The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare will hold its fifth nationwide Digital Life Certificate (DLC) campaign from November 1 to 30 in 2,000 cities and districts, according to a Press Information Bureau release. The department calls it the biggest such campaign yet.
Most pensioners must submit a life certificate every year to keep receiving their pension, and November is when many of them do it.
Face scan instead of a visit
The campaign focuses on face authentication, which lets a pensioner create a digital life certificate on an Android phone or an iPhone without visiting a bank or office. The Ministry of Electronics and IT and UIDAI will provide technical support.
Help on offer
- Camps run by pension-paying banks, India Post Payments Bank, pensioners' associations, EPFO, Railways, the defence accounts department, the telecom department and State governments.
- Doorstep service for pensioners who need it.
- Health check-ups and Aadhaar updates at camps.
- Grievance officers to resolve problems with certificates on the spot.
Large camps will be held in areas with many pensioners, attended by senior officials of the department.
Why it matters
A missed life certificate can stop a pension. Face authentication removes the need for elderly pensioners to travel or give fingerprints, which often fail with age. Pensioners can look out for the campaign's messages on Doordarshan, All India Radio and SMS, and under the hashtag #DLCCampaign5.