The annual expenditure under the head of Puducherry Old Age Persons and Destitute Pension scheme is set to further rise to ₹660 crore from ₹546 crore as the government plans to roll out the enhanced monthly pension to 1.91 lakh beneficiaries in the Union Territory from Thursday.
Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy are scheduled to launch the enhanced pension scheme at an event to be held at Thirukanchi village. The government had announced in the current budget its decision to increase the pension given to old age and destitute persons by ₹500 in the region.
Currently, around 1.91 lakh persons are drawing a monthly pension ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹3,500 depending on the age category of the beneficiaries. As per the enhanced allocation, the minimum old age pension in the Union Territory will be ₹2,500 and maximum ₹4,000. The enhancement will increase the annual expenditure from ₹546.36 crore to ₹660 crore.
The last hike of old age pension was effected in July 2021 to 1.54 lakh beneficiaries then registered under the scheme. The rise in monthly pension by ₹500 and an addition of around 10,000 more beneficiaries in July that year had pushed the annual expenditure of the government to ₹476.76 crore from the earlier ₹355.80 crore.
The annual outlay for the scheme went up further to ₹519.27 crore in 2022 with the addition of 10,000 more beneficiaries. The expenditure increased again to ₹546.36 crore in the last few years with more beneficiaries being added to the scheme.
Monthly assistance to women
Another scheme that would see a relaunch on Thursday will be the monthly financial assistance given to women heads of BPL families in the age group of 21-54 years who are not covered under other welfare schemes. The assistance has been increased from ₹1,000 to ₹2,500. When the scheme was launched in January 2023, there were around 13,339 beneficiaries getting a monthly assistance of ₹1,000. Then, the government incurred an expenditure of ₹1.33 crore per month.
Gradually, more beneficiaries were added to the scheme and as on January this year, there were around 70,000 women availing the assistance on account of which the government incurred an annual expenditure of ₹84 crore. The enhanced allocation of ₹2,500 will further push the annual expenditure of the government towards the scheme to ₹210 crore.
Published – February 04, 2026 09:16 pm IST
