Now, pension through post offices in HP

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 24

The complete switch over of disbursement of over 3.89 lakh social security pensions in Himachal from the earlier system of money orders to Aadhaar-linked post offices will not only facilitate easy payment to pensioners, but also help the government save Rs 10 crore annually.

The decision to make the payment through post offices was taken by the Cabinet in its meeting last week. Since post banks have a better coverage, especially in rural areas as compared to banks, the pensioners will benefit immensely. At present, there are 3,89,168 pensioners in the state, 78,000 of them are getting pension through savings bank accounts, 24,000 through post office savings accounts and the remaining 2,87 lakh through money orders.

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment hopes to save at least Rs 10 crore annually as it will have to pay reduced 1.5 per cent service charges to the Postal Department, saving Rs 10 crore annually. As of now, 74 per cent Aadhaar seeding of social security pensioners has been completed and the task is likely to be accomplished by march 31, 2017.

It is proposed that all social security pension beneficiaries in 10 districts, barring Hamirpur and Bilaspur, who are getting pension through money orders will be shifted to postal savings accounts. These two districts were part of the initial direct bank transfer process which was initiated by the department in 2013-14 under which more than 80 per cent disbursement was through either saving bank accounts or postal accounts.

“The Postal Department will arrange for the payment of pensions to the beneficiaries through a postman at their doorstep,” said Anuradha Tkaur, Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment. She added that their pension would first be credited to their postal accounts. Moreover, the Department of Posts will introduce the Aadhaar-linked biometric system as soon as the Core Banking Solution (CBS) is introduced for effecting payment of social security pensions, as needed.

A total of 1.98 lakh accounts have already been opened in various post offices and the entire process is likely to be completed by the end of the month. The Department of Posts will obtain life certificates on a yearly basis from gram panchayats and pension beneficiaries having accounts in their post offices. The Postal Department will also report the death of a beneficiary to the Tehsil Welfare Officer or District Welfare Officer immediately.