Sir,
The news item regarding the dignity and welfare of pensioners in the country carried by Daily Excelsior, dated 13th of June 014, is quite heartening for the would-be-pensioners. Dr Jitendr Singh MOS in the PMO’s office, holding charge of the Department of Public Grievances and Pensions, besides other departments has emphasised a dignified way of treatment to be given to the future pensioners by the concerned Governments.
It may not be out of place here to make a mention of the travails of the old pensioners of the J&K State, worn out by the teeth of time. The pensioners, drawing pension from various branches of the J&K Bank are subjected to humiliation, harassment and hardships, every now and then by the State authorities, through their ill-conceived policy of verification to prove their credentials as pensioners. After every six months they are paraded before their respective Treasury offiers to verify their persons, in flesh and blood as also their PPOs. There may be some substance in the phrase, “Once a thief, always a thief.” What is wrong with a saying of positive one that “once a genuine pensioner, always a genuine pensioner. The PPOs of the pensioners alongwith their other pension details like their photographs, certificates, signatures etc remain in the custody of the Bank Managers who are the authorised drawing and disbursing officers.
All the details get automatically verified every month by the designated officials when they make payments of the pension money. As for the personal verification, what can be the more authentic proof than the pensioner standing before the official, in flesh and blood.
The process of the undignified verification suggests that all the pensioners are looked upon by the authorities as fraudsters till the time they prove themselves to be otherwise. What an absurd assumption it is! The procedure of proving their innocence is, for the pensioners, especially the ones with tottering legs and decrepit bodies a nightmare.
If the authorities suspect some fraud of funds here and there by some pensioners, these can be easily signalled out without holding the entire community of pensioners to ransom. Single sinners should not be allowed to sink the boat.
The Minister known for his sensitivity to acts of travesty and possessing an acute sense of justice, is earnestly implored to take necessary measures to let the aggrieved pensioners of the State lead a life of dignity and peace of mind.
Yours etc…
Prof M L Raina
Janipur Jammu
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