Assam CM issues directions for smooth disbursal of pension in the state

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Sunday issued directions to officials for smooth disbursal of pension to state government employees, including initiating the process a year ahead of superannuation.

Chairing a meeting of the Pension and Public Grievances Department here, Sarma directed that all pension related papers have to be submitted online on the Kritagyata' (pension payment and tracking system) portal, an official statement said.

Sewa Kendras' (help centres) will be set up in all the districts for online submission of pension-related papers.

It was decided at the meeting that the Director of Pension will use digital signature for meeting various requirements of pension-related matters.

It was also decided that depending on the merit of the case, the director will be authorised to waive excess withdrawal of Rs 3 lakh by any government employee.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) will integrate the Comprehensive Treasury Management Information System with the Kritagyata' portal for enabling simultaneous actions by various functionaries for expeditious disbursal of pension, it said.

The state government pensioners will be able to submit their life certificates to their respective bank branches using Jeevan Pramaan', a digital biometric-enabled service, and the government will issue the necessary notification to this effect soon, as per another decision.

All eight medical colleges in the state will be empowered to have medical boards for commutation purposes, the statement added.

During the meeting, the chief minister also directed the functionaries concerned to hold regular meetings to design and adopt best practices for the benefit of state government employees and pensioners.