India’s Pension System among the lowest globally, says Mercer CFA Report
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New Delhi: India’s pension system has been ranked among the lowest in the world, according to the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2025. The country received a ‘Grade D’, placing it alongside Turkey, Argentina, and the Philippines - nations that, the report said, have “some desirable features but major weaknesses that need urgent attention.”
India’s overall index value slipped slightly from 44 in 2024 to 43.8 in 2025. The ranking evaluated 52 countries across three parameters, adequacy (40%), sustainability (35%), and integrity (25%). India received Grade E for adequacy, and Grades D and C for sustainability and integrity, respectively.
The report recommended the introduction of a minimum income floor for the poorest elderly citizens, expansion of pension coverage to informal sector workers, and a long-term strategy to build pension assets to improve India’s performance.
India’s low assets-to-GDP ratio was identified as a key concern. The Economic Survey 2024–25 noted that India’s total pension assets account for only 21% of the GDP, compared to over 80% in OECD countries.
In contrast, Singapore entered the top tier of the global pension index for the first time by earning Grade A. The Netherlands retained its position as the top-ranked country, followed by Iceland, Denmark, and Israel.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
