Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Friday, met the state's World Cup winning Women's Cricket Team player Deepti Sharma and also led a Cabinet meeting which took 20 key decisions, including one on easing the registration process for old age pension, an official said.
Sharma, who is serving as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the state, was praised by Chief Minister Adityanath for her good performance in the World Cricket final and winning the Player of the Tournament award.
"Deepti has done the Uttar Pradesh Police proud at the world stage," CM Adityanath had tweeted soon after the women's cricket team lifted the World Cup on November 2. Cricketer Deepti Sharma was earlier appointed as DSP in January this year under the sports quota as part of Chief Minister Adityanath's Skilled Athlete Scheme.
During the Cabinet meeting held at the CM residence on Friday, CM Adityanath led his Ministers in congratulating the women's cricket team for winning the World Cup. The Cabinet also condemned the fatal Delhi blast on November 10.
A key decision taken at the meeting relates to saving the elderly the trouble of running around for pension. The Cabinet decided that the social welfare department will deploy call-centre executives to contact and seek consent of the beneficiary and fill their forms online through common service centres.
The forms will be verified using family IDs before the release of their pension, saving the elderly to run around to complete formalities. As a pilot project, the scheme will be tried in five districts, including Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Hardoi, Kannauj and Lalitpur, an official said.
In the existing system, an online application by an elderly person seeking pension needs the verification by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and village Block Development Officer before an approval from the District Magistrate-led Committee.
An official said the proposed new system will speed up the entire process. The scheme will benefit all elderly over the age of 60 with an annual income of Rs 56,460 or less in urban areas and Rs 46,080 or less in rural areas.
The Cabinet also approved a scheme to provide car loan to employees of judicial services. Other Cabinet decisions included approval for a private university in Shahjahanpur and beneficial rate revision for cane procurement.