NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge in May 2014, a series of pension reforms had been introduced, one after the other, with a sensitive concern for elder citizens and women in particular. Latest technology tools were employed to seek ease of living for these sections of society, he said. Chairing the 33rd meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) and 10th Nation-wide Pension Adalat in New Delhi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Department of Pension is constantly engaged in formulating policies for achieving the goal of women empowerment thereby ensuring a dignified life and ease of living for women. Dwelling on the Women-Centric reforms in the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare, Dr Jitendra Singh said, orders were issued wherein a divorced daughter, in whose case a decree of divorce was issued after the death of her parents, will be eligible for family pension if the divorce petition was filed before death of the parents. Similarly, the Minister said, the families of missing employees covered under NPS can now get a family pension within 6 months of lodging FIR and not wait for 7 years after which the employee considered deemed dead. Even in cases where the Government servant dies before completing a service of 7 years, family pension shall be payable to the family at an enhanced rate of 50% of last pay for the first 10 years and thereafter @ 30% of last pay. Even the pension for Divyangs were resolved to bring ease of living for all, the Minister added. Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Department of Pension under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the Department of Reforms with huge social implications. He asked the SCOVA body which consists of 15 non-official members, representing Pensioner Welfare Associations and Official Members to come out with suggestions and new ideas for the benefit of the department. The Minister informed that it was on his suggestion that a single pension form was introduced instead of the earlier practice of three forms. Referring to Jeevan Praman (Digital Life Certificate) launched by the Prime Minister in November,2014, Dr Jitendra Singh underlined that it provides an option to pensioner for submission of Digital Life Certificate online, anytime and from anywhere. Dr Jitendra Singh also took pride in informing the SCOVA members that to enhance ‘Ease of Living’ for Pensioners/Family Pensioners, DoPPW in collaboration with MeiTy and UIDAI has developed a “Face-Authentication Technology” based system to submit Life Certificate from any Android smartphone which was launched by in 2021, the first by any government department.. The Minister also underlined that DoPPW coordinated with Banks, India Posts and Payment Bank (IPPB) for providing the doorstep facility of DLC submission from home for incapacitated Pensioners/Family Pensioners. Similarly, BHAVISHYA platform, is an integrated online pension sanction processing system made mandatory for all Central Government Departments w.e.f 01.01.2017. Dr Jitendra Singh also presided over the Nation-wide Pension Adalat, which covered pensioner grievances of 12 Ministries/ Departments including Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Defence Finance, CBDT, Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Ex-Servicemen’s Welfare, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Culture. 105 Pensioner Grievances have been listed for discussion comprising of Superannuation cases, Family Pension Cases and Voluntary Retirement Cases. 60 percent of the cases were resolved on the spot. Dr. Jitendra Singh said, redressal of Pensioners Grievances is a high priority of Modi Government and for speedy resolution of Pensioners Grievances Pension Adalats are being organized by Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare in which multiple stakeholders are brought on one platform for on-the-spot redressal. In 2023, Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare had organized two Pension Adalats on 17th May, 2023 and 23rd October, 2023. During these Adalats, 603 cases were taken up, out of which 440 cases were resolved on the spot. Pensioner Welfare Associations from Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and Puducherry would be participating in the 33rd SCOVA deliberations. DOPT, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Telecom, Department of Expenditure, CPAO, Department of Financial Services, CGDA and State Bank of India will also be participating in the deliberations.
