, whereas 23% were students. Even among the PHP, there 18

19 were quite a few who were engaged in wage labour in agriculture or self-employed in nonagricultural activities. There were also a few salaried employees among all the three categories; but it was found that most of them were employed in the private sector, that too in low-paid occupations such as that of a sweeper, anganwadi worker, watchman, etc. One of the disabled ers, was, however, working as a lecturer in a private college. Table 2.15: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by working status (%) Old age Widow Disability Work status Wage labourer in agriculture Wage labourer in non-agriculture Self-employed in agriculture Self-employed in small manufacturing/ hotel/ transport/personal services Salaried employee Household work Unemployed Student Cannot work Too young to go to school Thus, most of the ers were females, widowed, and belonged to the category of nonproductive age group and non-workers. There were, however, a few workers among the ers, more so among the widowed when compared to other two categories. Most of them were engaged in the unorganised sector, undertaking wage employment in agriculture or self-employment in the non-agricultural sector. As such, it appears that most of the ers are in a disadvantageous position in terms of demographic, physical and economic status. Pensions An attempt is made here to analyse the data pertaining to s in the sample households such as where the was obtained, the number of ers in the household, year of obtaining the, whether they had the sanction letter, degree of disability among the PHP, and working status before obtaining. It needs to be mentioned here that even though there was more than one er in some households, the analysis is confined to the 361 respondents that were chosen as the sample for the study. 19

20 Place of obtaining Pension It was found that all the sample respondents obtained their in the location where they were residing. Number of Pensions in the Household In addition to the sample respondents, there were a few others in the sample households obtaining social security. On the whole, there were 14% households which comprised persons other than the respondent obtaining (Table 2.16). Table 2.16: Pensioner Households (%) in Bellary receiving more than one Whether anyone else in your HH receives? Old age Widow Disability Yes No The distribution of sample households by type of holders (Table 2.17) shows that 31% comprised only DWP, 29% only PHP and 26% only OAP. In the remaining households, there was a combination of all the three types of. There were three households where three persons obtained ; all the three types of were obtained in one of these households. Table 2.17: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by type of holders in their HHs (%) holders in the household Old age Widow Disability Only OAP Only DWP Only PHP OAP & DWP OAP & PHP DWP & PHP OAP & OAP DWP & DWP PHP & PHP OAP, OAP & PHP PHP, PHP & DWP OAP, DWP & PHP

21 Year of obtaining the Pension The distribution of sample ers by the year of obtaining the for the first time (Table 2.18) shows that slightly more than two-thirds of the ers among the OAP and PHP obtained after Even among the DWP, a majority (57%) obtained after Of the remaining, most of them obtained between 1995 and 2000 across all the three categories. Thus, a vast majority of the ers obtained during the last 13 years, even though the schemes were initiated much earlier. It implies that the demand for s has increased in the recent past, mainly due to enhancement of the monthly amount from Rs.100 to Rs.200 and further to Rs.400. Table 2.18: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by year of obtaining the (%) Year of obtaining Old age Widow Disability Before After No information Possession of sanction letter Regarding the possession of sanction letter or card, 97% of the ers informed that they possessed it, the percentage being more or less the same across all the three categories (Table 2.19). Table 2.19: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by possession of sanction letter or card (%) Does the er possess sanction letter or card? Old age Widow Disability Yes No

22 Degree of Disability The distribution of PHP by degree of disability (Table 2.20) shows that a majority (57%) had disability of 40-60%, and 22% had disability of 60-75%. About 10% disabled ers had disability of more than 75%, while the remaining 10% were on the borderline, i.e., a disability of just 40% which is the eligibility condition for obtaining. The degree of disability was noted down by verifying the doctor s certificate available with the respondents, to the extent possible. Table 2.20: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by extent of disability (%) Extent of disability Disability 40% % % 22.2 >75% (117) Working Status before obtaining Pension Regarding the working status of ers before obtaining the (Table 2.21), a majority of the ers from OAP and PHP categories (59% and 63% respectively) reported that they did nothing. This could be attributed to the advancement of age among the OAP and the degree of disability among the PHP. Further, there were quite a few students (20%) among the PHP at the time of obtaining. Thus, 83% of PHP were not engaged in any economic activity at the time of obtaining. Only among the DWP, the percentage of ers who did nothing at the time of obtaining is 35%. Thus, a majority of the DWP were engaged in some economic activity at the time of obtaining. It could be seen that, of those who were engaged in economic activities, most of them were engaged as wage labourers in agriculture, while a few others were engaged in wage labour in the non-agricultural sector, cultivation, business and other occupations. 22

