Welfare payments process fully digital, says minister

Announcing the shift, Delhi’s social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said the first digital pension payments -- to the elderly, widows, persons with disability, etc -- were executed on Tuesday.

The Delhi government has integrated its financial assistance schemes with the National Social Assistance Program – Pension Payment System, a move that will ensure greater transparency as all beneficiaries are Aadhaar linked and leave no room for malfeasance as the whole process is end to end digitised, officials said.

(Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Announcing the shift, Delhi’s social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said the first digital pension payments -- to the elderly, widows, persons with disability, etc -- were executed on Tuesday.

Terming the move “a revolutionary step by the Arvind Kejriwal government”, he said, “To eliminate corruption and for the convenience of the public, the pension process is now end to end digitised. The first digital payment was made on Tuesday. We have been able to reach this point only because of our honest politics.”

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केजरीवाल सरकार का एतिहासिक कदम, पेंशन संबंधित सभी काम अब होंगे ऑनलाइन। आवेदन फॉर्म भरने से लेकर पेंशन वितरण तक पूरी प्रक्रिया ऑनलाइन होगी। जनता को सरकारी दफ्तरों के चक्कर नहीं काटने होंगे। पहला डिजिटल पेमेंट कल किया है, देश में यह अपनी तरह का पहला प्रयास होगा- @ArvindKejriwal

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- Rajendra Pal Gautam (@AdvRajendraPal) 9 Feb 2022

Now, all applications for social welfare pensions in Delhi will have to be submitted online. “The entire process -- from applications seeking social welfare pension to disbursal of pension -- has been made digital,” said an official in the know of the matter.

Those unable to apply online on their own can seek help of the staff at government offices in completing the process, the official added.

The minister said earlier, payments could not be digitised owing to technical reasons. The social welfare department held several meetings with their central government counterparts to arrive at a solution, he said. “Now, there will be no hindrance or delay in disbursing pensions. The whole process -- from filling the application form to disbursal of pension -- will be online. People will no longer be inconvenienced by having to stand in queues at government offices,” the minister said.

An official said there are 825,000 pension beneficiaries in Delhi of whom 430,000 are old-age pensioners and 105,000 are disabled people who are given pension.