New Delhi:
A mechanism has been put in place under which central government employees will get pension payment order (PPO) on the day of retirement, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.
Inaugurating the All India Pension Adalat, he said Prime Minster Narendra Modi has given directions that pensioners be provided a hassle-free administrative system to resolve their grievances.
The Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said pension adalats will help in on-the-spot redressal of pensioners' grievances.
Singh said a number of reforms have been undertaken by the government to help pensioners.
"He said a mechanism has been put in place wherein pensioners will get PPO on the day of their retirement," according to a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
Singh said the number of retired people in India is increasing and steps should be taken to channelise their energies in a positive manner.
"There should be a smooth transition from active life to retired life. The pensioners should re-orient themselves to a new beginning," the minister said.
He also presented 'Anubhav' awards-2018 to six pensioners for their contribution towards creating institutional memory for the departments.
On the occasion, Singh launched a booklet — 'An era of sustained reforms for central government pensioners' — which enumerates simplification of rules and steps initiated to strengthen the grievance portal and make it user friendly.
The pension adalats are being convened with the objective of bringing on a common table the aggrieved pensioner, the department concerned, the bank or CGHS representative, wherever relevant, so that such cases can be settled across the table within the framework of extant rules.
Besides the pension adalat, a Pre-Retirement Counselling (PRC) was also conducted for the central government employees who are about to retire in the next six months.
According to the statement, "Six hundred retiring central government employees participated in this PRC out of which a significant number were from the central armed police forces."
The objective of the PRC workshop was to create awareness about post-retirement entitlements as well as to educate the staff on advance planning for retirement including medical facilities and participation in voluntary activities after superannuation.
Disabled people can now avail of online pension scheme in Uttar Pradesh
Pension given to the disabled in Uttar Pradesh has been completely made online across the state, an official said on Saturday.
Instructions have also been issued by the state government to officials to ensure that the disabled are not harassed in the name of physical verification.
Additional Chief Secretary (Handicap Welfare) Mahesh Gupta issued instructions to all district officials with regards to the pension scheme being completely made online.
More than 47,000 disabled persons have been identified in November for the pension and officials have been asked to ensure that the first instalment is transferred to their bank accounts by next week.
Those below the poverty line were entitled to Rs 300 per month pension which was increased to Rs 500 per month and the state government had enhanced the budget for this pension from Rs 3.33 billion to Rs 5.75 billion in 2018.
People who suffer from 40 per cent or more disability can avail this pension.
Irked at complaints that the pension beneficiaries face tough time providing disability certificate, the state government has said that all these details, certified by the state's Health Department, were available on the Revenue Department website.