2008年-世界发展银行全球_The_Performance_of_Social_Pensions_in_India___The_Case_of_Rajasthan_64页_803kb

报告摘要

Summary of "The Performance of Social Pensions in India: The Case of Rajasthan"

Core Content

This paper evaluates the performance of social pension schemes in Rajasthan, India, focusing on awareness, coverage, targeting, leakage, and administrative challenges. It is part of a broader effort to understand how these schemes function in practice and how they can be improved to better serve the vulnerable populations.

Main Viewpoints

Government Initiatives: The Indian government has expanded social pension schemes, including increasing the monthly benefit for old age pensioners from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 in 2006-07, and aiming for a total of Rs. 400 per month by encouraging state matching contributions.
Rajasthan Context: Rajasthan is a large, relatively poor state with a high proportion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It has a significant rural population, and social protection is crucial due to frequent droughts.
Program Structure: Rajasthan runs both the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) and a state-level social pension scheme, administered by the Department of Social Welfare and Social Security. The state has increased its contribution to match the central government's Rs. 200 per month.
Performance Highlights: The program performs well in terms of disbursement, low leakage, and high satisfaction. Once sanctioned, transaction costs are low, and disbursements are generally on time.
Areas for Improvement: There are significant issues with under-coverage, high transaction costs during the application process, and inconsistent enforcement of eligibility criteria, especially for disability pensions.

Key Information

A. Introduction

Social pensions aim to alleviate chronic poverty by providing regular cash transfers to the elderly, widows, and disabled.
Rajasthan is among the states that have increased the benefit amount to Rs. 400 per month.
The expansion of the scheme implies the need for performance assessment to identify areas for improvement.
Rajasthan's social pension schemes have a good track record, but they are not without flaws.

B. Social Pensions in Rajasthan

The NOAPS is a central scheme that transfers funds to state governments to provide pensions to the elderly.
Eligibility criteria are determined by the state government.
Rajasthan has its own social pension scheme since 1974, targeting elderly aged over 55 years for women and 58 for men, as well as widows and disabled individuals.
The benefit levels have increased over the years, with the latest being Rs. 400 per month for old age pensioners.
There are variations in the implementation of the scheme, with some districts performing better than others.

C. Rajasthan Social Pensions Survey

The survey was conducted in 2006 across 20 blocks in 8 districts, targeting 2140 households.
The survey was designed to capture both current and potential beneficiaries.
Households were split into two groups: Group A (current beneficiaries) and Group B (potentially eligible but not receiving).
The survey included a short questionnaire and qualitative data from focused group discussions and interviews with local officials.
The sample respondents are primarily from disadvantaged groups with low literacy and limited income.

D. Performance of the Program

1. Awareness

Awareness of social pension schemes is relatively high, particularly among Group A households.
About 70% of Group B households had at least heard of the scheme, but awareness varies significantly across districts.
Jalore had the lowest awareness (21%), while Jaisalmer had the highest (95%).
Awareness of the application process is low, with only 8% of Group B households knowing the eligibility criteria and process.

2. Coverage

Coverage rates from the survey are lower than administrative data.
Old age pensions cover about 6% of the elderly population.
Widow pensions cover about 12% of the widow population.
Disability pensions cover about 9% of the disabled population.
These rates are below the rural poverty headcount rate in Rajasthan (20.07%).
There is evidence of duplication and ghost pensioners, particularly in Dungarpur, where administrative coverage is 10 percentage points higher than survey estimates.

3. Targeting

Targeting is generally progressive, especially for old age and widow pensions.
Disability pensions are less well-targeted, with eligibility criteria not strictly enforced.
There is a need for rationalizing and clarifying the disability criteria to improve targeting.

4. Participation

The survey found that participation is influenced by awareness, eligibility, and the ease of the application process.
Probit regression models were used to analyze participation patterns.

5. Usage of Pension Benefits

Pensioners use the benefits for essential needs such as food, healthcare, and education.
The use of benefits is consistent with the program's objectives of providing income security.

E. Administration of the Scheme

The application process is complex and costly, leading to high transaction costs.
There are wide inter-district variations in performance.
Record-keeping and monitoring are inadequate, which can lead to leakage and inefficiencies.
There is a case for implementing a single, automated system for disbursements through bank or post office accounts to reduce costs and improve transparency.

F. Conclusions and Recommendations

The overall performance of the Rajasthan social pension scheme is positive, with low leakage and high satisfaction.
However, there are clear areas for improvement, particularly in policy formulation and administrative efficiency.
Recommendations include:
- Rationalizing and clarifying eligibility criteria.
- Improving record-keeping and monitoring.
- Implementing a single, automated disbursement system.
- Addressing under-coverage and transaction costs.
- Expanding coverage to include all destitute elderly.
- Improving awareness and information dissemination about the application process.

Tables and Figures

Table 1: Eligibility criteria for social pensions as of 2007.
Table 2: Coverage using the Rajasthan social pension survey.
Table 3: Ration card holding across the asset distribution, 2004/05.
Table 4: Percentage of actual and potential beneficiaries.
Table 5: Targeting of pensioners.
Table 6: Probit regression model of participation.
Table 7: Mode of disbursement of pensions.
Table 8: Distribution of pensioners reporting shortfalls in pension payments.
Table 9: % of GPs that maintain records of pensioners.
Figure 1: Trends in coverage of social pensions in Rajasthan, 1998/99 to 2005/06.
Figure 2: Awareness of social pension schemes among potential beneficiaries.
Figure 3: Coverage by caste.
Figure 4: Coverage by income class.
Figure 5: Coverage by ration card holdings.
Figure 6: Typical use of pension benefits (% households).
Figure 7: % of Group A households reporting verification visits.
Figure 8: Time taken for sanctioning of pension application.
Figure 9: Main problems faced by current pensioners in the application process.
Figure 10: Main deterrents to applying for pensions.
Figure 11: Frequency of pension payments as reported by pensioners.
Figure 12: Irregular disbursements.
Figure 13: Problems in pensions.
Figure 14: Average shortfall (Rs.), by district.