Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today launched the Pension Suvidha Portal at the Civil Secretariat here. Developed by the Finance Department, J&K in collaboration with the National Informatics Center (NIC) and the Principal Accountant General (A&E), J&K, the portal marks a significant step towards digitizing the pension sanctioning process for government employees.
The event was attended by Advisor to the Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani, Additional Chief Secretary Education Shantmanu, ACS to CM Dheeraj Gupta, Administrative Secretaries of Agriculture Production Department, Finance, Information Technology, Social Welfare, Forest, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Public Works Department, Rural Development Department, Cooperatives, Law Department.
The event was also attended by Principal Accountant General (A&E) J&K along-with his team of officers, Principal Resident Commissioner J&K, MD & CEO Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd, Director General, Funds Organization/Codes/Audit & Inspection/Budget/Local Fund, Audit & Pension, Directors of Finance/Financial Advisors of all Administrative Departments, Director Accounts and Treasuries, Jammu / Kashmir, State Informatics Officer, NIC J&K and other concerned.
The outstation officers and officials attended the launch via video conferencing. The Chief Minister formally inaugurated the portal and congratulated the Finance Department, AG’s office, J&K Bank and all stakeholders involved in the initiative.
Chief Minister said, “Whatever we can do to simplify the retirement process and post-retirement of our employees, I think that is a responsibility that lies on our shoulders. Employees who have served J&K and its people for long years, they deserve a simplified process.
And the more we do for our employees, I think the more we need to appreciate it.” Extending his congratulations to the officers and his best wishes to all pensioners who will benefit from the initiative, the Chief Minister said that verification of pensioners also needs to be made pensioner-friendly as every year pensioners have to prove that they are still alive and have to submit various documents and to visit offices in person.
"So this initiative, I think, is something that all employees will appreciate,” he said. Highlighting the inclusive nature of the portal, he said it also covers ex-legislators who are pensioners. “So my suggestion would be that together with the Assembly Secretariat, some sort of briefing material can be sent out to all the ex-legislators, so that they are aware of this change and how better to utilize it,” he added.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by employees nearing retirement, he noted that the last few months of service are often consumed by paperwork. He emphasized that more often than not, efforts are made to post such employees close to Srinagar or Jammu to ease their transition.
“With this initiative, I believe that process will be simplified. Now, going ahead, what we must always try and do is to ensure that employees get their dues on time,” he said. The Chief Minister also pointed out that timely disbursement of dues such as GP fund is a recurring concern among employees.
“So for that, in the Finance Department, we are working closely to ensure that these sort of issues are resolved. But generally, clearly, the initiative that has been taken today, I think, is a welcome one,” he remarked.
Earlier, Director General Accounts & Treasuries Fayaz Ahmad Lone presented an overview of the Pension Suvidha Portal. The portal supports the digitization of pension records for 2,40,000 pensioners under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
He added that data collection was executed through multiple modes: treasury visits for 2,31,127 pensioners, home visits for 7,002, video calls for 1,819 pensioners residing abroad, and postal notices to 9,513 individuals.
The portal captures comprehensive data including name, date of birth, service details, and photographs of pensioners. Notably, he said, the initiative has helped identify and rectify several anomalies, including pension disbursement after death in some cases, duplicate dearness allowance payments, and premature cessation of recoveries.
He informed that the objectives of the portal include streamlining and digitizing pension processing, enhancing efficiency and transparency, reducing paperwork, reconciling pension disbursement with banks, and enabling real-time tracking of pension application status.
Key features of the portal include early SMS and email alerts issued eight months before an employee’s retirement, online application submission with required document uploads, and integration with JKHRMS and JKPaySys for service and salary details.
It is also linked with the offices of the Accountant General and J&K Bank for seamless electronic data exchange. The portal facilitates the issuance of PPOs, provides post-retirement services tracking, and supports online KYC updates and the use of Jeevan Pramaan for life certificate submission.
The streamlined workflow involves eight stages: registration, application submission by the employee, DDO review and approval, sanction by the Pension Authority, submission to the AG’s office, authorization and PPO number issuance, payment processing by the Treasury, and final completion.
The portal engages a wide range of stakeholders. Retiring employees can initiate and monitor their pension cases, while DDOs and Pension Authorities are responsible for verification and processing.
The Accountant General’s office authorizes PPOs, treasuries handle payments, and pensioners can view disbursement details, request for revision, and apply for transfer of pension accounts online.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also handed over a settled pension case to Mr. Ragubhir, a retired employee who superannuated on 30th April this year.