SOCIAL WELFARE SCHEMES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE OLD AGE PENSION SCHEME

Abstract

Population ageing is becoming a major socio-economic challenge in India. Senior citizens face various challenges that include health problems, different diseases, financial insecurity, loneliness, affect their quality of life and difficulty accessing healthcare. To address these challenges, the Government of India and State Governments have introduced various social welfare schemes for the senior citizens. Among these, the OAPS is one of the most important components of social welfare schemes designed to give the elderly people financial support and social security, especially where they do not have a regular income. This study analyzes the role and the importance of the OAPS as a social welfare scheme for senior citizens and focuses on the impact of OAPS as a welfare scheme on socio-economic life and challenges in the implementation of the scheme among senior citizens in Village Sivian, District Bathinda, Punjab. The study was conducted with 100 respondents (50 males and 50 females) from primary data and secondary data obtained through a structured interview using simple random sampling, while secondary data were obtained from books, research articles, government reports, policy documents and official websites. The results show that the social welfare scheme plays an important role in addressing the basic needs of beneficiaries for their household costs, their financial security and their dignity and independence as the senior citizen. However, its effectiveness is limited by low pension amounts, delayed payment of pension, problems with documentation and procedures, lack of information about eligibility and benefits and poor complaint systems.