- National Social Assistance Scheme
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The National Social Assistance Scheme(NSAS) or National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP) was initiated on 15 August 1995. It was one giant step taken towards achieving the Directive Principles in Article 41 of the Constitution. The main aim of the programme is to ensure minimum national standard for social assistance along with the benefits that are currently provided by the states or may be provided in the future.
Contents
Components
There are three major components under the NSAS.[1] These are:
- National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS)
- National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)
- National Maternal Benefit Scheme (NMBS)
National Old Age Pension Scheme
It deals with benefitting the poor elderly and is completely sponsored by the central government. Managed by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India which issues norms, guidelines and conditions to the states and Union Territories. Anyone who wants to apply for this scheme must comply with the following- [2]
- The age of the applicant (male/female) should be 65 or above.
- The applicant must be a destitute having little or no regular means of subsistence from his/her own sources of income or through financial support from members of his/her household or other sources. In order to determine destitution, the criteria, if any, currently in force in the state/ Union Territory are to be followed. The Government of India reserves the right to review these criteria and suggest appropriate revised criteria.
- The amount of old age pension will be Rs. 75 per month under this scheme.
- The ceiling on the total number of old-age pensions for purposes of claiming central assistance will be specified for the states and Union Territories from time to time.
- The benefit under NOAPS should be disbursed in not less than two installments in a year and, if possible, the benefit may be disbursed in more installments as per direction of state government.
The allowance provided under the scheme was raised from the mere sum of Rs. 75 to Rs. 200 per month in the year of 2006, keeping in mind the increasing rate of inflation.
The death of a pensioner is immediately reported to the appropriate sanctioning authority by the village panchayats and municipalities and the payments are promptly stopped by the same. Any pension amount sanctioned on the basis of false or mistaken information about eligibility can also be stopped or recovered by the sanctioning authority.
National Family Benefit Scheme
Under this scheme, the central government provides a lump sum family benefit of a fixed amount to the bereaved household in case of death of the primary bread winner irrespective of the cause of death.[3]
- ^ Rajan, S. Irudaya (2008), 'Social Security for the Elderly', Routledge, Delhi.
- ^ http://nsap.nic.in/
- ^ http://megcnrd.gov.in/forms/NSAP.pdf
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