Lok Sabha Question No. 544 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-03
Subject: Old Age Pension Scheme under NSAP
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Dr. K Sudhakar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 544

## ANSWERED ON 03/02/2026

## OLD AGE PENSION SCHEME UNDER NSAP

## 544.  Dr. K Sudhakar:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)    the total amount of funds released to the State of Karnataka under  the  Old  Age  Pension  Scheme  of  the  National  Social Assistance  Programme  (NSAP)  during  each  of  the  last  five years;
- (b) the  separate  allocation  and  release  of  funds  for  Scheduled Caste  (SC)  and  Scheduled  Tribe  (ST)  beneficiaries  since  the year 2021-2022;
- (c) whether the Government has evaluated the variation in State/UT  top-up  amounts  under  the  NSAP  Old  Age  Pension Scheme;
- (d) the total number of beneficiaries (male/female/SC/ST/Others) of the Old Age Pension Scheme in Karnataka, State and categorywise;
- (e) the  timeline  for  disbursal  of  pensions  to  beneficiaries  and whether delays have been reported; and
- (f) the number of beneficiaries still paid through manual or offline means  and  the  timeline  for  achieving  100%  Direct  Benefit Transfer (DBT) integration?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

- (a): Funds  released  under  the  Old  Age  Pension  Scheme  of  the National  Social  Assistance  Programme  (NSAP)  during  the  last  five years to the State of  Karnataka are given at Annexure-I.
- (b): Funds released for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST)  beneficiaries  under  NSAP  since  FY  2021-22  to  the  State  of Karnataka are given at Annexure-II.

(c): As per Constitution of India, both the Central Government and States/ UTs have the responsibility for working in tandem in rolling out  a  comprehensive  social  security  framework  for  the  country. Accordingly, the States/ UTs are encouraged to provide top up of at least  an  equivalent  amount  to  the  assistance  provided  by  the Central Govt. so that the beneficiaries could get a decent level of assistance. At present, the States/UTs are adding Top up amounts ranging from Rs. 50 to Rs. 3800 per month per beneficiary under old age pension scheme.

(d): The  number  of  male  and  female  beneficiaries  (based  on digitized  beneficiaries  on  NSAP-Pension  Payment  System  (PPS) Portal or  State  cap  of  number  of  beneficiaries,  whichever  is  less) and  category-wise number of beneficiaries (on the basis of State/UT Ceiling/Cap)  under  the  Indira  Gandhi  National  Old  Age  Pension Scheme, State-wise including Karnataka are given in Annexure-III.

(e): As  per  NSAP  guidelines,  responsibility  of  implementation  of NSAP schemes, identification/verification of beneficiaries, disbursal of pension to beneficiaries, stoppage of pension, annual verification of beneficiaries lies in the hand of States/UTs.

(f): To  foster  transparency  and  swiftness  in  transactions,  NSAP pension schemes are included under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes.  At  present,  almost  all  States/  UTs  are  DBT  compliant except Andhra Pradesh and Nagaland. In Andhra Pradesh, pension is disbursed  to  NSAP  beneficiaries  at  doorstep  in  cash  through  biometric authentication and Nagaland provides pension through cash mode to majority of its beneficiaries due to geographical terrain.

*****

Annexure-I

Annexure  referred to in reply to part (a)  LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 544 to be answered on 03.02.2026 regarding Old Age Pension Scheme under NSAP

Fund released to the State of Karnataka during the last five years under IGNOAPS (2020-21 to 2024-25)

(Rs. in crore)

| FY             |   2020- 21 | 2021- 22           | 2022- 23   | 2023- 24   |   2024- 25 |
|----------------|------------|--------------------|------------|------------|------------|
| Funds released |     300.73 | 291.52243.66303.75 |            |            |      68.31 |

Annexure-II

Annexure  referred  to  in  part  (b)  LokSabhaUnstarred  Question  No. 544  to  be  answered  on  03.02.2026  regarding  Old  Age  Pension Scheme under NSAP

Funds released to the State of Karnataka for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) beneficiaries under NSAP

(Rs in lakh)

| 2021-22   | 2021-22   | 2022-23   | 2022-23   | 2023-24   | 2023-24   | 2024-25   | 2024-25   | 2025-26*   | 2025-26*   |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------|------------|
| SC        | ST        | SC        | ST        | SC        | ST        | SC        | ST        | SC         | ST         |
| 9871.     | 4881.6    | 7826.0    | 4914.9    | 8465.1    | 4738.0    | 1446.5    | 349       | 11663.6    | 6409.3     |
| 3         | 9         | 8         | 1         | 2         | 7         | 4         | 9         | 6          | 5          |

Annexure  referred  to  in  part  (d)  LokSabhaUnstarred  Question  No.  544  to  be answered on 03.02.2026 regarding Old Age Pension Scheme under NSAP

