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DRAFT PAPER

Ageing, Poverty and Social Security in Orissa: Some Issues and Evidences

PAPER PREPARED FOR THE THIRD APISA CONGRESSNew Delhi

23-25 November 2007

ASWINI KUMAR MISHRA

[ICSSR DOCTORAL FELLOW, NKC CENTRE FOR DEV. STUDIES,

BHUBANESWAR-13, INDIA](Correspondence: [email protected]

)

Abstract: The rapid, large scale and widespread growth in the number of older people in

Orissa, one of the poorest regions of India is really a matter of concern. The

concentration of aged in terms of its share to total population found to be the highest one

amongst what are metaphorically called BIMARUO states in India. Once again, on the

other hand, the state earns the dubious distinction of being the poorest state in the country as

per the latest estimates for the year 2004-05. One of the plausible explanations of such high

incidence of poverty with relatively large number of poor is the ever increasing size of

elderly people in the state which are presumed to have limited access to and control over

economic resources. Here in Orissa, like in most of the states, more than 90 per cent of theworkers are working in the in the informal sector and most of them as a result of which,

are having no such statutory social security provisions owing to life cycle contingencies.

In this context, the growing size of the elderly population with inadequate social security

measures perpetuate their destitution and perennial poverty, as the conventional anti-

poverty programmes are supposed to bypass them as they are more specifically designed

for the working poor.

This paper analyses the growing insecurities being faced by the aged in Orissa by

assessing three major dimensions of vulnerability such as (i) living arrangements,
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Ageing, Poverty and Social Security in Orissa: Some

Issues and Evidences

I. Introduction

Speaking at a seminar hosted by HelpAge International and partners in Washington DC

during 2002, Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner and former Chief Economist

of the World Bank, said: There is no subject of greater importance than the ageing of the

population and the provisioning of the social protection for older people. It affects the

very nature of our societies and concerns not only older people, but all sections of the

population (cited in Help Age International, 2004, p.2).

Until a few couple of decades ago, the issue of the elderly was not in the forefront of the

development agenda in the country. But now, the gradual marginalisation of the elderly

in the decision-making process in an average family and the break down of the family as

a traditional social unit that took care of the elderly, sick, widows and orphans has

brought forth problems of the elderly in the society (GoI, 2002).

Unfortunately, despite destitution being a critical social dimension of the problem of

ageing, the database on it is quite inadequate at present. Nevertheless, these are some of

the appalling features of older persons in India:

1. 90 per cent of older persons are from the unorganized sector, with no social

security at the age of 60.2. 30 per cent of older persons live below the poverty line and another 33 per

cent just marginally over it.

3. 80 per cent live in rural areas.


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Recent studies find that industrialisation, migration, urbanisation and westernisation have

severely affected value systems. The erstwhile joint family- the natural support system,

has crumbled. The fast-changing pace of life has added to the woes of the older person.

The worries of the elderly are not only concentrated on economic front but on social front

as well. The worries pertaining to the social relation aspect are much more complex as

compared to economic worries for those living in nuclear families or are living alone

(James, 1994). Some studies have shown that elderly people are often not well looked

after and deteriorating economic and social conditions of the elderly strongly favor for

providing social and health security to cover them ( Irudaya Rajan, 2004; Alam and

Karim, 2005).

Against of this backdrop, this paper discusses the situation of elderly in Orissa by

assessing some major dimensions of vulnerabilities, which have a strong bearing on their

well-being and urges the need for social security from rights perspectives. The paper is

organised into five sections: Section II analyses in brief the trends in ageing and poverty

across major states in India with particular reference to Orissa. Section III looks at the

socio-economic conditions of elderly in Orissa by assessing three major dimensions of

vulnerability such as (i) living arrangements, (ii) economic dependence, and (iii) health

conditions based on the NSSOs two different round survey reports carried out during

1995-96 (NSS 52nd round) and 2004 (NSS 60th

round). Section IV examines the

provision of social security arrangements in terms of its coverage and adequacy meant for

these utterly destitute in the state. Section V contains a few concluding observations on

the recommendations of the Working Group on Social Protection Policy- NationalSocial Assistance Programme and Associated Programmes, GoI (2006), Ministry of

Rural Development, New Delhi.


