Urban Mirror Correspondent
New Delhi, May 15 Even as the Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its judgement on Adhaar card issue, the central government has made it clear that Aadhaar card is not mandatory for central government employees to get their pension. The apex court after long hearing has last week reserved its judgement in the case.
However the union minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh has reportedly said that this facility has been provided to the people to enable them to use technology for annual submission of life certificate without visiting their respective banks.
Addressing a meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies here recently, the minister said that Aadhaar has not been made mandatory for getting pension for government employees. The minister’s clarification has assumed significance as there were reports of some retired employees facing difficulty in getting the pension in the absence of Aadhaar linkage with their bank accounts. Aadhaar is a 12-digit number, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), that acts as identification and address proof. There are about 48.41 lakh central government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners.
The minister also pointed out various initiatives started by the central government for the welfare of its employees and pensioners. “For instance, minimum pension has been increased to Rs 9,000, ceiling of gratuity has been increased to Rs 20 lakh, fixed medical allowance has been increased to Rs 1,000 per month,” the minister said. “Constant attendance allowance has been increased from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,750 with effect from July 1, 2017. Some benefits relating to income-tax e.g. standard deduction, tax-rebate etc. on interest made available in the Finance Bill, 2018,” he said.
