The pensionable age is 60. Based on the national average, 64% of pensioners are 65 and above. A pensioner retires general...
The pensionable age is 60. Based on the national average, 64% of pensioners are 65 and above. A pensioner retires generally after serving the GOI for three decades. The monthly pension paid to him by government is “a payment for the past services rendered”. Therefore, the delivery of pension to this class of senior citizens rendered vulnerable by age, needs to be flawless and prompt.
Many pensioners reside with their children and their pension is critical for sustaining their basic needs, including nutritional and medical expenses, with dignity. The quantum and regularity directly impacts their mental well-being and their health. Others, who stay alone, have a greater exposure to inclement conditions and are even more dependant on this steady income to nourish their body and spirit. The condition of the family pensioner is bleak: mostly it is the widow of the deceased. In our gender-bias ridden society she may, in addition to old age and widowhood, be suffering from illiteracy, neglect and ailments. Many pensioners return to their ancestral place after retirement and therefore their family pensioners reside in far flung, semi-urban or rural areas. On the other hand, the civil servant or the bank official who is responsible for the sanction and disbursement of pensions is often overwrought by work pressure and may not be updated with the latest provisions/ decisions. As the stronger partner in this relationship of pension delivery, he needs to be conscious of the risks the pensioner is exposed to and find ways to mitigate them. Where the public servant is not conscious of his strength, he enters this relationship on an equal footing and engages in indifference or acrimony due to the shortcomings in his immediate environment or the system.
The public servant must call upon his positional strength as he engages with a pensioner: he must utilize his knowledge and the system to afford the pensioner the best deal. Each public servant involved in interfacing with the pensioner needs to be made aware of this need to find the shortest possible way to deliver the maximum benefit due to the pensioner.
The Government of India extends measures to improve the condition of pensioners from time to time. For instance, the decision on the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission to award an additional quantum to pensioners aged 80 or above is in recognition of the increase in medical and other expenses with age. Full delivery of the programme on pensions needs to be assured for the beneficiaries to avail of the enhanced provisions.
The pensioner may be supremely oblivious of his rights vis-à-vis the bank and the government. Even if he perceives that an injustice has occurred he is not aware of the corrective mechanism. The grievance redressal mechanism is sometimes not accessible/available and may outlast his patience.
Hence, Government decided that the efficiency gains by migrating to the Central Pension Processing Centre platform need not be overemphasized. Streamlining the pension delivery mechanism is imperative and the need of the hour.Accordingly, the Central Pension Accounting Office issued a Office Memorandum to direct all authorized Banks must migrate to the Central Pension Processing Centre platform latest by 1st October'2011.
Click here for the OFFICE MEMORANDUM
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