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HelpAge India-2005). It means that 7.45 per cent of the total population in the year 2001

belonged to what is referred to as the older age group. The proportion is expected to

increase to 12.4 per cent by the year 2026 and ultimately to 21 per cent by the year 2050.

A closer scrutiny of aged population in Orissa reflects that both in absolute and relative

terms it is rising rapidly in the state. The number of elderly (those belonging to the age

group 60 years and above) which was 22.81 lakh in 1991, grew to 30.39 lakh in 2001. A

majority of the elderly of the state- 88 per cent- live in rural areas. The concentration of

aged in terms of its share to total population tends to be higher in the rural areas (8.58 per

cent) than in the urban areas (6.43 per cent) and for all areas, it is 8.26 per cent of the

total population in the state. In fact, this proportion is found to be the highest amongst

what are metaphorically called BIMARUO states in India (Table 1). Moreover, the share

is likely to increase in the coming years and is attributed to demographic transition. As

per the Population Projections, the number of elderly in Orissa is likely to be around

62.69 lakh in 2026; i.e., an increase of more than two times in a span of 25 years,and the

share of the elderly is expected to be 13.8 per cent of the total population (Census of

India 2001, 2006).

An important way of looking at the burden of the elderly for any society is the old-age

dependency ratio. The old age dependency ratio defined as the number of persons in the

age group 60 years and above, per 100 persons in the age group 15-59 years is a useful,

notional indicator of the extent of economic support those in the working age group have

to provide to the dependent elderly. The old age dependency ratio has increasedmarginally from about 12.74 per cent in 1991 to 14.14 percent in 2001, being somewhat

higher for females than for the males. The ratio is found to be the fourth highest in the

case of Orissa among the major states in the country following Kerala, Punjab and


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could have serious implications for the well-being of the elderly at household level (GoI,

2002).

It is worth mentioning that the poverty incidence, which was 65.29 per cent in 1983,

declined significantly to 48.56 per cent in 1993-94 and further marginally to 46.4 per cent in

2004-05 (and now the state earns the dubious distinction of being the poorest state in the

country). The HCR declined by 2.33 percentage points per annum during the period 1983-94

and only 0.37 percentage points per annum during the period 1994-2005. Moreover, the

absolute number of poor persons is found to be increasing at a significant rate of 1.5 lakh

persons per annum between 1993-94 and 2004-05 (Table 2). On the other, the share of work

force in the organised sector is shrinking. At present it is estimated that only five per cent of

the work force is in the formal sector in the state and most of which are assumed to be

covered under statutory social security measures.

Therefore, what is found from the recent data that at the one hand, the magnitude of poorer

people is relatively high compounded with sluggish pace of reduction in the incidence of

poverty and on the other, the share of elderly population is increasing at a steady rate. So it

suggests that a large number of older people in the state are either poor or at serious risk of

poverty. Study shows that households with older people are poorer, almost without

exception, in comparison to those households without them (Schwartz, 2003). Chronic

Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) identifies a large segment of unemployable (like the old

and the handicapped, the widows, the orphans) -owing to life cycle contingencies or

exigencies- to fall into the category of being chronically poor in any society. The focus of

the present paper is analyzing the situation of older people in Orissa and the next section

addresses some basic issues pertaining to it.

III. Situation of Elderly in Orissa


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that barring very few studies (like Panda, 1997) no such systematic attempts have so far

been made in order to assess the growing insecurities being faced by the aged in Orissa.

However, NSSOs two different round surveys carried out during 1995-96 (NSS 52nd

round) and 2004 (NSS 60th round) give valuable information about the nature and

dimensions of the conditions of and socio-economic problems faced by the aged in the

state. The results of these two surveys in addition to that of the results of the last two

censuses have been used in our subsequent analysis and wherever possible, inferences have

been drawn to assess the changes over this period.

1.Living Arrangement:

The term living arrangement is used to refer to ones household structure (Palloni,

2001). Irudaya Rajan et al. (1995) explain living arrangements in terms of the type of

family in which the elderly live, the headship they enjoy, the place they stay in and the

people they stay with, the kind of relationship they maintain with their kith and kin, and

the extent to which they adjust to the changing environment. While dealing with the

welfare of any specific group, it is important to study their pattern of living arrangement.

