E-Pension Payment Order: New Step in the Right Direction
Furthering the Digital India-initiatives of Govt. of India, Principal Controller of Defence Accounts(Pensions), Allahabad has started issuance of electronic-Pension Payment Orders (e-PPOs) to the pensioners along with their Pension Disbursement Agencies viz., Banks, Defence Pension Disbursement Offices, Post Offices, etc. What began in the first phase, for all Commissioned Officers and JCOs/ORs of Armed Forces from the month of October 2017, has now been extended to all defence pensioners including defence civilians.
Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), Allahabad is the sole agency under Ministry of Defence which sanctions Pensions for the Defence Services viz., Army, Coast Guard, Defence Research and Development Organization,General Reserve Engineer Force, Border Roads Organization, Military Engineering Services and other Defence organisations including Defence Account Department and Defence Civilians.
The shift from manual system to e-PPO system is expected to minimize delays in pension disbursement and further revision as and when needed. Â This initiative also eliminates the occurrence of human errors in data entry at multiple levels.
The next big step in this direction would be digitizing pension documents received from 46 record offices and more than 2900 Heads of Offices. This initiative by PCDA (P) will facilitate better implementation of OROP.
PIB
When will Govt impliment OROP for civilian pensioners? It is a recommendation of 7CPC which should not be set aside arguing that it is not implimentable. If it has been implemented for defence pensioners, there is no reason for not implimenting it for civilian pensioners.
The Govt must be judicious while considering recommended benefits.