Pension to Unmarried Poor, Incapacitated Women of Age 50 Years and Above

What is the pension for unmarried poor women aged 50 and above?

Pension to Unmarried Poor, Incapacitated Women of Age 50 Years and Above is one of Tamil Nadu's social security pensions, administered by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department through the Special Deputy Collector (Social Security Schemes) in each district and sanctioned at taluk level by the Tahsildar. The pension pays Rs 1,000 a month to a woman who has completed 50 years of age, has never married, is destitute, and has no income from any other source.

Tamil Nadu maintains one of the widest social pension nets among Indian states. The same Rs 1,000 monthly rate runs across the destitute old age pension, the destitute widow pension, the destitute deserted wives pension, the pension for differently abled persons and this pension for unmarried women. What distinguishes them is the category of destitution each recognises. The unmarried women's pension exists because a woman who never married and has outlived or been abandoned by her parental family has neither a husband's pension, nor a widow's claim, nor a deserted wife's claim, and would otherwise fall through every category. Setting the qualifying age at 50 rather than 60 recognises that this vulnerability arrives earlier.

District social security scheme pages, for example those published by Ariyalur, Pudukkottai and Karur districts, set out the conditions and cite G.O. (Ms) No. 80 dated 1 July 2008, which requires that the applicant be destitute, have completed 50 years, have never married, own assets not exceeding the notified limit and have no income from any other source.

Who is eligible for the unmarried women pension?

You can apply if:

• You are a woman who has completed 50 years of age.
• You have never married. This is the defining condition of the scheme.
• You are destitute, that is, you have no family member legally bound and able to support you, and no dependable source of maintenance.
• You have no income from any other source, as required by G.O. (Ms) No. 80 dated 1 July 2008.
• Your assets do not exceed the notified limit. District material records a ceiling of Rs 1,00,000, while some older descriptions cite Rs 50,000, so confirm the figure applied in your district.
• You are a resident of Tamil Nadu and apply in the taluk where you live.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are married, widowed, divorced or deserted. A widow is not eligible here and must claim the Destitute Widow Pension; a deserted wife must claim the Destitute Deserted Wives Pension. Both are separate Tamil Nadu schemes at the same Rs 1,000 rate.
• You are below 50 years of age.
• You have any regular source of income — employment, a business, rent, or a family pension.
• Your assets exceed the notified ceiling.
• You are already drawing another social security pension from the state or the Centre. Tamil Nadu does not permit two social security pensions to the same person.
• You have children or family members able to maintain you, which defeats the destitution test the revenue enquiry applies.

How to apply for the unmarried women pension in Tamil Nadu

1. Collect the supporting certificates from the Village Administrative Officer. You need a certificate that you are unmarried and a certificate of destitution and nil income. The VAO's certificate is the foundation of the whole file, so start here.
2. Assemble the age proof. A birth certificate, school transfer certificate or Aadhaar card showing 50 years completed. Where no documentary proof exists, the VAO and the Revenue Inspector can certify age based on the revenue records.
3. Open a bank or post office account in your own name if you do not have one, and seed it with your Aadhaar number. The pension is credited directly to this account.
4. Apply through one of the two routes.

• Online at an e-Sevai centre or Common Service Centre. The service is listed on the Tamil Nadu e-Sevai portal as REV-204, Unmarried Women Pension Scheme. You need a Citizen Access Number (CAN), which the centre creates free of charge. Upload the certificates and take the printed acknowledgement with the application number.
• Offline at the Taluk Office. Collect the social security pension application form free at the counter, fill it, attach the certificates and submit it there.

5. Attend the revenue enquiry. The Village Administrative Officer and the Revenue Inspector visit or call you to verify age, marital status, destitution and assets. This is the stage at which most applications are decided.
6. The Tahsildar sanctions the pension on that recommendation, under the supervision of the Special Deputy Collector (Social Security Schemes) at the District Collectorate.
7. Collect the pension order and identity card from the Taluk Office, and check the bank or post office account for the first monthly credit.

What documents are required?

How do I check the status of my pension application?

• The e-Sevai portal, if you applied online. Use the application number on the acknowledgement printed at the centre; the same centre can check the status for you.
• The Taluk Office, which holds the physical file and can say whether it is with the Revenue Inspector, the Tahsildar or has been sanctioned.
• The Village Administrative Officer, who will know whether the field enquiry has been completed and what was recorded.
• The Special Deputy Collector (Social Security Schemes) at the District Collectorate, who supervises all social security pensions in the district: Ariyalur, for instance, publishes this officer's location on the first floor of the Collectorate.
• The bank or post office passbook, for the monthly credit once sanctioned.

Why unmarried women pension applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Marital status not established. The commonest ground. The VAO's certificate must say specifically that the applicant has never married, not merely that she is single or living alone.
• Age below 50, or age not provable. Where no birth record exists, ask the VAO and Revenue Inspector to certify age from the family card and the revenue records.
• Assets above the ceiling. Land recorded in the applicant's name in the revenue records will surface at the enquiry even if it produces no income.
• Family able to maintain the applicant. Where the enquiry finds earning children or siblings in the same household, destitution is not accepted.
• Already drawing another pension. Two social security pensions cannot run together.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the monthly credit fails even after sanction. Seed the account and inform the Taluk Office.
• Name mismatch between the ration card, Aadhaar and the bank passbook. Correct the records before applying rather than after.

What are the key figures?

• Monthly pension: Rs 1,000.
• Minimum age: 50 years completed.
• Marital status: never married.
• Income: no income from any other source.
• Asset ceiling recorded in district material: Rs 1,00,000.
• Government Order cited by districts: G.O. (Ms) No. 80 dated 1 July 2008.
• Sanctioning authority: the Tahsildar of the taluk.
• e-Sevai service code: REV-204.
• Cost of applying: nil, apart from the notified e-Sevai service charge.

Where do I raise a grievance?

• The Tahsildar of the taluk, who sanctions the pension.
• The Special Deputy Collector (Social Security Schemes) at your District Collectorate.
• The District Collector, through the weekly grievance day petition.
• The Commissionerate of Revenue Administration and Disaster Management, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, through cra.tn.gov.in.
• The e-Sevai helpline on 1100, for a problem with an online application rather than with the pension decision itself.

No payment is due to any official at any stage. The application form is free at the Taluk Office, e-Sevai charges only the notified service fee, and any demand for money to sanction a pension should be reported in writing to the District Collector.