There exist several living patterns for the elderly such as living with the spouse, living

with children, living with other relations and non-relations and living alone (as an inmate

of old age homes or otherwise). Panda (1997) in his study of living arrangements of the

elderly in rural Orissa found that nearly one-fifth of the elderly were living alone and

further one-tenth were living only with spouses without direct support and care from kin.

Nevertheless, one of the striking findings of his study was that living arrangements of theelderly were not homogeneous, but differ significantly in terms of age, gender, marital

status and economic status-viz. old-old (70+), women, widowed and poor( landless and

low income) are more likely to live alone.


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children, while about three per cent were living with other relations and non-relations.

Nevertheless, about 12 per cent were living with their spouses only while about three per

cent were still living alone. Moreover, the living arrangement of the aged has changed to

some extent over time since 1995-96. A perusal of data between these two survey periods

(1995-96 and 2004) reveals the following:

1. The proportion of the aged who lived with their spouses only had gone up

significantly from 8 to 12 per cent in urban areas and remained the same in rural

areas.

2. The proportion of the aged who lived with their children only had

however, gone down from a already low of 31 per cent to 26 per cent in urban

areas. On the other hand, the proportion of the aged who lived with other

relations and non-relations had gone up from 3 per cent to 5 per cent in urban

areas. This probably reflects the further weakening of the extended family system

in the state as evidenced in other part of the country.

2.Economic Independence:

The living arrangement depicts how the physical well-being of the aged is taken care of

in the family in our society. Similarly, the economic independence reveals the associated

problem of day-to-day maintenance of livelihood of the elderly. The distribution of aged

persons by state of economic independence for the state as per NSSO survey(NSS 60th

round for the year 2004) shows that as high as 70 per cent of the aged had to depend on

others for their day-to- day maintenance. The estimated number of aged dependent was

found to be around 20 lakh in the state.

About one-sixth (16 per cent) of elderly in rural areas and urban areas are partially

dependent on others and more than a half (54 per cent) of the total elderly are fully


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dependent either partially or fully. In this respect, males were much better off - 45 per

cent among them did not depend on others for their livelihood.

Compared to 1995-96, the results of the NSS for the year 2004 indicate the following:

1. The incidence of economic independence has decreased among elderly in

rural areas.

2. The aged who had to depend on others (for their day-to- day maintenance)

fully has increased both in rural and urban areas.

3. The economic condition of the elderly females has deteriorated both in

rural and urban areas.

3.Economic Support Providers:

As has been observed above, a large proportion of the elderly are economically

dependent on others for their livelihood. It is, therefore, pertinent to know who the

persons are who are providing economic support to the elderly. Such information was

collected in the rounds of two NSSO surveys mentioned above. It is seen that of the

economically dependent aged, a majority (about 78 per cent) had to depend on their

children and a sizable proportion (13 per cent) on their spouses for their economic

support. Only 3 per cent were supported by their grandchildren and the rest (6 per cent)

had to depend on others, including non-relations. Between the years 1995-96 and 2004,

the distribution of the aged who were economically dependent changed in respect of thecategory of persons supporting them for their livelihood.In the inter-survey period, these

are the major findings:

1. The proportion of the aged males and females in rural areas depending on


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5.7 per cent in 2004 on their spouse and on others respectively) significantly in

rural areas.

3. The proportion of those depending on their spouse decreased in the urban

areas (however, it has marginally increased among the aged

females).Nevertheless, those depending on others, including non-relations has

increased significantly in the urban areas as found in rural areas (from 1.8 per

cent in 1995-96 to 6.4 per cent in 2004).

4Health Status:

Health problems are supposed to be the major concern of a society as older people are

more prone to suffer from ill health than younger age groups. It is often claimed that

ageing is accompanied by multiple illnesses and physical ailments. Several studies point

out that the health status of the aged should occupy a central place in any study of the

elderly population as the elderly seem to be suffering from various types of diseases and

disabilities (Dandekar, 1996; Alam and Karim, 2005; Irudaya Rajan, 2006).

A few attempts have been made at providing a profile of the illness patterns among the

elderly at the national and state level. Nevertheless, the following section analyses the

health condition of the elderly in Orissa based on the results of the NSS 52nd round. The

following two aspects are analysed:

a) Chronic ailments

b) Disability status

a) Chronic ailments:In the 52nd round of NSS, information was collected from the aged on chronic ailments.