23 Table 2.21: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by their working status before obtaining the s (%) Working status before obtaining the s Old age Widow Disability Wage labour in agriculture Wage labour in non-agriculture Cultivator Nothing Business Student Others Delivery Mechanism An attempt has been made here to examine the delivery mechanism for distribution of s in terms of the place of distribution of, who delivers, and how the ers managed to receive the amount in case of their absence. Place of Distribution of Pension About 89% of the ers across all the three categories reported that they receive at their doorstep through the postman. Only about 2% of the ers (belonging to DWP and PHP categories) reported that they receive the through the bank. The remaining 9% of the ers reported that they receive at the local post office (Table 2.22). It was observed that those who receive at the post office include the ers in a hamlet located at about 3-4 km from the main village housing the post office. In another case, even though the post office is located in the village, the postman insisted that the ers go to the post office to receive their. In the latter case, those who receive at the post office include the relatively poorer and ignorant ers who had no voice, because the postman did give to a few people at their doorstep in the same village. Table 2.22: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by the place of receiving the (%) Where do you usually receive the? Old age Widow Disability At the door step Local post office Local bank

24 Who delivers Pension? Thus, it is clear that it is the postman who delivers the in the case of a vast majority of the ers, followed by bank officials in a few cases. It was also noted that in one of the sample villages called H.Veerapura, the business correspondent appointed by Syndicate Bank, Emmiganur distributed the through the smart card system to some ers. However, the process seems to be incomplete in this village since smart cards were distributed to 106 out of 142 ers as on the date of survey. Arrangement if the Pensioner is Absent in the Village An enquiry was made with regard to how the ers manage to get the in the event of their absence (Table 2.23) when the postman visits their house. It was revealed that the ers in a village, locality or street usually keep on enquiring of the postman as to when the will be distributed. Therefore, they inform the postman through their relatives to wait for a few days. About 52% of the ers reported that they inform the postman about their absence. About 30% of the ers reported that they would go to the post office to collect their in the event of their absence when the postman visited them. A few others (6%) reported that they authorise their relatives to receive the on their behalf. Table 2.23: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by their responses on how they manage to receive the when they are absent(%) How do they manage to get when they are not present? Old age Widow Disability Go to post office Authorize relatives to receive Postman will be informed Others No information Delay in the Delivery of Pensions The delay in the delivery of s is analysed here in terms of the actual number of days of delay in respect of the last, perceptions of the ers on delay, and the improvement in the timeliness of delivery over time after they started receiving. 24

25 No. of days of Delay It may be mentioned here that, to obtain this information, the actual date of delivery of as mentioned in the MO receipt available with the respondents was verified to the extent possible. In some places, the date of delivery was clearly indicated, while in some other places, the postman did not care to mention the date of delivery. In the case of the latter, the recall method was used to obtain information on the probable date of delivery. In one village, the postman was very good and scrupulous, in the sense that he not only recorded the date of delivery on the MO receipt, but also made every er maintain a notebook in which he took pains to record the date of delivery of. With regard to the number of days of delay in the delivery of last (Table 2.24), it ranged between days in the case of 37% of the ers, followed by days in the case of 30% across all categories. There is no significant variation across the categories in this regard. The main reason for the delay in the delivery of could be traced to the pattern of release of from the treasury, which varied between Bellary and Hospet taluks. In the case of Bellary taluk, the last delivered was for the month of Sep 08, which was released in Nov 09 and delivered to the ers in the month of November and December. On the other hand, the for Nov-Dec 08 was released in January 09 and the delivery of was under progress at the time of survey during the second week of Jan 09. But, in most cases the last pertained to Sep-Oct 08, which was delivered in Nov-Dec 08. Another important reason for the delay could be due to the rule that postman cannot carry more than Rs per day. As a result, there were variations in the date of delivery of by the postman by about 30 days or more; variations could be noted even within the same village. The delay was of the order of days for the delivery of last in the case of about half the ers, if we take into account the stipulated norm of delivery of in the first week, i.e., before 7 th of every month. In one of the sample villages, there were also complaints of mischief by the postman to the effect that he would use it for his personal needs and distribute it to the ers at a later date. If they complained, he used to threaten them that MO would be returned. So, the ers bear the injustice meted out to them in silence. 25

