New Delhi:To receive a pension without any obstacles, the retired persons submit life certificates every year following which the Ministry of Railways has urged to use an upgraded version for submitting Digital Life Certificates across the zones.
As per government norms, pensioners have to submit their life certificates to get pensions without interruption. This time the railway has upgraded its existing system of submitting Life Certificates by introducing Face Authentication Technology for submitting Digital Life Certificates. This technology will help lakhs of retired employees, those who live in remote village areas, to submit from home which will save them to travel long distances to reach Banks, Post Offices or other designated places.
According to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, campaign 3.0, scheduled till November 30 this year, will cover 800 locations nationwide. Key partners include the Banks, India Post Payments Bank, Pensioners' Associations, UIDAI, MeitY, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Railways and DoT.
The awareness will be done across cities to help pensioners with digital submissions and special arrangements are made for super senior or disabled pensioners, including home visits. The objective of the program is to ensure even remote or limited-mobility pensioners benefit from this streamlined, accessible system.
Discussing implementation, A Sridhar, Chief Public Relations Officer, South Central Railway said, “In this connection, a meeting was conducted with Banks and Pensioners Associations. Letters have been addressed to Banks and Post offices to promote the submission of Digital Life Certificates by Pensioners duly earmarking some staff with Android Phones to facilitate pensioners to submit DLCs.”
Sridhar pointed out that for submission of DLCs, pensioners need not visit any bank, post office, Mee-Seva, and internet centres. It can be done from their homes with an Android Cell Phone conveniently. It saves time and eliminates the need to visit personally. Earlier, they had to submit an Aadhar-based system for a life certificate.
Describing the upgraded system, Captain Shashi Kiran, Chief Public Relations Officer, North Western Railways told ETV Bharat, “Under this system, retired persons will now be able to submit the life certificate given every year from home. With the help of an App which will scan the face of the pensioner through Face Authentication Technology, a life certificate can be issued.” This facility will be provided in 800 cities through a nationwide Digital Life Certificate.
“Online Life Certificate submission system was launched three years ago but a large chunk of pensioners don’t avail of its facility whether they are not aware about it or cumbersome process but now it has been made pensioners friendly to use. In fact, the system has also been upgraded by Face Authentication Technology. This technology is based on Aadhaar using Android-based smartphones,” A senior railway official told ETV Bharat.