Among the aged, the prevalence rates (in per cent) were obtained for eight specified


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1) The prevalence rate of chronic diseases among the aged was in general found to be

very high and it was higher in rural areas (59 per cent) than in urban areas (51 per

cent). In contrast to this, at the all India level, the rate was found to be higher in

the urban areas (55 per cent) than in the rural (52 per cent).

2) Excepting the case of cough, the prevalence rate was found to be higher in the

case of remaining seven diseases in the state in comparison to the all-India level. In

all, nearly 58 per cent of the aged persons were found to be suffering from any one

type of chronic disease in the state, which is five percentage points higher than all-

India level.

3) The prevalence rate of chronic diseases among elderly women is found to be higher

than their male counterparts both in rural and urban areas. Again in contrast to the

all-India level, the prevalence rate was found to be higher in rural areas (61 per

cent) than in urban areas (54 per cent) for elderly women (whereas, at the all-India

level, the prevalence rate for aged females was 51 and 56 per cent respectively in

rural and urban areas).

4) Problem of joints (48.8per cent) and high/low B.P. (15.2per cent) happened to

be the most severe diseases for the aged. Cough (14.8per cent) came next in the

order of severity. It needs to be mentioned here that, as far as the Problem of

joints is concerned, among the major states, Orissa ranks at number three following

Andhra Pradesh(51.8per cent) and Kerala (48.9per cent).

b) Disability status:The NSS 52nd round also probed into five types of disabilities of the elderly. These were

visual impairment, hearing problem, difficulty in walking (locomotor problem), problems

in speech and senility. The following are the major findings of the survey:

1. Twenty-eight per cent of the elderly in Orissa suffered from visual impairment,

f ll d b h i diffi lti (18 t) l t di bilit (15 t)


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2. The prevalence rates of all the five disabilities were higher in the state in

comparison to the all-India level. Moreover, the prevalence rates in the case of

hearing problem, problems in speech and senility was found out to be the highest

and on the other hand, the rate in respect of difficulty in walking (locomotor

problem) was turned out to be the second highest after Kerala (15.5 per cent),

among the major states in the country.

3. Except for visual impairment, women were ahead in all type of disabilities

compared to males in the state just as it was found at the all-India level.

The above section gives a comprehensive picture of conditions of and problems being

faced by elderly in the state. Against this backdrop it seems very necessary to make an

overview of the existing social security arrangements meant for them and the following

section examines it.

IV. An Analytical Overview of the Performance and Functioning of Protective

Social Security Arrangements for Elderly in Orissa

All the state governments and UTs have their own schemes of social assistance

programmes. By the end of the Seventh Plan (1985-90), all the states and UTs had old-

age pension schemes; however, the extent of coverage was dependent on the resources of

the state. Prasad (1998) provides a review of social security schemes and programmes

carried out by various states of India. The review reveals the following :(i) Almost all

states and UTs have old-age pension schemes. A few states such as Andhra Pradesh,

Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also have special schemes for agricultural labourer; (ii)Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat and Orissa have pension schemes for destitute widows and

physically handicapped; (iii) While Maharashtra has introduced an employment

guarantee scheme, states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat have unemployment relief


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women and children while a number of other states offer welfare benefits for various

categories of population below the poverty line; (vii) In most of the states, old age

pension schemes cover large number of beneficiaries whereas in Kerala and Tamil Nadu

coverage is higher even in the case of other schemes.

But the irony is that, barring few states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu most of the states do not,

yet, have adequate social security arrangements. Protective social security measures of

one form or another in these states have negligible coverage and impact.

Basically two social pension schemes namely, National Old Age Pension Scheme

(NOAPS) and State Old Age Pension Scheme (SOAPS) are in operational in the state. In

this section, a review of these two schemes for the benefit of vulnerable sections of the

population-destitute old people- has been made.

1. National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS):

For the first time in India, a social security system in the form of the National Social

Assistance Programme (NSAP) was introduced with effect from 15th August 1995.

