Govt to scrap digital life certificates for pensioners

New Delhi, November 26

Barely a year of its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre may soon scrap its ambitious online system of issuing digital life certificates to pensioners owing to privacy issues.

Modi had in early November, last year, launched 'Jeevan Pramaan'-- an Aadhaar-based digital life certificate for pensioners. The certification was launched to do away with the requirement of a pensioner having to submit a physical life certificate each year, in order to ensure continuity of his or her pension.

Jeevan Pramaan is an optional system for the pensioners.

About 9.27 lakh pensioners have already registered for it, according to an official data.

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop on 'Bhavishya', an online pension sanction and payment tracking system for central government retirees, Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said the practice of submitting digital life certificates for continuation of pensions will soon be done away with.

Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievance sand Pensions, said the pensioners have assumed priority since there are more pensioners now than serving employees. This has come about due to rising life expectancy, he said.

Earlier, during the programme, Secretary in Department of Pensions and Pensioners' Welfare, Devendra Chaudhary said there are some privacy issues concerning the digital life certification.

"There is another issue of digital life certification. There are some problems as I mentioned in earlier occasions, there are some issues with respect to the issues of privacy laws and the matter is being discussed at the other forum.

"Therefore, we are taking steps, trying to even do away with the system of digital life certificate because we want to trust citizens and most of all if we can't trust our employees...then it is sad case," Chaudhary said.

There are about 55 lakh central government pensioners.

Addressing the gathering attended by Head of offices and Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) of government offices in Delhi, he said there are some issues with the new pension scheme also.

"I would like to say there are number of other things which are also engaging the Ministry (of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions). For example, there are some issues with respect to the new pension scheme which is being operated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and I had their meeting recently and they are going to see how to resolve them.

"There is no time to go into delays but rest with this assurance that the Department of Pensions and Pensioners' Welfare is actually working for the pensioners welfare," Chaudhary said.

The Minister also presented 'Bhavishya ID cards' to three personnel retiring this month-end. This is for the first time that pensioners are being presented such unique ID cards.

The Bhavishya system will introduce transparency and establish accountability in the pension sanction and payment process. It will help to eliminate delays and bring satisfaction to the retiring employees and pensioners.

As on date, Bhavishya is being implemented in main secretariat of 83 ministries or Departments and 17 attached offices involving 783 DDOs which are in various stages of processing pension cases of 4,066 retiring employees.

The web application has so far finally processed and issued Pension Payment Orders in respect of 652 pensioners. In due course, all the DDOs in various ministries and their attached and subordinate offices, numbering over 9,000, would be brought under the ambit of Bhavishya, a press release issued by Personnel Ministry said. — PTI