## Male and Female beneficiaries under IGNOAPS

|                                                |          State | Female Male   |
|------------------------------------------------|----------------|---------------|
| 1 ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR                          |            239 | 343           |
| 2 ANDHRA PRADESH                               |         308964 | 354772        |
| 3 ARUNACHAL PRADESH                            |           3673 | 2220          |
| 4 ASSAM                                        |         342017 | 333343        |
| 5 BIHAR                                        | 16179911538540 |               |
| 6 CHANDIGARH                                   |           1287 | 1091          |
| 7 CHHATTISGARH                                 |         268952 | 307792        |
| 8 DELHI                                        |          61607 | 41690         |
| 9 GOA                                          |           2938 | 4369          |
| 10GUJARAT                                      |         292823 | 325242        |
| 11HARYANA                                      |         120515 | 139343        |
| 12HIMACHAL PRADESH                             |          49192 | 43986         |
| 13JAMMU AND KASHMIR                            |          53389 | 72488         |
| 14JHARKHAND                                    |         434592 | 415486        |
| 15KARNATAKA                                    |         477389 | 421929        |
| 16KERALA                                       |         217327 | 241445        |
| 17LADAKH                                       |           3008 | 3470          |
| 18LAKSHADWEEP                                  |             64 | 56            |
| 19MADHYA PRADESH                               |         633212 | 779335        |
| 20MAHARASHTRA                                  |         633205 | 470771        |
| 21MANIPUR                                      |          32762 | 22893         |
| 22MEGHALAYA                                    |          32537 | 23193         |
| 23MIZORAM                                      |          13247 | 11275         |
| 24NAGALAND                                     |          24943 | 20998         |
| 25ODISHA                                       |         549003 | 846306        |
| 26PUDUCHERRY                                   |          10238 | 7475          |
| 27PUNJAB                                       |          25181 | 16866         |
| 28RAJASTHAN                                    |         385287 | 433852        |
| 29SIKKIM                                       |            769 | 948           |
| 30TAMIL NADU                                   |         737809 | 453059        |
| 31TELANGANA                                    |         189954 | 287530        |
| 32THE DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU |           4889 | 3865          |
| 33TRIPURA                                      |          55987 | 66056         |
| 34UTTARAKHAND                                  |         100747 | 103810        |
| 35UTTAR PRADESH                                | 14322602015219 |               |
| 36WEST BENGAL                                  |         551009 | 720955        |

## Category wise beneficiaries under IGNOAPS

<!-- image -->

| S. No.States/UTs   | S. No.States/UTs   | IGNOAPS             | IGNOAPS             | IGNOAPS             |
|--------------------|--------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
|                    |                    | OTHER               | SC                  | ST                  |
| 2                  | Bihar              | 2163668682283311305 | 2163668682283311305 | 2163668682283311305 |
| 3                  | Chhattisgarh       | 442728138505        |                     | 63196               |
| 4                  | Goa                | 5008                | 1579                | 721                 |
| 5                  | Gujarat            | 425489133944        |                     | 61115               |
| 6                  | Haryana            | 178085              | 56157               | 25623               |
| 7                  | Himachal Pradesh   | 63855               | 20136               | 9187                |
| 8                  | Jharkhand          | 702358194151        |                     | 88585               |
| 9                  | Karnataka          | 616374194365        |                     | 88683               |
| 10                 | Kerala             | 321651              | 94187               | 42975               |
| 11                 | Madhya Pradesh     | 1079401340375155303 |                     |                     |
| 12                 | Maharashtra        | 773290240086109544  |                     |                     |
| 13                 | Odisha             | 979528301526137577  |                     |                     |
| 14                 | Punjab             | 80636               | 22193               | 10126               |
| 15                 | Rajasthan          | 564668178060        |                     | 81244               |
| 16                 | Tamil Nadu         | 878900277149126455  |                     |                     |
| 17                 | Telangana          | 329160103796        |                     | 47359               |
| 18                 | Uttar Pradesh      | 3645419739694337500 | 44205               |                     |
| 19                 | Uttarakhand        | 140183              |                     | 20169               |
| 20                 | West Bengal        | 877979276858126322  |                     |                     |
| 21                 | Arunachal Pradesh  | 5893                | 0                   | 5893                |
| 22                 | Assam              | 586175              | 37851               | 71971               |
| 23                 | Manipur            | 31609               | 1876                | 22406               |
| 24                 | Meghalaya          | 7607                | 417                 | 47710               |
| 25                 | Mizoram            | 1295                | 11                  | 23218               |
| 26                 | Nagaland Sikkim    | 1362                | 49                  | 44530               |
| 27                 | Tripura            | 12287               | 422                 | 4219                |
| 28                 |                    | 79285               | 14303               | 41644               |
| 29                 | A&N Islands        | 247                 | 23                  | 315                 |
| 30                 | Chandigarh         | 1144                | 84                  | 1150                |
| 31                 | D&N Haveli and D&D | 3663                | 348                 | 4743                |
| 32                 | NCT Delhi          | 104323              | 4939                | 4562                |
| 33                 | Jammu &Kashmir     | 118957              | 5896                | 5445                |
| 34 35              | Ladakh Lakshadweep | 4481 85             | 1377 5              | 628 65              |
| 36                 | Puducherry         | 16108               | 834                 | 771                 |

* Based on State/UT cap of number of beneficiaries

*****