Streamlining the process of disbursal of Pension to Freedom Fighters
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, in a written reply to a question on complaints regarding pension to freedom fighters, in Lok Sabha today, said that after sanction of Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY) pension, the disbursement is done by the banks. As far as non-disbursement of pension is concerned very few complaints are received in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which are taken up immediately with the concerned bank for their resolution.
Shri Reddy stated that to streamline the application process of dependent pension under Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana, detailed Revised Policy Guidelines 2014 were issued. As per these guidelines, after death of the pensioner, the pension is transferred to the widow by the concerned bank itself if she applies within 6 months. After 6 months, the application is referred to MHA for process & grant of pension. MHA has set up a Pension Disbursement Monitoring Cell (PDMC) to monitor disbursement of freedom fighter pension. Further, meetings are convened with the banks from time to time to ensure that pensions are disbursed smoothly.
Pension is disbursed through authorized banks. The digitization is a process of reconciliation of records available in Ministry with Banks, CPAO, PAO & AG Offices on a digital platform. There is no role of pensioners in this process, therefore, no such problems are faced by extremely old age pensioners due to digitization, Shri Reddy informed the House.