Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (Maharashtra)

What is the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme in Maharashtra?

Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) is a component of the National Social Assistance Programme of the Government of India, delivered in Maharashtra by the Social Justice & Special Assistance Department. The central government pays a fixed monthly amount and Maharashtra adds a state top-up through Shravan Bal Seva Rajya Nivruttivetan Yojana, so that a below-poverty-line senior citizen receives a single pension of Rs 1,500 per month.

According to the Social Justice & Special Assistance Department, the split works like this:

The total a pensioner receives is the same at every age. What changes is which government pays which part, which matters only for accounting, the beneficiary sees one credit.

Key points about how Maharashtra runs the scheme

• The applicant files one form at the Tahsildar's office, not separate central and state applications.
• The Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana Samiti at taluka level, chaired by the Tahsildar, sanctions the case.
• Payment is made monthly by Direct Benefit Transfer.
• The scheme sits alongside the department's other special assistance pensions; Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana, Shravanbal Rajya Nivrutti Vetan Anudan Yojana, Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme and the National Family Benefit Scheme.

Who is eligible for the old age pension in Maharashtra?

A senior citizen qualifies if:

• They are aged 65 years or above on the date of application.
• Their family name appears on the below-poverty-line (BPL) list of the gram panchayat or the urban local body. Where the BPL entry is unavailable, a Tahsildar income certificate is used; the state components apply a family income ceiling of Rs 21,000 a year.
• They are a resident of Maharashtra.
• They hold, or can open, a bank or post office account in their own name that can be Aadhaar-seeded.

Who is not eligible and cannot apply:

• Persons below 65 years of age. A 60 to 64 year old should apply for the state's Shravan Bal Seva Rajya Nivruttivetan Yojana instead of IGNOAPS.
• Families not on the BPL list and unable to produce an income certificate within the ceiling.
• Non-residents of Maharashtra, or persons drawing the same pension in another state.
• Persons drawing a government service pension, a family pension, or another old-age pension of the same nature, these pensions are not stacked.
• Persons who cannot establish age with any acceptable document, until an age certificate is obtained from a government hospital or the civil surgeon.

What documents are required for the old age pension?

Age proof is the document that decides this application. For an elderly applicant with no school or birth record, the Tahsildar's office accepts an age certificate issued by a government hospital or the district civil surgeon, and getting that certificate first saves a wasted trip.

How to apply for the old age pension in Maharashtra

1. Collect the special assistance application form free of cost from the Tahsildar's office, the Talathi's office, the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana branch of the District Collectorate, or an Aaple Sarkar Seva Kendra.
2. Fill the form, ticking Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, and attach age proof, the BPL entry or income certificate, residence proof, Aadhaar copy, bank or post office passbook copy and a photograph.
3. Submit the file to the Talathi or the Tahsildar's office and take a dated receiving acknowledgement, which is your only proof of the application date.
4. Cooperate with the local verification by the Talathi or Gram Sevak, who confirms age, income, residence and that the applicant is alive and resident at the stated address.
5. Wait for the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana Samiti at taluka level to scrutinise and sanction the case.
6. Check the first credit in the passbook. If the sanction is issued but no money arrives, get the account Aadhaar-seeded and reactivated at the bank branch or post office.

How to apply or track the pension online

1. Open the state special assistance portal sas.mahait.org, which the Social Justice & Special Assistance Department lists for Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana and Shravanbal Rajya Nivrutti Vetan Anudan Yojana.
2. Register with a mobile number, log in and select the pension scheme.
3. Enter the applicant's details and upload the scanned documents.
4. Save the application number and use it to follow the case through verification, scrutiny and sanction.

The Government of India's NSAP portal at nsap.nic.in publishes beneficiary and payment data for the central component, and is the place to confirm that a sanctioned case has been registered centrally.

Why an old age pension stops after it has started

A sanctioned pension in Maharashtra does not need annual re-application, but it does stop for identifiable reasons:

• Account gone dormant because there were no transactions for a long period.
• Aadhaar seeding broken, often after the beneficiary opened a newer account at a different bank.
• Re-verification or life certificate not submitted when the Tahsildar's office called for it.
• Income or BPL status changed at re-verification.
• Duplicate pension detected — for example the beneficiary also began drawing a family pension.
• Death of the beneficiary, on which the pension ceases; drawing it after the death is recoverable.

The first three are fixed at the bank branch or the Tahsildar's office within days and do not require a fresh application.

Why applications get rejected

• Age below 65 on the date of application.
• Name absent from the BPL list and no acceptable income certificate.
• Income certificate expired or above the ceiling.
• Residence in Maharashtra not established to the Tahsildar's satisfaction.
• Bank account in someone else's name, for example a son's account.
• Already drawing a government or family pension.

Each of these except the last is curable. Obtain the corrected certificate and refile at the same Tahsildar's office: there is no bar on reapplying.

IGNOAPS and Shravan Bal; how they fit together

Maharashtra's own old-age pension, Shravan Bal Seva Rajya Nivruttivetan Yojana, is what supplies the larger share of the Rs 1,500 a pensioner receives. The central IGNOAPS component of Rs 200 or Rs 500 is layered on top for those aged 65 and above who are on the BPL list. A senior citizen who is not on the BPL list but is within the state income ceiling may still be considered under the state scheme alone. This is why the Tahsildar's office treats it as one counter and one form rather than two schemes, and why an applicant should ask which category they were sanctioned under rather than assume.

Where to complain about a pending pension

• Tahsildar's office, where the sanctioning Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana Samiti sits; always the first stop.
• Sub-Divisional Officer for a case pending beyond a reasonable period.
• District Collector's office, Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Anudan Yojana branch.
• Social Justice & Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra, at sjsa.maharashtra.gov.in.

The form, the Talathi verification and the sanction are all free. No agent, middleman or official may charge a fee to add a name to the old age pension list in Maharashtra.