Mumbai: Postal staff at senior citizens' homes secure pensions

Saradha Ramakrishnan (93) with Akansha Gaikwad, Adhoc postwoman who visited her Thane residence to complete DLC formality

Until last year, Sunder Raman, 75, had to take his over 93-year-old mother, Saradha Ramakrishnan, to the bank for a Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan), as his plea to send bank staff home fell on deaf ears. This year, he is full of praise for the postal staff who visited his house and completed DLC formalities, so that his mother continues to get her Rs 18,000 pension.

Sunder, a Thane resident, said, "My mother has slight dementia and hearing problem. We were worried about the COVID-19 pandemic and the DLC when I learnt about the Postal Service."

Raziya Mainar (65), a widow from Vavi village, Sinnar Taluka, Nasik district at the Vavi village postoffice for completing DLC formality

He enrolled his mother's name with the local post office and an Adhoc postwoman, Akansha Gaikwad, did the DLC formalities at their residence.

Saradha gets a pension as Sunder's father, Ramakrishnan, was employed with the state government's Food and Civil Supply Department. He died in 1998. "The postal DLC service is a blessing for many elderly people," Sunder said.

Rampyari Dogra (85) a resident of Louis Wadi Thane (W) after completing the DLC formaility

Ashok Dogra, 63, a resident of Louis Wadi, Thane, got to know about the postal department being roped in by the Ministry of Labour for the DLC service through an SMS.

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Until last year, Dogra's bank sent their staff home. Dogra is pleased with the postal department's service as many senior citizens could get benefitted and the staff follow COVID-19 protocols. His mother, Rampyari, 85, is entitled to pension as his father was employed with the Indian Navy.

Shobha Madhale, Postmaster General (Navi Mumbai Region)

Raziya Maniyar, 65, a widow from Vavi village in Nasik district is entitled for approximately R11,000 pension for her deceased husband, Chand's service. "I am happy that they started the service in the village post office. My husband worked for the postal department. The formalities were completed fast. I got my pension for November," Raziya said.

Thousands of requests

Shobha Madhale, Postmaster General, Navi Mumbai Region, said, "This is the first time that Department of Posts (DoP) has been roped in for DLC amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Pensioners of government organisations whose pension disbursing agency is live for DLC can take benefit of this facility. They may use the Aadhaar-enabled biometric authentication mechanism to generate DLC."

Posters from EPF

She added, "Leveraging DoP's extensive network, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is facilitating DLC generation."

Madhale has six divisions in her region - Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nasik, Malegaon, Palghar and Raigad, with 1,558 post offices and has received 8,487 requests so far for home visits and 7,140 calls have been attended.

The DLC submission deadline has been extended to December 31 this year.

Madhale added, "All request messages received are scrutinised and sent to concerned post offices. The postman and gramin dak sevak have to coordinate with the pensioner. Postal staff get a small incentive for every DLC."

Challenges on the ground

A postman said on condition of anonymity, "It is difficult to get biometric fingerprints in some cases and we have to patiently keep trying. Sometimes, incorrect addresses are given. Or mobile numbers constantly remain unavailable. In some societies, security personnel don't allow postmen in."

He added, "We also face internet issues. Sometimes, people refuse the service when they learn of the Rs 70 charge because banks give this service for free. There are KYC issues in some cases. We do not react because these are professional hazards."

Regional provident fund staff speaks

More than One Crore families in India can be classified as pensioner families, where the pension disbursed by the various government bodies forms the basis for their income and sustainability. There are about 54 Lakh pensioners of the Central Government and a similar number of the various State and UT Governments and various other government agencies. This includes pensioners from the various public sector enterprises. In addition to this Army and Defence Personnel drawing pension exceeds 25 lakh.

A data staffer on condition of anonymity at Regional Employees Provident Fund Organisation (REPFO), Thane said, "On an average, we get around 100 at our office. Numbers have gone down due to the postal department's service."

"We have to invest more time when some senior citizens don't remember their mobile number. We dial our number from their handset and feed the number from the call in the system," the staffer added.

Source - India Post, Maharashtra Circle.

About DLC Services

This service is available for IPPB and non-IPPB customers.

To avail DLC service, a customer can contact the nearest post office or place a request for a doorstep visit by the postman/Grameen Dak Sevak. Department of Posts have also enabled scheduling of doorstep request through the Post Info app or through the website " https://ccc.cept.gov.in/covid/request.aspx " To Book Doorstep Request through India Post

Issuance of DLC is a completely paperless, seamless and hassle-free process, and the certificate is generated instantly.

On successful completion, a Pramaan ID is generated that is shared with pensioner by NIC directly.

Once the Pramaan ID is generated, pensioners may download the DLC through the link https://jeevanpramaan.gov.in/ppouser/login.

For every successful generation of DLC, a nominal fee of Rs. 70 (inclusive of GST/ CESS) will be charged.

There will be no doorstep charges levied for IPPB or non-IPPB customers for issuance of DLC.

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