Chintan Shivir under the auspice of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare organized a Chintan Shivir on February 17th and 18th, 2023, in New Delhi. Various discussion groups were formed, each focusing on different aspects of the department for meaningful contemplation. The first day commenced with sessions on yoga and meditation, leading into thoughtful discussions on various departmental topics.

On February 18th, 2023, the Prime Minister addressed an interactive session with employees from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Department of Administrative Reform & Public Grievances (DARPG) and the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW). PM directed department to focus on digital empowerment of pensioners and bringing Government closer to pensioners.

Pre-Retirement Counseling (PRC) Workshop

Under the initiative ‘Sankalp’, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has been conducting Pre-Retirement Counselling workshops, throughout the country to facilitate officials who are about to retire, in the superannuation process.

The Workshop, held for the benefit of retiring employees of the Government of India, is a revolutionary step in direction of ‘Ease of Living’ of the pensioners. In the workshop, soon to be retiring employees, were provided relevant information related to the retirement benefits and pension sanction process. Department of Pension & Pensioners organized 3 PRCs in the year 2023. Till now, total 52 PRCs have been conducted which benefitted 8922 officials.

ANUBHAV Award 2023

On the directions of the Prime Minister, Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare had launched an online platform entitled ‘Anubhav’ in March 2015 for sharing experiences of retiring government employees while working with the Government. Under Anubhav Awards Scheme, 2023, in addition to Anubhav Awards, it was decided to confer ‘Jury Certificates’ also for the first time, to ensure wider publicity & enhanced participation of the retiring/retired employees. Due to outreach campaign, an all-time high of 1901 write-ups were published by 30 Ministries/Departments with 151 write-ups from the officers having pay level 13 and above. In the ceremony held on 23.10.2023, 04 Anubhav Awards and 09 Jury Certificates were conferred by Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS (PP).

ANUBHAV Awardee Speak Webinar

A monthly webinar series featuring Anubhav awardees and prominent retired personalities was conducted to motivate the retiring employees and sharing their experiences while working in Government. The series completed its 13^th edition in December, 2023 and total 24 speakers from 12 different Ministries/ Departments has participated the audiences. It has been well received by the audiences and retiring employees join the webinar series from more than 500 locations spread across the country.

Monthly Report on CPENGRAMS & BHAVISHYA

The department analyzes the data available on the CPENGRAMS portal on important parameters on monthly basis viz. grievances/appeals- received, redressed, redressal time and pendency. Accordingly, ranking is assigned to the Ministries/Departments. Similarly, the tracking of the PPOs on the Bhavishya portal is done and the data regarding delayed PPOs including the PPOs of the employees who are going to retire in next 15 months is incorporated in the report. This report is sent to all the Secretaries of Government of India for necessary action. 

Nationwide Digital Life Certificate Campaign 2.0

The Campaign was held from 1^st to 30^th November, 2023 at 602 locations of 105 cities across the country in collaboration with 16 Pension Disbursing Banks, Ministries/ Departments, 44 Pensioners’ Welfare Associations, UIDAI, MeitY, PIB and DD News. In November 2023, the campaign generated more than 1.15 Crore DLCs. Face Authentication Technology. launched in November 2021, allows pensioners to submit Digital Life Certificates using Android smartphones, reducing dependence on external devices.

The November 2023 campaign contributed over 1.15 Crore DLCs, with Face Authentication Technique used in more than 19.18 lakhs. Feedback indicates satisfaction and reduced time for DLC generation, enhancing pensioners' 'Ease of Living'.

National DLC Portal

A National DLC portal was launched for monitoring of Nationwide DLC Campaign 2.0. 290 nodal officers of all Min/ Depts, Banks and PWAs are registered on this portal.

Out of 70 Lakh Central Government Pensioners, more than 38 lakhs have submitted DLCs, including 9.60 lakhs with Face Authentication. DLC submission is ongoing, with an expected total submission crossing 50 Lakh by March 2024. The campaigns serve as a significant means of spreading information about government initiatives, bringing government and pensioners closer.

CCS (Extra Ordinary Pension) Rules, 2023

Families of Central Government civilian employees who die on account of injury or disease attributable to Government services, are eligible for Extra-ordinary family pension under the CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 2023. Similarly, employees who get disabled due to an injury or disease on account of causes attributable to or aggravated by Government Service are eligible for Disability pension under CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 2023. Department released new CCS EOP rules after 84 years.

