Govt simplifies procedure for sanction of pension

The central government has done away with the requirement of submission of affidavit and decided to accept all information and documents on the basis of self-certification as part of a larger mandate of streamlining and simplifying the sanction of pension and payment process.

The department of pension and pensioners' welfare has reviewed and simplified 26 forms related to sanction and disbursement of pension, in order to avoid delay in sanctioning of pensions, the department of personnel and pensions said, adding that the revised forms have been posted on the website of the department www.persmin.nic.in.

The department proposes to dispense with the requirement of a number of nomination forms for various benefits like GPF, CGEGIS, arrears of pension and commutation of pension by the employees.

Instead, an employee will be required to fill up only one nomination form during the service and another nomination form at the time of retirement. The department would soon notify amendment to the forms and relevant rules.

The department said it is also reviewing the rules with a view to reducing the time prescribed for sanction of pension from the current 24-30 months to a more reasonable 12 months.

According to the release, 15 ministries have so far switched to an online pension sanction and payment tracking system 'Bhavishya', enabling retiring government servants to track progress of sanction of pension and other retirement dues against the time lines prescribed.