NOAPS is one of the three components of this programme, envisages at benefiting to

poor households in the case of old age. It was obviously envisaged that more such

benefits would be added in due course to extend protection against other cases of

undeserved want. On March 19, 1999 the GoI announced another social assistance

scheme, Annapurna, under which an eligible elderly destitute who is not availing

pension under NOAPS, will be provided with 10 Kgs. of rice or wheat per month free ofcost. The Report of the Working Group on Social Protection Policy- National Social

Assistance Programmeand Associated Programmes, Govt. of India(2006) observes that

The NSAP was intended to be a significant step towards fulfillment of the Directive


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India releasing funds in the form of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) routed through

the State Budget.

Up to 2005-06, Government of India provided Rs.75 per month and the State

Government Rs.25 per month to each beneficiary under the above scheme.The pension

amount has been increased from Rs.100/- to Rs.200/- w.e.f. March 2006 payable

in April.06 by the Government of India. The Finance Minister of India in his Budget

Speech for the year 2006-07 urged the state governments to make an equal contribution

from their resources so that a destitute pensioner would get at least Rs.400 per month. As

per reports received, the States of Tamil Nadu, Uttrakhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan,

NCT of Delhi, UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Pondicherry have already started

disbursing Rs.400 per month or above for pensioners under NOAPS. However, it has not

yet been revised in Orissa (GoI, 2006).

The current target under this Scheme is 6.43 lakh as shown in Table 3. What is striking

to observe from Table3 that whereas the additional increment in the targeted number of

beneficiaries (in per cent) over a period of five years during the 9 th FYP was 74 per cent,

it was reduced to only 30 per cent in the next Five Year Plan (FYP). On the other hand,

the present coverage under Annapurna scheme (APY) is 64, 800 in the state.

Evaluation studies find that NSAP has in fact reached the target segment. Achievement

rates are also increasing over the years. Benefits offered under the programme have met

the objective as laid down in the programme. However, the programme now needs to re-look into the numerical ceiling norms, provide provision for updating BPL list, clearly

define responsibility among the various functionaries involved in the implementation,

ensure timely release of benefit and lay greater emphasis on publicity and awareness
http://../orissa/WCD/Annual%20Activity%20Report/Annual%20Activity%20Report%202005-06/Annexure-IX.pdfhttp://../orissa/WCD/Annual%20Activity%20Report/Annual%20Activity%20Report%202005-06/Annexure-IX.pdf


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poorer states namely, UP, MP got placed in it and this clearly reflects poor performance

of this programme in the state.

The Report of Working Group on Social Protection Policy- National Social Assistance

Programme and Associated Programmes, GoI (2006), Ministry of Rural Development,

New Delhi finds that the Scheme severely suffers for two reasons which cut across the

states: (i) it involves complex administrative procedures and, therefore, proves especially

difficult for the illiterates and (ii) the size of programme beneficiaries is capped

artificially by using an arbitrary ceiling formula1.

As far as ceiling formula is concerned, it assumes parity between the old age and the

general poverty. In reality, however, this may not be the case. Intra-household studies

have shown that aged men and women are far more vulnerable and lack bargaining

strength especially in crisis situations. The second observation relates to the

discriminatory procedure, which is inbuilt in the ceiling formula namely, only half of the

below poverty aged are considered as worthy of pension benefits. The remaining half is

considered as drawing support from one or the other source. This leaves district

administrations and Panchayats with considerable leverage for subjective decisions(ibid). Adding to this, various evaluation reports and studies indicate that the criteria of

destitute cannot be defined clearly and that establishment of the destitution of beneficiary

is difficult. This leads to problems in the selection process.

2. State Old Age Pension (SOAP) Scheme:

The State Old Age Pension Scheme was introduced in the State w.e.f. 1.4.1975. Under

the Scheme, State Govt. is at present providing pension @ Rs.200/- per month per

beneficiary to old and destitute persons of 60 years of age and above, to leprosy patients


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Turning to the amount of assistance provided under the scheme it is found that the rate of

pension which was Rs.40/- per month per beneficiary during 1980-81, was revised to

Rs.60/- during 1989-90 and in the following year it was enhanced to Rs.100/- and this

amount of assistance remained unchanged till 2005-06. From April, 2006 the State Govt.

has enhanced the rate of pension under this scheme to Rs.200/- per month per beneficiary

alongwith the pensions under National Old Age Pension and Orissa Disability Pension

schemes. This means the value of assistance which was Rs.135 during 1990-91 in real

terms (at 1993-94 prices) started declining to reach at Rs.52 during 2005-06 i.e. by 61.48

per cent in a span of sixteen years.

