Union Budget 2023: Economists demand increase in social security pension and maternity benefits

Budget 2023 expectations: Ahead of the Budget 2023, 51 prominent economists have written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking an increase in social security pensions and adequate provision for maternity benefits. This letter is a follow-up to their letters dated December 20, 2017, and December 21, 2018, which was addressed to the former Finance Minister late Arun Jaitley. 

The signatories include honorary professor at Delhi School of Economics Jean Dreze, University of California Berkeley professor emeritus of economics Pranab Bardhan, IIT Delhi professor of economics R Nagaraj, and JNU professor emeritus Sukhadeo Thorat. The letter accessed by the news agency PTI read: “Since both proposals were ignored, we are writing again, well in advance of the next Budget, with the same recommendations.”

As per this letter, the Central government’s contribution to old-age pensions under the National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS) has remained at Rs 200 per person per month since 2006. It added that this contribution should be raised to at least Rs 500 or more immediately. This would require an additional budgetary allocation of Rs 7,560 crore to cover 2.1 NOAPS beneficiaries. 

This letter added that widow pensions should be increased from Rs 300 per month to a minimum of Rs 500 per month. This would cost another Rs 1,560 crore. Moving ahead, the letter stated that the Budget 2023-24 should provide for the full-fledged implementation of maternity entitlements as per NFSA norms. 

The letter read: “This requires at least Rs 8,000 crore. Along with this, the illegal restriction of maternity benefits to one child per woman should be removed.” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 2023-24 Budget in Parliament on February 1. This will be the Modi government’s last full budget in its second tenure as elections are due in April-May 2024.

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