Manabendra Bhatta of Guwahati and Kalpana Saikia of Nagaon are two former employees of the Government of Assam. Both retired as senior assistants from their respective departments. Manabendra retired on December 31,2008 from the Department of Culture while Kalpana retired from Karaiyani HS School on June 30, 2022.
Manabendra had to wait for five years to get his pension. “I had to run from pillar to post. From this to that office. I once felt that there was no respect for my service to the Government. ‘Did I work with dedication to see this day,’ I once questioned myself,” he says talking to Asom Barta on the phone. “I finally got my first pension in the month of January in 2014. I dread to think of those years when I had no pension.”
This episode in the days to come will no longer be part of the post-retired life of any Government employee, if Archana Verma, Principal Secretary, Pension and Public Grievances Department, is to be believed. “We have launched a series of reforms to address or preempt grievances on these lines by launching a portal where pension applications can be filed and tracked. The Kritagyata portal was launched on October 1, 2020 and has now received a traction with the inauguration of 27 pension seva kendras in various districts of Assam,” she says.
Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma after inaugurating one such kendra in the office of the Inspector of Schools, Kamrup (Metropolitan) took to the social media to express his sentiments thus:“If we do justice to the pensioners now, we have all the reasons to believe that we will get justice when we retire. These seva kendras will ease hardships faced by pensioners for their commitment to the people of the State.”
“The portal was initially used to process the payment of retired teachers. In June 2021, the present Chief Minister asked us to widen its ambit. Accordingly, those working with elementary and higher education, police personnel and employees of the General Administration Department are now being served through this portal. By this year, we are hopeful that all Government employees will be able to avail benefit of this portal,” says Manabendra Goswami, Technical Director of National Informatics Centre, the agency responsible for executing this operation. “At present, we are focusing on training those who will man the pension sewa kendras and also to incorporate more departments under this portal. We are developing a mobile app to make it even simpler for prospective pensioners.”
Employees like Kalpana Saikia, Robin Borah and Bhagyaban Doley have benefitted from the portal. So far, 5,654 employees from 55 departments have received their pension payment orders (PPOs) through the portal. “Life has and will become easier for the retired employees in our district.This has given them a lot of satisfaction. They now need to come to the office just once for a signature . A dedicated team will then take care of all formalities,” says Kavita Deka, an official of the Education Department, and School Inspector (In-charge), Dhemaji.
Inspector of School, Nagaon, Mridul Kumar Nath says, “Pension Seva Kendras will make it simpler in processing pensions. So far, 295 employees have applied in Kritagyata Portal in our district, out of which 235 have already received their PPOs. There are 17 such individuals who have received their PPOs even before their retirement.” One among them is Kalpana.
Generally, district authorities or the head of the departments or competent authorities as the case may be are authorised to start the processing of pension proposals within a year of the retirement.
The reforms in the Department have taken Kalpana by surprise. “I thought I would have to wait for a long time to receive my pension. But even before my retirement, my PPO was there for me to see and feel. I just went to the office to deposit relevant papers and sign. It was surreal,” she says.
A similar sentiment was expressed by Bhagyaban Doley, a former assistant teacher of Releha Sapori Primary School in Dhemaji. “I went to the office twice. One day to know which documents to deposit and then to deposit them. I have been receiving my pension since the month of July after retiring on March 31. That it is so easy was beyond my imagination,” he says.
