Sikkim’s elderly poor can now claim up to ₹2,500 a month: here’s who qualifies

Elderly residents of Sikkim living below the poverty line can now draw a guaranteed monthly pension for the rest of their lives, under a state scheme that many eligible households still don’t know exists. The Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), run by Sikkim’s Department of Women & Child Welfare since 2014, pays ₹1,500 a month to those aged 60 to 69, ₹2,000 to those 70 and above, and ₹2,500 to those who have crossed 80 — with payments continuing for as long as the beneficiary is alive.

To qualify, an applicant must be a permanent resident of Sikkim, belong to a Below Poverty Line family, and have reached at least 60 years of age. The scheme is strictly for those with no independent source of income, and it excludes anyone already drawing a salary or pension from the Central Government, a state government, or any body substantially funded by government money. Applicants are also required to have a bank account opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, since payments move through Direct Benefit Transfer. Where both a husband and wife are otherwise eligible, only one of them can be awarded the pension at a time; if that pensioner dies, the surviving spouse can have the pension transferred to them on surrender of the passbook, provided they too have turned 60.

Applying does not require internet access, though an online option exists. Offline applicants approach their local Gram Panchayat, Municipality, or Municipal Corporation office, collect the application form, fill in all mandatory fields, and submit it with self-attested documents to the designated receiving authority. From there, a Selection Committee scrutinizes the application before the Secretary grants approval, and a copy of the sanction order is sent to the District Collector, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gram Vikash Adhikari, and local Panchayat. Those who prefer to apply online can register through the state’s dedicated portal at pensionscheme.sikkim.gov.in, using the ‘Create Account’ option to begin the registration process.

The document list is fairly standard for a welfare scheme of this kind: three recent passport-size photographs, an attested photocopy of a Sikkim Subject Certificate or equivalent Certificate of Identification, an attested Below Poverty Line certificate, proof of age such as a birth certificate or Electoral Photo Identity Card, an attested copy of the Aadhaar card, and an attested photocopy of the first page of the applicant’s bank or post office passbook along with a recent statement. There is no stated final application deadline, since IGNOAPS is an ongoing scheme rather than a time-bound one — but beneficiaries must submit a ‘Life Certificate’ in the prescribed format every November, or their pension will be presumed lapsed and stopped without further notice.

Officials from the Social Justice, Empowerment and Welfare Department can also make village visits to verify that a beneficiary is still living at the registered address and that other details remain accurate. The scheme is administered by the Department of Women & Child Welfare, Government of Sikkim.

Source: myscheme.gov.in

Wikimedia Commons/by Sukanto Debnath