Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
05-September, 2019
Dr.Jitendra Singh chairs 31st meeting of Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies
Optimize the use of technology in redressal of pensioners’ grievances, says Dr Jitendra Singh
The Union Minister of State (Independent
Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO,
Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr.
Jitendra Singh chaired the 31st meeting of the Standing Committee of
Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA), here today. The SCOVA
meeting was organised by the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’
Welfare (DoP&PW), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances &
Pensions.
During the meeting, Dr. Jitendra Singh said
that the SCOVA has gone a long way in addressing issues related to
Pensioners in a focused manner. He said that today’s interaction was
very meaningful and thus reflecting on the working of DoP&PW.
Dr Jitendra Singh while listening the
grievances of the pensioners assured them of timely redressal of their
problems and said that Government under the leadership of Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi is very much caring towards resolving the
pensioners’ issues. He said that the Government is totally aware about
the sensitivities related to the pensioners’ demands and is bound to
resolve them.
The Minister also emphasized on maximum
digitization of the documentation process dealing with pensioners’
cases. He said that the Department of Pensions has already digitalized
the process of providing the life certificate by pensioners and other
documents. He said that we have started Pension Adalats through video
conferencing and started the Pensioners’ Portal where one can easily
check the PPO status, thus optimizing the use of technology for the
welfare of the pensioners.
While addressing the meeting, the Minister
said that retired persons are an asset to the society and the country
needs to evolve a mechanism to make good use of their knowledge,
experience and efforts of the retired employees, which can help in the
value addition to the current scenario. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the
retired employees are a healthy and productive workforce for India and
we need to streamline and channelize their energies in a productive
direction. He said that the retired person should do counseling for
pensioners in his respective field of expertise. We should learn from
the pensioners’ experience and the DoP&PW should be reoriented in such a way that pensioners become a part of nation building process.
On the demand of the SCOVA members, the
Minister agreed to hold its meeting bi-annually instead of once a year.
The Minister also directed for the prompt and time bound redressal of
the grievances of the pensioners and said that we should have
sympathetic attitude towards them.
In the meeting, discussions were held on the action taken report of the 30th SCOVA meeting.
Further many issues related to pensioners were discussed threadbare,
such as revision Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners including those
residing in non-CGHS area, Extension of CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners etc. Out of the 31 cases came for redressal, 8 have been closed positively.
In his welcome address, Secretary, DoP&PW,
Shri K.V. Eapen appreciated the sincerity and work done by the
department towards mitigating the grievances of the pensioners and
taking action on the 80 percent of issues raised in the 30th SCOVA
meeting. He also mentioned about the huge attendance of pensioners
during the Pension Adalats conducted across the country. He said that
interaction process between the Government Departments and Pensioners
has increased manifold with the use of technology.
The Joint Secretary (Pension) Shri Sanjiv
Narain Mathur and other senior officers of the department were also
present on the occasion. The meeting was also attended by the member,
Pensioners Associations and senior officers of the important
Ministries/Departments of Government of India.
Source: PIB
