With the Centre’s contribution to monthly old age pensions unchanged at Rs 200–500 per beneficiary since 2012 under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), the real value of these fixed cash transfers has “significantly eroded” due to inflation, an evaluation commissioned by the Union Ministry of Rural Development has found. According to the report, inflation has reduced the real value of these cash transfers by around 45 per cent and adjusted to the current Consumer Price Index (CPI), a pension of Rs 200 would now need to be about Rs 353 to retain its original purchasing power. The findings are part of a report titled “Impact Assessment and Evaluation of the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP),” which was submitted to the ministry recently. The evaluation study was conducted across Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu , and Chhattisgarh. The study points out that the monthly pension amount was revised to Rs.…