Defunct online facility makes life difficult for pensioners

There are nearly seven lakh beneficiaries for pension scheme here, including many who are dependent on the service which was facilitated by the state government since November 2016.

Many like James, a teacher who retired from Madurai and presently living with his family in city, He said they were elated when Jeevan Praman was introduced through E-Seva centres. After retirement, government employees do not always end up spending their retirement life in the last place where they served – which is where the pension account attached to – James pointed out. Which meant he did not have to travel about 500 km to Madurai to produce life certificate in person.

“I was very happy… All I had to do was go to the nearest E-Seva centre instead. The treasury officer would receive the digital life certificate and can use it to authorise the continuation of my pension,” James recalled.

However, it turned out to be short-lived; James could avail this service only once.

As per the scheme, pensioners who visit the nearest e-Seva centre can provide their Aadhaar number, fingerprints and details of their pension scheme, and a digital life certificate would be printed and issued to them for a fee of Rs 10. But now, the E-seva centres have been denying this service, citing that the portal offering the services, owned and operated by the Centre, has become non-functional.

While it has remained defunct for months, what has raised concerns among the pensioners is a recent communique from the Treasury that not presenting life certificate would lead to discontinuation of pension from August. “If the pensioners fail to appear for annual mustering or to furnish Life Certificate during April, May and June the payment of pension shall be stopped from the month of August,” read the communication.

Meanwhile, the officials manning the E-Seva blamed it on the portal run by the Centre, and claimed that they were keen to provide the service if the portal was revived.

When contacted, a senior official from Arasu Cable TV Corporation – who operate the E-Seva centres – said they were willing to provide the service if the portal was revived by the Centre. “We are only the service providers. We do not own the server through which the digital life certificates are issued. It is a Central Government scheme,” maintained the official.