Pension adalats will help in on-the-spot redressal of pensioners' grievances. (Representational)
A mechanism has been put in place under which central government employees will get pension payment order (PPO) on the day of retirement, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today.
Inaugurating the All India Pension Adalat, Mr Singh said Prime Minster Narendra Modi has directed that pensioners be provided a hassle-free administrative system to resolve their grievances.
The minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said pension adalats will help in on-the-spot redressal of pensioners' grievances.
Mr Singh said a number of reforms have been undertaken by the government to help pensioners. "He said a mechanism has been put in place wherein pensioners will get PPO on the day of their retirement," according to a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
Mr Singh said as the number of retired people in India is increasing steps should be taken to channelise their energies in a positive manner.
"There should be a smooth transition from active life to retired life. The pensioners should re-orient themselves to a new beginning," he r said.
He also presented 'Anubhav' awards-2018 to six pensioners for their contribution towards creating institutional memory for the departments.
On the occasion, Mr Singh launched a booklet - 'An era of sustained reforms for central government pensioners' - which enumerates simplification of rules and steps initiated to strengthen the grievance portal and make it user friendly.
The pension adalats are being convened with the objective of bringing on a common table the aggrieved pensioner, the department concerned, the bank or CGHS representative, wherever relevant, so that such cases can be settled across the table within the framework of extant rules.
Besides, a Pre-Retirement Counselling (PRC) was also conducted for the central government employees who are about to retire in the next six months.
According to the statement, "Six hundred retiring central government employees participated in this PRC out of which a significant number were from the central armed police forces."
The objective of the PRC workshop was to create awareness about post-retirement entitlements as well as to educate the staff on advance planning for retirement including medical facilities and participation in voluntary activities after superannuation.