New Delhi, June 15: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh on Thursday said that India’s population dividend could be an instrument of nation-building. Apart from youth, the elder citizens including the pensioners could also be channelised for building a strong and prosperous India, he said.
Addressing a programme commemorating the nine years of the Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare at Vigyan Bhawan here, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “If 70 percent of the population of India is below 40 years of age, this is also a new reality that the actual number of 60 plus is increasing fast in India and they are not only fit and agile but have a vast experience of administrative and sectoral sectors to contribute to India’s ‘Vision of 2047’. The number of pensioners in India has outnumbered the serving employees and after retirement, their valuable services can prove to be a game changer.”
Dr Singh pointed out that radical pension reforms and changes in rules and regulations were carried out at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014 in response to emerging societal needs. He said DoPPW took measures not only for serving/retiring employees but also worked for the Ease of Living of pensioners and Digital Life Certificate was another step towards this direction. He pointed out that in November 2014, an Aadhar-based scheme for online submission of digital life certificates “Jeevan Pramaan” was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure transparency and “Ease of Living” for pensioners while submitting their life certificates.
The minister informed that the Pension Department has undertaken a nation-wide Digital Life Certificate through Face Authentication campaign on November, 22 which has resulted in 30 lakh pensioners submitting their life certificates digitally. He also congratulated DoPPW for being the first Department in the Government of India to use Face Recognition Technology.
Dr Jitendra also pointed out several humanitarian pension-related policy changes. He said that at the behest of the Prime Minister, the department also started a portal entitled “Anubhav” to showcase the experiences in the government of retiring officials which has now become a huge resource base for us. The department not only introduced the concept of Pension Adalats but has leveraged technology to hold digital Adalats through video-conferencing, he added.
