A group of activists on Friday flayed the paltry monthly pension of Rs 200 for the elderly, saying it reflected a “feudal mindset” and demanded universal social security assistance of Rs 2,750 as a right.

The Pension Parishad, a body fighting for universal pension for the elderly except those getting the post-retirement benefit and those paying income tax, told a news conference that the social security assistance in India was worse than that in other developing countries such as Nepal, Bolivia, Botswana, Ecuador and Lesotho in terms of percentage of the GDP.

The rural development ministry has been implementing the National Social Security Programme (NSAP) to give monthly pension to eligible widows and elderly and physically challenged people.

The NSAP has three sub-schemes. The Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme gives Rs 200 a month to below-poverty-line people aged between 60 and 79 years.

The Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme pays Rs 300 a month to people above 18 years with a disability level of 80 per cent. The Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme provides Rs 300 a month to widows over 40 years of age. Once they reach the age of 80, the beneficiaries of all the schemes receive Rs 500 a month.

The pension rates have remained unchanged since 2007. The rural development ministry has assured the Lok Sabha twice that the pension amounts will be increased. However, nothing has been done.

Prabhat Patnaik, professor emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that if the top 1 per cent of households were to be taxed 0.8 per cent, it would generate adequate funds to ensure pension for all.

“Pension should be considered a right. Now pension is considered as alms to the elderly. It shows a feudal mindset. A modern nation cannot have such a feudal mindset,” Patnaik said.

Mathew Cherian, the chief executive of HelpAge India, said the meagre pension amounts also did not cover all elderly people. While 80 million elderly people should ideally receive pension, 22.3 million actually get it now, he said.

Patnaik said that based on the consumption criteria of 2,100 calories per person per day in urban India and 2,200 calories in rural India, the monthly per capita expenditure to meet this intake was Rs 2,000 a month in 2012. He said this amount would be equivalent to Rs 2,750 in 2018.