The coverage under the scheme has been enhanced from time to time, though not in a

systematic manner. At the beginning of 8th FYP, the targeted number of beneficiaries

under the scheme was 4.5 lakh which rose to 5.3 lakh and further to 6.4 lakh respectivelyat the beginning of the following two FYPs. As of now, 6.75 lakh destitute people are

receiving social assistance under this scheme. But, what is striking as observed from the

Graph 1 that the additional increment in the number of beneficiaries declined

successively during the last three FYPs.

Again this scheme suffers for two reasons, i) There is no systematic revision of coverageas well as amount of assistance under the scheme in different years ii) the destitution

criteria based on the fact that the annual income of the beneficiaries must not exceed

Rs.3200/- has not been revised since long and that establishment of the destitution of

beneficiary is difficult. Adding to this since 1997 there is no revision of BPL list in the

state for which it is feared that there are a large number of potential beneficiaries at

present out of the ambit of social protection measures.

V. Concluding Observations


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Moreover, till now, though these three above mentioned means-tested public provisioning

of social pensions are seen as largesse.. to the destitute older people and not as a

right. However, there is a growing recognition that neglect of the rights of older people is

unacceptable. Realising it, theWorking Group, Govt. of India (2006) has recommended

for universalisation of social assistance for persons who have little or no income, being

unable to work, because of age, health or other reasons as a major form of comprehensive

social security. It is high time to implement recommendation put forth by the Working

Group with letter and spirit without any delay from human rights perspective. At the

same time as suggested by Mahendra Dev (2004), in addition to this social pension, there

is an urgent need for social insurance, particularly in the form of health insurancefor the

destitute old people as health risks being faced by them not only make them vulnerable

but also to their families by involving serious economic damages. This also needs

government intervention, since private provider cannot venture into this sector due to the

risk of bankruptcy.

References:

Alam, Moneer and Mehtab Karim(2005), Beyond the Current Demographic Scenario: Changing

Age Composition, Ageing and Growing Insecurities for the Aged In India and Pakistan,

Paper Prepared for the 25th

IUSSP International Population Conference , Tours (France)

18-23 July 2005.

Census of India 2001 (2006), Population Projections for India and States 2001-2026 (Revised

December 2006), Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.

Centre for Management Development (2000), Quick Evaluation Study of National Social

Assistance Programme (November, 2000) sponsored by Ministry of Rural Development,

Thiruvananthapuram.

Dandekar, Kumudini (1996), The Elderly in India, Sage Publications, New Delhi.


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Govt. of India (2006), Report of the Working Group on Social Protection Policy- National Social

Assistance Programme and Associated Programmes, Ministry of Rural Development,

New Delhi (also available at

http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11sppnsapap.pdf)

HelpAge International (2004), Age and security: How Social Pensions can Deliver effective Aid

to Poor Older People and their Families, London, UK.

Helpage India- Research and Development Journal (2005), Ageing and Poverty vis--vis Social

Security, Vol.11, No.2, pp.5-12.

Rajan, S. Irudaya (2004), Chronic Poverty among Indian Elderly, CPRC-IIPA Working Paper

17, New Delhi.

Irudaya Rajan, S. (2006), Population Ageing and Health in India,(Mimeo), Prepared for Centrefor Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), Mumbai.

Irudaya Rajan S, Mishra U.S., and P.S. Sharma (1995). Living Arrangements among the Indian

Elderly,Hong Kong Journal of Gerontology, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 20-28.

James K S. (1994), Indian Elderly: Asset or Liability?,Economic & Political Weekly,

Vol. 29(36), 1994, p. 2335.

Mahendra Dev, S. (2004), Safety Nets for Chronic Poor in India: An Overview, CPRC-IIPA

Working Paper 19, New Delhi.

Palloni, A (2001), Living Arrangements of Older Persons United Nations Population

Bulletin, Special Issue Nos. 42/43, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,

Population Division, New York.

Panda, Pradeep (1997), Living arrangements of the Elderly in Rural Orissa, Working paper No.

277, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, India.

Prasad (1998), The Pension Scheme for widows in Tamil Nadu, in Chen, Martha (ed.), Widows

in India, Sage Publications, New Delhi.

