Here’s the reality. An old person with the maximum allowed Rs15 lakh SCSS deposit was earlier earning Rs11,625 a month and will now earn Rs10,750 a month. That’s a big hit. Lower inflation and interest rates, better fiscal management, and higher economic growth are all very well but will carry no benefit for SCSS depositors because they are no longer in the earning and accumulative phase of their lives. Moreover, a lower official inflation rate is an illusory benefit for older people. The real inflation in their lives is much higher than the official CPI rate. Healthcare and services are generally large and growing components of their expenditure. The prices of both these have risen much faster than the CPI. As society, we have no way for softening this blow. The only retirees who get the best of everything, along with inflation-adjusted pensions, are government employees, who in any case are a special burden that ordinary Indian citizens must carry on their backs.