Govt to scrap digital life certificates for pensioners

Barely a year of its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre may soon scrap its ambitious online system of issuing digital life certificates to pensioners owing to privacy issues. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the practice of submitting digital life certificates for continuation of pensions will soon be done away with.

Barely a year of its launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre may soon scrap its ambitious online system of issuing digital life certificates to pensioners owing to privacy issues.

Modi had in early November, last year, launched ‘Jeevan Pramaan’–an Aadhar-based digital life certificate for pensioners. The certification was launched to do away with the requirement of a pensioner having to submit a physical life certificate each year, in order to ensure continuity of his or her pension.

Jeevan Pramaan is an optional system for the pensioners. About 9.27 lakh pensioners have already registered for it, according to an official data.

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop on ‘Bhavishya’, an online pension sanction and payment tracking system for central government retirees, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the practice of submitting digital life certificates for continuation of pensions will soon be done away with.

Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said the pensioners have assumed priority since there are more pensioners now than serving employees. This has come about due to rising life expectancy, he said.

Earlier, during the programme, Secretary in Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare, Devendra Chaudhary said there are some privacy issues concerning the digital life certification.

“There is another issue of digital life certification. There are some problems as I mentioned in earlier occasions, there are some issues with respect to the issues of privacy laws and the matter is being discussed at the other forum.

“Therefore, we are taking steps, trying to even do away with the system of digital life certificate because we want to trust citizens and most of all if we can’t trust our employees…then it is sad case,” Chaudhary said. There are about 55 lakh central government pensioners.