26 Table 2.24: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by No. of days of delay in the delivery of last (%) Old age Widow Disability No. of days of delay days days days days days Above 100 days Perceptions of Delay Regarding the perceptions of the ers about delay in the delivery of during the last 6 months (Table 2.25), only 3% of the ers reported that they received it in the first week of the month; these include ers who receive the through banks. About 52% of the ers reported that there was a delay of two months in the delivery of. The rest of the ers felt that the delay in the delivery of s was three months and above. Thus, a majority of the ers felt that the delay in the delivery of s is two months or more. Table 2.25: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by the delay in the delivery of benefits in the last six months (%) Duration of delay in the delivery of Old age Widow Disability No delay-always delivered in the first week of every month A month Two months Three months and above Timeliness of Pension delivery over Time A majority of the ers (55%) felt that the timeliness of delivery (table 2.26) has somewhat improved over time since they first received. About 22% of the ers observed that the timeliness in delivery has vastly improved over time, while another 22% noted that it has not improved (remained the same). Thus, the timeliness of delivery has vastly improved or improved somewhat over time, according to a majority of the ers. The ers were, however, happy with the increase in the monthly amount from time to time. 26

27 Table 2.26: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by the timeliness of delivery since starting to receive (%) Timeliness of delivery Old age Widow Disability Vastly Improved Somewhat improved Not improved Unauthorised payments An attempt is made here to analyse whether any amount is paid to different actors including the postman, proportion of the amount paid to the total amount, why these payments were made and whether the payment was made voluntarily or demanded. Payment to different actors It was enquired whether any payment was made to anybody including the postman or bank official or any other person for receiving the last. About 80% of the ers across all the three categories reported that they paid the postman, such a percentage being higher in the case of DWP when compared to the other two (Table 2.27) On the other hand, the percentage of those who did not pay anything to the postman is higher among the OAP and PHP when compared to the DWP; the main reason for this could be the poor economic and health status of the er or better awareness of the ers. Table 2.27: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by their responses on the payment at the time of receiving the (%) Payment to the following at the time of receiving the Old age Widow Disability Postman None Amount paid to Pension The amount paid to the postman varied between Rs.5 to Rs.50, depending on the last amount, which ranged between Rs.400 and Rs.800. About 47% of the ers across all the three categories reported that they paid Rs at the time of receiving the last. About 12% of the ers reported that they paid Rs (Table 2.28). The norm for 27

28 payment to the postman is usually 5% of the amount, but it ranged between 2% and 6%, and varied from village to village, depending on the awareness level and attitude of the ers as well as the attitude of the postman. Table 2.28: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by the commission amount paid to the person who delivers the (%) Amount (in Rs.) paid to the person who delivers the Old age Widow Disability < > Not applicable Reasons for making unauthorised payments Regarding the reasons for making unauthorised payments to the postman, it was found that it became customary to pay the postman whenever any MO is delivered on considerations of the risk involved and the distance travelled in the hot sun. This practice has crept into the system over a long time and has spread to the delivery of amounts too. For instance, one old lady opined that even though she cannot afford to make payments to the postman, she still pays him because he comes from a long distance and delivers the at her doorstep. There is also a tendency among some postmen to think that the government is giving to the ers free and therefore he is entitled to some portion of it. Similarly, some ers also have a tendency to think that they are receiving some free money from the government and so they can pay some amount to the person who delivers it. It is often forgotten that the postman has to deliver the as part of his duty and that the er is entitled to from the government as a social security measure. The widespread illiteracy among the ers could be one important reason for this situation, while the depressed condition of some of the ers, more so among the OAP and DWP, could be another reason. Was the Payment voluntary or demanded? About 43% of the ers across all categories reported that they paid the postman voluntarily, such a percentage being higher among the OAP when compared to other two 28

29 categories. It was reported that the ers pay some thing to the postman, taking into account the risk he takes to carry the money and distribute to them over a considerable distance; in some cases, the postman has to travel more than 4 km to reach the village. On the other hand, about 37% of the ers reported that the money was demanded in the sense that the postman deducts some portion (mutually agreed) of the amount and pays the balance to the ers (Table 2.29). Table 2.29: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by their responses on whether the payment was voluntary or demanded (%) Was the amount demanded or voluntarily paid? Old age Widow Disability Demanded Voluntarily paid Not applicable Behaviour of the Delivery Agent An enquiry was made with regard to the behaviour of the delivery agent, be it the postman or business correspondent or bank official, at the time of giving the. As mentioned earlier, the postman is the delivery agent for most of the ers. A vast majority (91%) of the ers across all the three categories reported that the behaviour of the delivery agent was polite/ cordial. About 6% reported the behaviour of delivery agent as indifferent, while only 3% reported it as being arrogant/rough (Table 2.30). Table 2.30: Distribution of Pensioners in Bellary by the behaviour of the postman/ bank officials while distributing (%) Behaviour of postman/ bank officials Old age Widow Disability Polite/cordial Indifferent Arrogant/rough Work Status before and after obtaining Pension The work status of the ers at the time of obtaining and at present throws some light on whether there has been some change in their occupation, and if yes, in what way and what could be the reasons for such a change. The analysis has been done separately for the three categories of ers. 29