Digital Pension Revolution: 1 Crore Certificates Issued Amid Nationwide Push

The campaign, running from November 1 to November 30, across 2000 cities and towns covering 2,540 locations across the country, has conducted 35,000 DLC camps by November 12, an official statement said.

As many as 75,000 additional camps will be organised by November 30 to ensure nationwide saturation, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions said.

Of the one crore DLCs issued so far, 58 per cent of them or 59,13,073 certificates, were generated through face authentication and 7 lakh DLCs were issued to pensioners aged 80 years and above.

This has brought significant ease and dignity to elderly, sick and incapacitated pensioners, the ministry said.

The face authentication technique can be carried out easily through smartphones, "anytime, anywhere", enabling easy DLC submission by pensioners and is particularly useful for aged and sick pensioners who do not have to visit any bank or pension disbursing authority.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Personnel/DoPT/DARPG, Dr Jitendra Singh, said this milestone reflects the Prime Minister’s vision of Digital Empowerment of Pensioners.

The minister said that the government converted a long-standing challenge into an opportunity by adopting biometric and face authentication technologies that eliminate the need for physical presence.

All major stakeholders, including pension disbursing banks, DoPPW, CGDA, railways, DoT, Department of Posts, IPPB, UIDAI, NIC and pensioners’ welfare associations are collaborating in a whole‑of‑government approach to maximise outreach to remote areas, the minister said.

DLC 4.0 crossed the one crore milestone earlier than DLC 3.0, indicating rapid digital adoption among pensioners, the release noted.

The department is on track to achieve a two crore saturation target for 2025 with extensive field mobilisation, it noted.

- IANS