Retirement issue is to be handled with social mindset – says Dr. Jitendra Singh
There are approximately 40,000 fresh retirees every year from the
Central Government Civil establishments alone. This number could be
close to 1,00,000 including defense, railways, posts and telecom. In
addition there is a pool of around 50 lakh existing pensioners. This
group of personnel can, by and large, offer greater maturity, experience
and stability. With improved living conditions and the best of medical
facilities, most of these retiring government employees would be capable
of putting in a good 5-7 years of active service.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
25-June-2014 21:25 IST
MoS (Personnel) Dr. Jitendra Singh addresses pre-retirement counseling programme
The retirement issue is to be handled with social mindset – says Dr. Jitendra Singh
The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare conducted a
pre-retirement counseling for retirees here today. Addressing the
concluding session the Minister of State for Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pension Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the issue of
retirement is to be handled with social mindset. The MoS stated that the
society should feel good about it. He stated that the issue is too
large to handle by the government itself and hoped that social
organization should come forward to help.
The Department of Pensions has institutionalised regular conduct of
pre-retirement Counseling workshops. These workshops target retiring
personnel two to two-and-a-half years before the retirement date. Topics
covered are (i) Formalities to be covered for timely payment of
retirement dues (ii) Financial planning for the amounts received at
retirement (iii) Preparation of Will (iv) CGHS facilities after
retirement and (v) Post-retirement opportunities through Sankalp.
The “Sankalp’ programme has been initiated by the Department
towards this end and a web portal of the same name has also been
launched. Pensioners, Pensioner Associations and NGOs can register on
the website http//www.pensionersportal.gov.in/sankalp.
Recognising the fact that a retiring government employee is very
often unprepared to face the fact that he may be without a daily routine
and a meaningful existence the day after he retires, the Government is
looking for ways to engage the retired employees in meaningful social
work.
There are approximately 40,000 fresh retirees every year from the
Central Government Civil establishments alone. This number could be
close to 1,00,000 including defense, railways, posts and telecom. In
addition there is a pool of around 50 lakh existing pensioners. This
group of personnel can, by and large, offer greater maturity, experience
and stability. With improved living conditions and the best of medical
facilities, most of these retiring government employees would be capable
of putting in a good 5-7 years of active service. Further, the
financial requirements are by and large taken care of by the regular
monthly pension payments which are also inflation indexed. What that
hurts is a sense of not being wanted anymore and the lack of a daily
routine.
Realising the potential of such a large section of experienced,
capable and productive workforce, the Department of Pensions and
Pensioners’ Welfare has conceptualised such pre-retirement counseling
sessions for retirees. This serves as a platform for exchange of
information between retiring employees and voluntary or other
organisations working towards building society looking for expertise,
skill and maturity which can be offered by these retired government
servants. The forum will serve to facilitate matching of broad
parameters of geographical location and basic skills/ expertise
required/ available. Both employees and organisations will have to
register on to this portal.
Another possibility is to bring together groups of like-minded
pensioners /Pensioners’ Associations and the ministries which are
looking for concurrent audit or evaluation of development schemes being
implemented all over the country.
The stakeholders identified for the project are:
Supply side:
a) Pensionersb) Pensioners Associations identified by the Department involved in pensioners welfareDemand side:a) Organisations involved in Social welfare projectsb) Government Departments having Social welfare schemesc) Indian Institute of Corporate affairs for CSR activitiesd) Corporate-Public and Private with CSR funds
Source: PIB News
