An assessment of India's recent pension reforms

This chapter argues that there is a strong case for pension reform to be given higher priority in India's public policy agenda. The introduction of the National Pension Scheme (NPS), mandatorily covering civil servants, and providing a platform for voluntary pension saving, supervised by a statutory authority; and plans to use information technology more intensively, are steps in the right direction. However, more sustained initiatives are needed towards building a modern pension system which can meet the needs of nearly 300 million elderly projected by 2050. The chapter outlines several reform options that will help address the limitations in the design of the current pension arrangements. The chapter also suggests establishing a national ageing and pension research centre to help develop more robust databases and facilitate flow of new ideas from domestic and international sources into pension policy design, administration, and evaluation.