No proposal to launch new pension policy for central civil pensioners: Jitendra Singh

CET score can be used by state govts for recruitment

 New Delhi: There is no proposal to launch a new pension policy for central civil pensioners, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. In order to improve the pension process to facilitate pensioners, the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare had developed Bhavishya’, a common software module for ministries, which has now been functioning as a mandatory platform for processing pension and related benefits of central civil pensioners, with effect from, January 1, 2017, he said.By keeping track of the progress as well as close monitoring of each pension case, it introduces transparency and accountability into the system thereby plugging delays, Singh said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. This system is at present being successfully implemented in 811 offices of 96 ministries/departments/apex bodies through 7,372 Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs), the minister said.There is at present no proposal or consideration to launch a new pension policy for central civil pensioners, Singh said in response to a question on whether the “government is considering to launch new pension policy for pensioners .In another reply, he said the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has integrated the electronic Pension Payment Order (e-PPO) with Digi Locker, in order to enhance ease of living of central government civil pensioners.This system will enable any pensioner to obtain a copy of his PPO from his Digi Locker account, Singh said.This initiative will create a permanent record of his PPO in his/her Digi Locker and at the same time eliminate delays in reaching the PPO to new pensioners, as well as the necessity of handing over a physical copy, the minister said. Thus, the pensioners will not have to face hardship in their old age in case their Pension Payment Order (PPO) is misplaced over a period of time, he added. The state governments can use the score obtained by candidates in the online Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.The mandate of the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) is to conduct first-level screening of candidates through the CET at the graduate, higher secondary and matriculate levels for the Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Boards and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, he said.Based on the screening done at the CET, final selection shall be made through specialised tests/examinations to be conducted by respective recruitment agencies, Singh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.”The score obtained by candidates in CET may also be used by the state governments in their recruitment, on the basis of a memorandum of understanding entered into with NRA,” he said.”Subject to adequate number of candidates opting to take test in any of the regional languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution,” the minister said in response to a question “whether tests would be conducted in regional languages?”The government has set up the NRA, vide order dated August 28, 2020, as an independent, professional, specialist organisation for conducting CET.