Ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24 to be presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February, economists have urged the BJP-led government to increase the provision of social security pension and maternity benefits. In a letter signed by eminent economists of the country such as Jean Dreze (Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economics), Pranab Bardhan (Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of California Berkeley), R Nagaraj (Professor of Economics, IGIDR, Mumbai), Ritika Khera ( Professor of Economics, IIT, Delhi), Sukhdev Thorat (Professor Emeritus, JNU) and others have demanded increasing the central government’s share in the pension to Rs 500 per month.
Under the National Old Age Pension Scheme, the central government share has remained constant at Rs 200 per month since 2006. The letter demands that the government’s contribution should be increased to at least Rs 500 (preferably more) immediately.
This will lead to an additional allocation of Rs 7,560 crore. The economists also highlighted the similar plight of widow pension, which should be increased from the present Rs 300 to at least Rs 500 per month. Notably, Rs 1,560 crore will be spent on widow pension, as mentioned in the letter.
The group of economists also demanded that provision should be made in the Union Budget 2023-24 for full implementation of maternity rights as per NFSA norms. This requires a budget allocation of Rs 8,000 crore. Furthermore, the illegal restriction on maternity benefits should be repealed.
The letter further states that this is a follow-up to his letters sent to Late Shri Arun Jaitley on December 20, 2017 and December 21, 2018. It said the same priorities were mentioned in the letter sent to his predecessor. It asserted that both the letters were ignored by the government and hence they are sending another letter with the same recommendation.
read all latest business news Here