Year-End Achievements of DoPPW for 2024

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Posted On: 29 DEC 2024 11:19AM by PIB Delhi

The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has implemented several initiatives in 2024 aimed at enhancing the welfare of pensioners, streamlining grievance redressal, and promoting digitization in pension processes.

1. 100 Days Action Plan of Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare

Under the 100 days action plan of Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare the following activities were implemented:

• Month long campaign for effective redressal of family pensioners grievances redressed 1737 family pensioners grievances
• 54^th Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop was held at Jammu under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to facilitate officials who are about to retire in the superannuation process.
• Instructions for enhancement of maximum limit of retirement gratuity and death gratuity for central government employees from Rs.20 lac to Rs. 25 lac on reaching the Dearness Allowance rates to 50 percent
• 5 Anubhav Awards and 7 Jury Certificates were conferred under Anubhav Awards Scheme 2024

2. Digital Life Certificate (DLC) Campaign 3.0
 

• The DLC Campaign 3.0 was the largest ever campaign conducted for improving pensioners welfare in India from November 1 to 30, 2024 in 800 cities/ towns across the Nation with 1950 camps and 1100 Nodal Officers, generated 1.30 crore Digital Life Certificates (DLCs).
•  39.18 lac DLCs representing more that 30 percent were generated using face authentication technology, 200 times increase over the DLC 2.0 Campaign. This proved particularly beneficial for elderly pensioners with faded fingerprints, differently abled individuals facing mobility challenges and pensioners living in rural and remote areas.
• 8 lac DLC’s submitted by pensioners aged 80 and above, 11 lac DLCs generated by State Bank of India, 7.5 lac DLCs generated by IPPB and 2.75 lac DLCs were generated by PNB.

3. Redressal of Pensioner Grievances:
 

• Over 1.06 lakh grievances from pensioners across 90 Ministries and Departments were resolved, 21,860 family pension cases and 9,818 super senior pensioner cases.
• The average grievance resolution time has been reduced from 36 days (2018) to 26 days (2024). Only 0.54% of grievances remain pending for more than six months.

4. CPENGRAMS Portal Improvements:  

• Monthly reports on grievances, ranking Ministries/Departments based on their performance in grievance redressal, were introduced.
• New features include tracking grievances based on their source (online, postal, or call center) and average disposal time for resolution.

5. Special Campaign for Family Pension Grievances:  

• A one-month campaign in July 2024 focused on resolving 1,891 grievances, achieving a 94% success rate by addressing 1,769 cases.
• Complex cases, such as those involving minors or dependent daughters, were successfully resolved during this campaign.

6. Coordination with CGDA for Defense Pensioners:

• Active collaboration with the Controller General of Defense Accounts (CGDA) resulted in resolving 7,810 grievances in January 2024, compared to 4,288 in December 2023.

7. Pension Adalats

• Two Pension Adalats were organized in 2024, including a thematic Adalat focused on super senior pensioners.
• Out of 403 grievances taken up, 330 grievances were resolved on the spot.
• Since the initiative’s inception in 2017, 11 Pension Adalats have been held, achieving over 70% success rate in grievance resolution.

8. National Anubhav Awards Scheme: Recognition of Retiring Employees

The 7^th National Anubhav Awards Scheme 2024 recognized 15 exemplary write-ups by retiring officials, with 33% awarded to women—the highest percentage in the scheme’s history.

9. ANUBHAV Awardee Speak Webinar:
   – A monthly series featuring awardees and prominent retired personalities completed its 19^th edition.
   – Speakers from 13 Ministries inspired retiring employees to share their experiences.

Integration of Pension Processes
10. New Pension Application Form:
   – A single simplified form (Form 6-A) was introduced under Bhavishya and e-HRMS, replacing nine older forms.
   – More than 3,200 retiring officials used this digitized process in 2024.

11. Integration with CGHS:
   – The CGHS application process will be linked to Bhavishya by March 2025, allowing retirees to access benefits from the first day of retirement.

12. Integration with Banks

-2 new banks integrated with Bhavishya viz Central Bank of India and Union Bank of India.

Awareness Programs and Outreach
13. Bankers’ Awareness Programs:
   – Workshops were held to educate field bankers on pension rules and procedures.
   – Programs were organized in Ahmedabad and virtually with various pension-disbursing banks.

14. Pre-Retirement Counseling (PRC) Workshops:
   – Workshops conducted in Ahmedabad, Jammu, and Delhi benefited over 1,840 retiring officials by covering topics like pensionary benefits, DLC submissions, and investment options.

15. Meetings with Pensioners’ Welfare Associations:
   – Six outreach meetings were held in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru to enhance awareness of DoPPW initiatives.

Reforms in Gratuity and NPS OSM
16. Enhancing Gratuity Limits:
   – The maximum gratuity limit for Central Government employees was increased from ₹20 lakh to ₹25 lakh, effective January 1, 2024.
   – Pending gratuity cases were reduced from 1,051 to 75 through a special campaign.

17. Monitoring of NPS Implementation:
   – Four workshops were conducted on NPS for dealing officers, with participation from over 400 officials.
   – An online platform for tracking the implementation of NPS by Ministries and Departments was launched.

Efforts to Reduce Pending Cases
18. e-PPO Case Pendency Reduction:
   – Efforts to reduce pending electronic Pension Payment Orders (e-PPOs) led to a 42% decrease, with pending cases reduced from 1,849 to 776.

Governance and Grievance Mechanisms
19. National Workshop on Pension Grievances:
   – Held during Good Governance Week, the workshop emphasized CPENGRAMS initiatives, including improved grievance categorization and feedback mechanisms.

20. Inter-Ministerial Review Meetings (IMRMs):
   – Monthly reviews ensured adherence to grievance redressal guidelines and discouraged premature or summary disposal of grievances.

21. CPENGRAMS Outreach Campaigns:
   – Over 500 success stories and 70 lakh SMS alerts were shared to raise awareness among pensioners.

Other Key Initiatives
22. Compendiums for Pension Related Instructions:
   – Two compendiums of circulars were published for easy reference by Ministries and Departments.

23. Integration of Pension Rules:
   – Proposals for merging the Railway Pension Rules and AIS Pension Rules with CCS Pension Rules were discussed to streamline processes.

24. Workshops on Gender Equality:
   – A workshop was held in December 2024 to raise awareness about the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act (POSH).

25. Hindi Pakhwada Celebrations:
   – Competitions in poetry, translation, and essays were conducted, with 60 participants. A collection of poems written by department staff, titled “Sopan,” was also released.

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NKR/KS

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