Lucknow. The Uttar Pradesh government has taken an important and public-friendly decision for the elderly. Now the process of identification and verification of people eligible for old age pension will be done automatically through the Family ID ‘One Family, One Identity’ system. With this new system, any eligible person will start getting pension without any application as soon as he completes the age of 60 years.
Pilot project will start in these districts
The Social Welfare Department has decided to implement this system on a pilot basis in the first phase. The starting districts are: Amethi, Kasganj, Gorakhpur, Lalitpur, Basti. After seeing the results of the new system in these districts, it will be implemented in the entire state. For this, a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) will be prepared within 30 days.
67.50 lakh elderly people are already taking benefits
At present about 67.50 lakh people are availing the benefit of old age pension in the state. This number will increase further after the implementation of the new system, as many eligible senior citizens were not able to join the scheme till now due to the complexity of the application or process.
There will also be a provision in the system that the names of those who are going to turn 60 in the next 90 days will also be automatically included in the list. Cases of deceased or ineligible beneficiaries will be cleared expeditiously. The data will be reviewed regularly. This decision will prove to be a strong step towards making social security schemes more simple, transparent and effective in the state.
Additional Chief Secretary Social Welfare has instructed all the District Magistrates and Divisional Commissioners of Uttar Pradesh to approve the pension by taking consent from the eligible beneficiaries through SMS, WhatsApp or phone call and ensure timely payment.
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