Population dividend could be instrument of nation building: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh on Thursday said India's population dividend could be an instrument of nation building.

Addressing a programme commemorating "9 Years of Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare (DoPPW)" at Vigyan Bhawan here, he said, if the 70 per cent of the population of India is below 40 years of age, this is also a new reality that the actual number of 60 plus is increasing fast in the country and they are not only fit and agile, but have a vast experience of administrative and sectoral sectors to contribute to India's "Vision of 2047".

Singh said the number of pensioners in India has outnumbered the serving employees and after retirement, their valuable services can prove to be a game changer.

"India's population dividend could be an instrument of nation building. Apart from youth, the elder citizens including pensioners could also be channelised for building a strong and prosperous India," the minister said.

Singh pointed out that radical pension reforms and change in rules and regulations have been carried out at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014 in response to emerging societal needs.

He said, DoPPW took measures not only for serving/retiring employees but also worked for the ease of living of pensioners and digital life certificate was another step towards this direction.

Singh pointed out that in November 2014, an Aadhar-based scheme for online submission of digital life certificates, "jeevan pramaan" was launched by Prime Minister Modi to ensure transparency and "ease of living" for pensioners while submitting their life certificate.

The minister informed that the pension department has undertaken a nation-wide digital life certificate through face authentication campaign in the November, 2022 which has resulted into 30 lakhs pensioners submitting their life certificate digitally.

Secretary, DoPPW, V Srinivas said in his address that the department has commenced a series of awareness programs for bankers with a view to provide information about the latest pension rules/procedures reforms and welfare initiatives to bank's field functionaries, handling pensions.

He said, in line with the government's objective of transparency, digitisation and service delivery, the Bhavishya platform has ensured end-to-end digitisation of the pension processing and payment.

From the retiree filing his/her papers online till issue of the Pension Payment order (PPO) in electronic format going into the digilocker, this platform has showcased the intention of complete transparency and efficiency of the government, the 'Bhavishya' platform, an integrated online pension processing system was made mandatory for all central government departments w.e.f. 01.01.2017, according to a Personnel Ministry statement.