Schwartz, A (2003), Old Age Security and Social Pensions, Washington DC, World

Bank.
http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11sppnsapap.pdfhttp://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11sppnsapap.pdf


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Table 1: Proportion of Elderly and Old Age dependency Ratio across the States (Major) During the Last Three Census

Persons Aged 60 and Above (Rural+Urban)Combined(per cent of total population)

Old Age Dependency Ratio (Rural+Urban)Combined (in percent)

Major States Male Female Persons Male Female Persons

1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001 1981 1991 2001AndhraPradesh 6.48 6.64 7.16 6.82 6.93 8.04 6.65 6.78 7.59 8.36 11.67 11.88 12.5 12.14 13.36 10.05 11.9 12.61

Assam 5.65 5.81 4.98 5.90 5.33 5.85 10.34 10.18 9.31 10.51 9.85 10.34

Bihar* 6.77 6.53 6.49 6.83 5.97 6.38 6.8 6.26 6.44 13.27 12.68 12.58 14.83 11.4 12.22 13.99 12.06 12.41

Gujarat 5.52 5.96 6.17 5.16 6.84 7.70 5.33 6.39 6.91 10 10.32 10.23 11.61 11.96 12.83 10.78 11.11 11.47

Haryana 6.87 7.43 7.00 5.73 8.01 8.06 6.34 7.7 7.49 13.3 13.91 12.42 11 15.25 14.36 12.22 14.53 13.31

Karnataka 6.46 6.8 7.15 6.79 7.18 8.24 6.62 6.99 7.69 11.87 11.96 11.78 12.79 12.82 13.74 12.32 12.38 12.74

Kerala 7.15 8.33 9.59 7.84 9.29 11.31 7.5 8.82 10.48 12.59 13.72 15.24 13.49 15.07 17.73 13.05 14.41 16.53

MadhyaPradesh* 6.09 6.51 6.64 6.83 6.77 7.65 6.45 6.63 7.13 11.54 12.11 12.09 13.19 12.7 14.13 12.33 12.4 13.07

Maharashtra 6.07 6.69 7.80 6.72 7.3 9.73 6.39 6.98 8.73 10.88 11.66 13.03 12.35 12.88 16.73 11.58 12.25 14.78

Orissa 6.13 7.18 8.05 6.66 7.23 8.47 6.39 7.2 8.26 11.25 12.67 13.80 12.47 12.81 14.48 11.85 12.74 14.14Punjab 8.28 8.07 8.56 7.25 7.58 9.50 7.8 7.84 9.00 15.05 14.22 14.53 13.07 13.23 15.88 14.12 13.76 15.16

Rajasthan 5.78 6.08 6.22 6.29 6.52 7.31 6.03 6.29 6.74 11.14 11.55 11.74 12.33 12.4 13.86 11.71 11.95 12.76

Tamil Nadu 6.52 7.65 8.71 6.3 7.25 8.94 6.41 7.45 8.83 11.18 12.55 13.78 10.72 11.71 13.93 10.95 12.13 13.85

Uttar Pradesh* 7.05 7.22 7.08 6.6 6.46 7.01 6.84 6.86 7.04 13.8 13.89 13.69 12.72 12.35 13.45 13.29 13.17 13.58

West Bengal 5.32 5.93 6.72 5.8 6.17 7.53 5.55 6.05 7.11 9.36 10.29 11.15 10.71 11.06 12.82 9.99 10.65 11.95

All India 6.4 6.69 7.10 6.58 6.71 7.83 6.49 6.7 7.45 11.84 12.16 12.45 12.24 12.23 13.77 12.04 12.19 13.08

Note :(1) All India excludes Assam for 1981 and Jammu & Kashmir for 1991.

:(2) Old age dependency ratio is defined as the number of persons in the age group 60+ per 100 persons in the age group 15-59.:(3)Asterisk sign denotes the undivided status of the state.


