Bhubaneswar: In order to curb corruption at different levels for the disbursement of pension for the vulnerable population, the state government has made the process of application for pension, online.
The State Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department has made the process of application for pensions under the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) either through the department’s website or their mobile application.
The department believes that the online process has expedited the whole process and has managed to bring transparency. “Unlike paper-based governance, we made the whole process online. Now pensioners living anywhere in the state can apply online for pension and in less than 30 days their pension will be disbursed. With this migration, the process has got an impetus and also ensured transparency,” Bhaskar Sarma, Secretary of SSEPD department told Orissa POST.
Sarma also added that as soon as the eligible pensioner files his application and uploads required documents, the officials entrusted with the task of approving the applications at different levels, chip in to take the process forward. He, however, also added that the online migration is yet to be complete as many people from rural and remote areas are not well versed with the online system.
The department, meanwhile, has also embarked on their new mission to bar disbursement of pension for the people who have not seeded (linked) their Aadhaar numbers with their pension accounts from April 1. The department believes most pensioners are likely to be covered under Aadhaar before the deadline. It has also extended the last date of the seeding process at pension disbursement centres to ensure zero deprivation cases.
The department is now on a fast-track mission to link all pension accounts with Aadhaar numbers and very close to achieving their target. According to the department, close to 90 per cent of the pension accounts have been linked with Aadhaar till now.
Pensions in the state are disbursed under the state scheme of MBPY for the differently-abled, widows, destitute persons, HIV positive patients and others. The Union government also gives pension under the central schemes of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).