The Assam government in a bid to streamline the pension procedures has decided to set up Pension Seva Kendras (PSKs) in districts to benefit pensioners who have dedicated a long period of their life to the service of the people, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
The state government has authorised all district authorities, head of offices (HODs) and other competent authorities to start the process of pension proposal within one year of retirement of an employee, the chief minister said while inaugurating the Pension Seva Kendra (PSK) of Kamrup (Metro) set up by AMTRON at the office of the District Elementary Education Officer here.
The scanning and uploading of Service Book will be done by PSK operators and they will forward the service book and record to the HODs functioning as the custodian of Service Book through the Kritagyata Portal who after proper compilation will forward it to the sanctioning authority i.e. Director of Pension and Accountant General to sanction the pension.
He said that as the school teachers constitute the maximum numbers of pensioners, a decision was taken to open the PSKs at the district offices of the education department but it will also cater to the services of the pensioners of other departments as well.
The initiative to set up PSKs was a gesture of gratitude to the employees who retire from government service as well as ensuring hassle-free and a transparent pension process. The PSKs will facilitate retirees to submit forms online, to upload Digital Life Certificates through Jeevan Pramaan using registered devices, besides acting as cyber cafes to help pensioners to download their Pension Payment Order (PPO) and other information, Sarma said.
The scanning and uploading of service books in the Kritagyata portal will help concerned offices to maintain digital record rooms related to service books, he said. The retired persons can also come to PSKs and upload their details in the Kritagyata portal, apart from verifying their service book uploaded by PSK Operators, the chief minister added.
He said that the state government is working to do away with manual handling of files and in line with this the state secretariat will be transformed into a paperless office from October two this year.
