Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on 3 September demanded that the monthly social security pension be raised to ₹3,000 and the beneficiary base expanded, launching a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government for allegedly freezing its share of the pension for over a decade.

The Core Allegation

Gehlot alleged that the Modi government had not increased the central contribution to the social security pension — covering elderly citizens, widows, and persons with disabilities — by even a rupee since coming to power in 2014. He further claimed the number of beneficiaries covered under the central scheme had also remained unchanged during this period.

'The Modi government waives off lakhs of crores of rupees owed by wealthy industrialists in one stroke, yet is unwilling to increase the pension for poor and needy elderly citizens, widows, and persons with disabilities by even a single rupee,' Gehlot wrote.

A Timeline of Rajasthan's Pension Revisions

Gehlot traced the evolution of the pension in Rajasthan, noting that the Congress government introduced a monthly social security pension of ₹500 in 2013. According to him, the amount remained unchanged through the subsequent five years of BJP rule in the state. When Congress returned to power in 2018, the pension was raised to ₹750 per month, and further increased to ₹1,000 in 2023.

He also noted that his government introduced a legal provision mandating a 15% annual increase in the pension, aimed at preventing future administrations from keeping the amount stagnant. 'Today, this pension serves as a lifeline for lakhs of needy families in the state,' Gehlot said.

Parliamentary Committee Backing

Gehlot invoked recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, which he said had repeatedly flagged the existing pension amount as inadequate and called for an upward revision. This lends institutional weight to his demand, going beyond party-political criticism.

He argued that the Centre commands significantly greater financial resources than state governments and is therefore better positioned to bear a larger share of the pension burden — particularly in the face of sustained inflation over the past decade.

What Gehlot Is Proposing

The former chief minister called for a 50:50 cost-sharing arrangement between the Centre and state governments to jointly fund a revised monthly pension of ₹3,000. He said the central government should act immediately to raise the amount and simultaneously expand the number of covered beneficiaries.

This comes amid broader national debate over the adequacy of welfare transfers to India's most economically vulnerable — a constituency that spans rural and urban households alike. With inflation having eroded real incomes significantly since 2014, advocates for the elderly and disabled have long argued that the current pension levels offer little meaningful support.

Whether the Centre responds to Gehlot's demand or the Parliamentary Standing Committee's repeated recommendations remains to be seen, but the political pressure on this issue is clearly mounting.