Replace eligibility criteria based on BPL status with income of beneficiaries for RVY scheme: Panel

A Parliamentary panel has suggested that the eligibility criteria for a government's benefit scheme for the elderly should be on the basis of income of beneficiaries instead of the existing criteria based on BPL status.

The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) is a scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for providing physical aids and assisted-living devices to senior citizens suffering from physical disabilities and belonging to the BPL category.

The parliamentary committee report on the "Review of the Functioning of Artificial Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO)" suggested that the "eligibility criteria based on BPL category under the scheme must be replaced with the criteria based on income as fixed under ADIP scheme i.e. monthly income of a beneficiary from all sources does not exceed Rs 15,000 per month".

The committee, in its report, stated that India has a vast reservoir of senior citizens and a large part of it belongs to lower middle and middle class and this segment of elderly population has very limited financial resources and majority of them do not get pension under any pension scheme.

"The Committee feels that it is very essential to bring this segment under the ambit of the RVY. The Committee also desire that keeping in view the overall increase in the cost of living and inflation, the eligibility income criteria must be revised from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month at least for the beneficiaries under the ADIP scheme," the report said.