All India Pension Adalats

The Department, with a focus on addressing pensioners' grievances, initiated system of pension Adalats. The first Adalat took place on September 20, 2017, in New Delhi, and the most recent one occurred on October 23, 2023. These adalats offer an additional platform for addressing pension-related grievances, aiming to eliminate the need for recourse to the Court or Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). This approach is expected to save both time and resources for the government in handling legal matters. In 2023, two (2) Pension Adalats were held on 17^th May, 2023 and 23^rd October, 2023, 603 cases were taken up during the two Pension Adalats in which 440 cases were resolved on the spot.

Bankers’ Awareness Programs

The Department has commenced a series of Bankers’ Awareness Workshops for field functionaries handling pension business at CPPCs and Bank branches with the objective of providing information, about the latest pension Rules/procedure and initiatives taken by DoPPW. The Department organized 02 Bankers’ Awareness Programs with Pension Disbursing Banks in Srinagar with the coordination of State Bank of India on 10-11^th July, 2023 and in Lucknow with the coordination of Punjab National Bank on 17-18^th August, 2023.

Integrated Pensioners’ Portal (IPP)

The Pensioners’ Portal scheme was evolved to provide updated information on pension and to help bridge the communication gaps between the pensioners and the Government. As per the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) 2021, the BHAVISHYA Portal has been awarded the 3^rd Rank among all the Central Government e-Governance Service Delivery Portals. As directed by MoS (PP), the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has developed an “Integrated Pensioners’ Portal” using Bhavishya platform as the base to provide a Common Single Window Portal for pensioners and elder citizens. State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda had already integrated their Pension Portals with the Integrated Pensioners’ Portal. Presently, 4 facilities viz. Monthly Pension Slip, Status of Life Certificate, Submission Form16 of the Pensioner and Due & Drawn Statement of pension arrears paid, are being provided by these Banks.

Meetings with Pensioners’ Welfare Associations

The department has taken steps to reach out to all pensioners through various modes and spread awareness about its initiatives, thus enabling all pensioners to use the benefits designed for them. As part of the outreach program to pensioners, DoPPW has commenced a series of meetings with the registered Pensioners’ Associations, online as well as physically, at regular intervals. Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) conducted 5 meetings in 4 cities i.e., Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Jammu with Pensioners Welfare Associations.

Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) visited Banks’ CPPCs

The Central Pension Processing Centres (CPPC) of banks are the back offices which handle pension processing, commencing with opening of a pension account on receipt of PPOs in physical or electronic form to disbursement of pension. State Bank of India has 18 CPPCs and Punjab National Bank has 10 CPPCs across the country. Department visited State Bank of India & Punjab National Bank CPPCs & review their functioning.

Central Government Pensioners’ Grievances

The Department received more than 78,000 grievances from the Central Government pensioners of 148 Ministries/Departments with a monthly average of 6,500 grievances. Out of these, more than 81% grievances have been filed online through Centralized Pension Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPENGRAMS), a digital initiative for quality and expeditious redressals of Pensioners’ Grievances. The remaining 19% grievances have been filed with the active assistance of Integrated Grievance Cell and Call Centre, operated by DoPPW. Out of these, 72,110 grievances were disposed in 01 year. Due to constant monitoring and follow up, the redressal time has decreased from 36 days in 2018 to 26 days in 2023 with only 0.32% grievances pending for more than 6 months. Also, more than 12,000 appeals have been filed on the portal and more than 11,000 appeals have been disposed of.

Grievance Feedback Unit

The department has constituted Feedback Unit in the month of September, 2023 which has been assigned the task of examining and analyzing the grievances, disposed by various Ministries/Departments including the disposals graded as ‘Poor’ and ‘Average’ by the complainants. It has been given the mandate to re-register the cases in the suitable grievances. Till date 11,524 cases have been examined and re-registration in more than 400 cases has been done. This initiative has benefited numerous pensioners as they have received pensioner benefits.

PUBLICATION OF CIRCULARS

Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare had issued instructions vide OM No. 57/04/2019-P&PW(B) dated 17.02.2020 giving one time option to Central Government employees who were declared successful for recruitment in the results declared on or before 31.12.2003 against vacancies which occurred before 01.01.2004 and were covered under the National Pension System on joining service on or after 01.01.2004, to be covered under the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021).

Thereafter, instructions have been issued vide OM No. 57/05/2021-P&PW(B) dated 03.03.2023 that in all cases where the Central Government civil employee has been appointed against a post or vacancy which was advertised/notified for recruitment/appointment, prior to the date of notification for National Pension System i.e. 22.12.2003 and are covered under the National Pension System on joining service on or after 01.01.2004, may be given a one-time option to be covered under the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021).

Central Civil Services (Implementation of NPS) Rules, 2021- Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare had notified CCS (Implementation of NPS) Rules, 2021 to govern the service related matters of Central Government employees covered under NPS. These rules are being updated time to time for ease of implementation by Ministries / Departments.

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SNC/PK