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Table 2:Incidence of Poverty and Percentage Distribution of Poor and Population Share across States (Major) During Early 1990s and Early 2000s

Early 1990s Early 2000s

Sl.No. States

HCR=Poor(BPL)(in 1993-94 in%)

Sharein TotalPoor(%)

PopulationShare (in1991 in %)

No. ofpersonsBPL (inlakh)

HCR=Poor(BPL)(in 2004-05 in%)

Share inTotalPoor(%)

PopulationShare (in2001 in %)

NetChange

in theNo. of

PersonsBPL (inLakh)

No. ofpersonsBPL (inlakh)

Avg.Annual

Rate ofDecline inPoverty (inpercentage

points)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)

1 Andhra Pradesh 22.19 4.81 7.86 153.97 11.1 2.94 7.37 88.71 -65.26 1.01

2 Assam 40.86 3.01 2.65 96.36 19.7 1.85 2.59 55.77 -40.59 1.92

3 Bihar* 54.96 15.40 10.21 493.35 41.1 16.09 10.69 485.54 -7.81 1.26

4 Gujarat 24.21 3.28 4.88 105.19 16.8 3.01 4.93 90.69 -14.5 0.67

5 Haryana 25.05 1.37 1.94 43.88 14 1.06 2.05 32.1 -11.78 1.00

6 Himachal Pradesh 28.44 0.50 0.62 15.86 10 0.21 0.59 6.36 -9.5 1.68

7 Jammu & Kashmir 25.17 0.65 @ 20.92 5.4 0.19 0.99 5.85 -15.07 1.80

8 Karnataka 33.16 4.88 5.31 156.46 25 4.60 5.13 138.89 -17.57 0.74

9 Kerala 25.43 2.39 3.44 76.41 15 1.64 3.10 49.6 -26.81 0.95

10 Madhya Pradesh* 42.52 9.32 7.82 298.52 39.0 11.29 7.89 340.64 42.12 0.32

11 Maharashtra 36.86 9.53 9.33 305.22 30.7 10.52 9.42 317.38 12.16 0.56

12 Orissa 48.56 5.01 3.74 160.6 46.4 5.92 3.57 178.49 17.89 0.20

13 Punjab 11.77 0.78 2.40 25.11 8.4 0.72 2.37 21.63 -3.48 0.31

14 Rajasthan 27.41 4.01 5.20 128.5 22.1 4.47 5.50 134.89 6.39 0.48

15 Tamil Nadu 35.03 6.31 6.60 202.1 22.5 4.83 6.05 145.62 -56.48 1.14

16 Uttar Pradesh* 40.85 18.87 16.44 604.46 33.1 20.75 16.98 625.99 21.53 0.70

17 West Bengal 35.66 7.95 8.04 254.56 24.7 6.91 7.81 208.36 -46.2 1.00

All India 35.97 100.00 100.00 3,203.68 27.5 100.00 100.00 3017.2 -186.48 0.77

Note :( 1)@Excludes figures for Jammu and Kashmir where the 1991 census could not be conducted due to disturbed conditions.

: (2) Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh include the reorganised states of Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Uttaranchal respectively.

Source: (1) National Human Development Report-2001, Planning Commission, March 2002, Government of India

: (2) Government of India, Press Information Bureau, March 2007: (3) Census of India, 1991& 2001.


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Table 3: Poor Older Beneficiaries under Major Social security Schemes Since 8th

FYP in Orissa

SOAPS NOAPS APY TOTAL

PLAN YEARTarget Coverage Target Coverage Target Coverage Target Coverage

AchievementRate (in %)

1992-93

450415 450415-

- - - 450415 450415 100.00

8th1996-97

511500 495981 283400 279577 - - 794900 775558 97.57

1997-98 530000

519179 283400 279498 - - 813400 798677 98.19

9th2001-02 590000 579350 493400 492948 64800 64800 1148200 1137098 99.03

2002-03

640000 604833 493400 492883 64800 64800 1198200 1162516 97.02

10th2006-07

675000 674473 643400 593593 64800 64800 1383200 1332866 96.36

Source: Information solicited under Right to Information Act, 2005 from Women and Child Development Dept.,

Govt. of Orissa vide letter No.62/07 dated-21.07.07


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Graph 1 :Poor Older Beneficiaries under

Major Social security Schemes in Orissa

0

5000001000000

1500000

1992

-93

1996

-97

1997

-98

2001

-02

2002

-03

2006

-07

Year

Targeted

No.of

Beneficiaries

SOAPS

NOAPS

APY

TOTAL

Documents

Third Apisa