Dr. Jitendra Singh chairs 30th meeting of Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Dr. Jitendra Singh chairs 30th meeting of Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies
Adhaar is not mandatory to get pension: Dr Jitendra Singh
23 MAR 2018
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 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of
Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) here today. The SCOVA meeting is organised by
the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW),
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and the last
such meeting was held on January 12, 2017.
During the meeting, Dr. Jitendra Singh
said that the SCOVA which was first constituted in July, 1986 would be
completing 32 years this year. He said this platform has gone a long way
in addressing in a focused manner issues related to Pensioners. He said
that today’s interaction was very meaningful and stimulating, thus
reflecting on the working of DoP&PW. The Minister while assuring the
representatives of pensioners’ Associations said that it was no more
mandatory to have one’s Adhaar Card to get his/her pension.
The Minister said that the Department of
Pensions has brought out a series of OMs to benefit the
Pensioners/Family Pensioners in the last 12 months including enhancing
of minimum pension from Rs.3500/- to Rs.9000/- per month; the ceiling of
gratuity has been increased from the existing Rs.10 lakhs to Rs.20
lakhs; the rates of ex-gratia lump sum compensation being paid to the
families of employees who die in performance of duty has been increased
from existing Rs. 10-15 lakhs to Rs.25-45 lakhs. He also said that
divorced daughter will be eligible for family pension if divorce case
has been filed before the death of pensioner/family pensioner, even
though the judgment has been passed after the death of the pensioner
/family pensioner.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that this
Government has given relief to the senior citizens and Pensioners in the
Budget 2018-19 by allowing Standard Deduction of Rs. 40,000/- per year
to the Pensioners and given exemption on tax on account of interest
income from bank savings accounts has been increased to Rs. 50,000/ from
Rs. 10,000/- per year. Deduction on account of health insurance premium
which was earlier allowed at maximum of Rs.30,000/- has now been
increased to Rs. 50,000/- in the case of Senior Citizens/Pensioners.
While addressing the meeting he said
that we need to put in place an institutionalized mechanism to make good
use of the 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. We should learn from the pensioners’
experience, he added. The Minister also said that the DoP&PW should
be reoriented in such a way that pensioners become a part of nation
building process.
In the meeting, discussions were held on
the action taken report of the 29th SCOVA meeting. Further many issues
related to pensioners were discussed threadbare, such as revision of
PPOs of pre-2006 pensioners, Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners
including those residing in non-CGHS area, Special “Higher” Family
Pension for widows of the war disabled invalidated out of service,
Extension of CGHS facilities to P&T pensioners, issue relating to
CGHS Wellness Centre, Dehradun etc. The Minister directed for the prompt
and time bound redressal of the grievances of the pensioners and said
that we should have sympathetic attitude towards them.
The Secretary, DoP&PW, Shri K.V.
Eapen 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