CHANDIGARH: Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema announced on Thursday that the registration of state pensioners on the newly launched Pensioner Sewa Portal will be completed within three months. The announcement was made during the inauguration of the three-day Pensioner Sewa Mela, held at the District Administrative Complex in SAS Nagar.
He also apprised the media that the fair 'Pension Sewa Mela', scheduled from November 13 to 15, is being organized across all districts of Punjab to assist pensioners with portal registration.
On the first day alone, over 5, 320 pensioners successfully registered on the portal all over the State. To ensure smooth registration, the Finance Minister assured that officials from the Finance Department and Pension Disbursing Banks will be present at all district-level events to resolve any technical issues on the spot. He emphasized that registration support would remain continuously available through District Treasury Offices, pension disbursing banks, Sewa Kendras, as well as home delivery services facilitated by the Sewa Kendras. Importantly, the Minister clarified that pension disbursements will continue uninterrupted, even if pensioners face technical difficulties during the registration process.
The Pensioner Sewa Portal, launched on November 3, aims to deliver comprehensive pension-related services directly to pensioners’ homes. Initially, the portal offers five key services including submission of Digital Life Certificate via the Jeevan Pramaan mobile app, Application for conversion of pension to family pension, Leave Travel Concession (LTC) requests, Registration of pension-related grievances, Updating or changing personal details.
The Minister clarified that Non-Resident Indian (NRI) pensioners are currently excluded from the initial rollout of the Pensioner Sewa Portal and will continue to submit their Life Certificates through existing procedures. He assured that comparable digital services will be introduced for NRI pensioners in the near future. To ensure prompt resolution of any issues following the portal’s launch, the Directorate of Treasuries and Accounts has set up a dedicated War Room for the Pension and New Pension Scheme. Furthermore, three helpline numbers have been activated to assist pensioners with queries and grievances: 1800-180-2148, 0172-2996385, 0172-2996386. These helplines operate from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on all working days.