Pension Parishad and the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) criticise the Union government's NSAP pension increase as far too small. The central disability pension for persons below 79 rises from Rs 300 to Rs 375 a month, the first revision since 2012, while elderly pensions (ages 60–79) stay at Rs 200, unchanged since 2007, and widow pensions (ages 40–79) stay at Rs 300, unchanged since 2012. Extending eligibility to persons with 40% or more disability is welcome, but the unchanged beneficiary ceiling and five-year fixed allocations limit its impact. The groups demand pensions of at least Rs 5,000 a month, annual or biennial inflation-linked revisions, removal of the central beneficiary ceiling, simpler enrolment, and recognition of social security as a right.
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