Govt for prompt disposal of pensioners grievances: Jitendra Singh

Says focus should be on best utilisation of the retired employees' experience and services

The Centre has taken various initiatives for prompt disposal of all pension-related grievances of pensioners, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today and asked departments to focus on best utilisation of their experience.

Addressing 27th meeting of Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA), Singh said due to increasing life expectancy, the number of pensioners in the country today are larger than the number of serving employees.

The Government is seized of the matter as to how best to utilise the services of the retired employees, he said.

Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said the government has taken various initiatives for the prompt disposal of grievances received from pensioners across the country. The Minister said that the pendency without reason has to be taken care of completely.

He said that they are the human resource with vast experience and the focus should be on best utilisation of their experience and services.

Singh called for pre-retirement counselling of the retiring persons so that their experience can be utilised in best manner and they can be served in a better way.

Addressing the meeting, he called upon the pensioners to involve their vast experience and resources to assume the role of job creators.

Recalling the 'Startup India, Standup India' initiative of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his Independence Day speech this year, Singh said the government looks to the pensioners as a large pool resource to achieve this end and they can become the torch bearers of this initiative.

As many as 9,505 pension related complaints have been settled during the first six months of financial year 2015-16. As on date, only 2,737 grievances are pending.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Department of Pensions & Pensioners' Welfare, and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Devendra Chaudhary, said 2,200 pending pension grievances will be settled within one month's time.

Stating that there are legal issues to be addressed while linking Aadhaar Number with the Pension Payment Order (PPO), Chaudhary said more than 9,000 Drawing & Disbursal Officers (DDOs) have been linked on the 'Bhavishya'--an online pension sanction and payment tracking system to monitor delays in grant of pension and other retirement benefits.