Inauguration at the office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements) II, Maharashtra, Nagpur on 23 November 2023, of two innovative initiatives, ‘e-PPO’ (Electronic Pension Payment Orders) and ‘PENSIONERS’ SAMADHAAN’ (a digital window under the ‘Pension at your Doorstep’ campaign, aimed at helping retired Government Officials resolve their pension-related issues from the comfort of their homes.

The Office of the Principal Accountant General (Accounts and Entitlements)-II, Maharashtra, Nagpur has rolled out innovative pension-related digital initiatives for senior citizen pensioners in its jurisdiction spread across Marathwada and Vidarbha, as part of the ‘Pension at your Doorstep’ program. The Pensioners’ Samadhaan was formally inaugurated by Ms. Jaya Bhagat, Principal Accountant General on Thursday, 23rd November 2023. “After taking over the charge in May this year (2023), I noticed that Pensioners are traveling long distances and visiting my office physically from far off districts and are often stressed about their pension case status. We have therefore initiated a bouquet of services for pensioners, as part of a public outreach campaign named ‘Pension at your Doorstep’. This initiative is an attempt to help resolve pensioners worries quickly through simple digital innovations and proactive dialogue” stated Jaya Bhagat, Principal Accountant General(A&E)-II, Maharashtra, Nagpur.

In this initiative, the Pr.AG office team reaches out to pensioners, in the comfort of their homes, through a scheduled video call and helps resolve their pension-related issues. Pensioners would have to register for the ‘Pensioners’ Samadhan’ through an online form or through a phone call to the PAG office toll-free number (1800 233 7834) or intercom phone number.

In a separate program, the Principal Accountant General also launched the e-PPO (electronic Pension Payment Order) service in the evening of 23rd November 2023. The pensioners of Nagpur District will receive their pension payment authorities in a digital format from 1st December 2023 onwards.

While the Pensioners’ Samadhaan covers the entire jurisdiction of the Pr. AG office across Marathwada and Vidarbha from Day 1, the e-PPO campaign will be extended across other divisions and districts of the jurisdiction by March-April 2024.

The usual pension process followed so far has been that when an employee nears retirement, the department concerned finalizes the pension and sends the pension papers and case to the Principal Accountant General’s office for authorizing the same. The Pr. AG office checks compliance with the rules and correctness of the calculations so as to verify that the pension papers received are complete and in order. The Pr. AG’s officers then authorize the pension and issue a paper authority/Pension Payment Order.  On receiving this manual authority/PPO, the Treasury Officer initiates the pension payments to the pensioners. By speeding up this manual system, the e-PPO initiative will accelerate the processing and instantaneous dispatch of digital copies, with pensioners getting notified through SMS services by the Pr. AG Office, as soon as their pensions are authorized. The pensioners will be able to access their e-PPO on the Government of Maharashtra’s ‘Mahakosh’ Website from any geographical location.

Ms. Jaya Bhagat, Pr.AG, praised the teams involved in the  Pension Samadhaan and e-PPO projects, for their timely and dedicated effort that had ensured the roll out of these twin initiatives in a very short timeframe.  She felicitated pensioners present on the occasion and gifted them a PDF copy of their e-PPO and a sapling, as keepsakes. Smt. Jyoti Bhonde, Joint Director Treasuries Nagpur region, Deputy Accountants General, and all the officers and staff of the PAG office were present at the launch event.  Officers from Director of Accounts and Treasuries office, Mumbai and AG Mumbai office also attended the e-PPO launch event virtually.

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AG-II OFFICE/SR/DW/PK

 

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