J&K launches portal to ease pension approval process for govt employees

Srinagar, May 6 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday launched the Pension Suvidha portal, marking a significant step towards digitising the pension sanctioning process for government employees.

The CM launched the portal at the Civil Secretariat here.

Developed by the Finance Department, J&K, in collaboration with the National Informatics Center (NIC), and the Principal Accountant General (A&E), J&K, the portal marks a significant step towards digitizing the pension sanctioning process for government employees, an official spokesman said.

"Whatever we can do to simplify the retirement process and post-retirement of our employees, I think that is a responsibility that lies on our shoulders. Employees who have served J&K and its people for long years, they deserve a simplified process. And the more we do for our employees, I think the more we need to appreciate it," the chief minister said.

Abdullah said the process of pensioners' verification also needs to be made pensioner-friendly as every year pensioners have to prove that they are alive and have to submit various documents and to visit offices in person.

"So this initiative, I think, is something that all employees will appreciate," he said.

The portal, he said, also covers ex-legislators who are pensioners. "So my suggestion would be that together with the Assembly Secretariat, some sort of briefing material can be sent out to all the ex-legislators, so that they are aware of this change and how better to utilize it." Acknowledging the challenges faced by employees nearing retirement, he noted that the last few months of service are often consumed by paperwork.

He emphasised that more often than not, efforts are made to post such employees close to Srinagar or Jammu to ease their transition.

"With this initiative, I believe that process will be simplified. Now, going ahead, what we must always try and do is to ensure that employees get their dues on time," he said.

The chief minister also pointed out that timely disbursement of dues, such as GP fund, is a recurring concern among employees.

"So for that, in the Finance Department, we are working closely to ensure that these sort of issues are resolved. But generally, clearly, the initiative that has been taken today, I think, is a welcome one," he said.

The portal supports the digitisation of pension records for 2,40,000 pensioners under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

According to an official spokesman, objectives of the portal include streamlining and digitising pension processing, enhancing efficiency and transparency, reducing paperwork, reconciling pension disbursement with banks, and enabling real-time tracking of pension application status.

Key features of the portal include early SMS and email alerts issued eight months before an employee's retirement, online application submission with required document uploads, and integration with JKHRMS and JKPaySys for service and salary details. It is also linked with the offices of the Accountant General and J&K Bank for seamless electronic data exchange.

The portal facilitates the issuance of PPOs (pension payment orders), provides post-retirement services tracking, and supports online KYC updates and the use of Jeevan Pramaan for life certificate submission. PTI SSB HVA

Source: PTI