Smart pension scheme for pensioners

By Lakshme Parasuraman

The Pensions Department has launched a smart pension scheme for retired senior citizens to empower them economically with the help of information technology said Director General of the Pensions Department, Sunil Hettiarachi.

The Government pays Rs 10 billion for approximately 543,552 retired senior citizens every month and retirees increase by two thousand every month the Director General said.

"Our aim is to relieve pensioners of the hassle of collecting their pensions and making it easy for them by providing them their money home which makes it easy, without them having to go to banks to collect their pensions", he said.

Private sector technology companies and mobile companies have come forward to provide iPods' and touch phones.

A Rs. one million under an easy loan payment scheme will be available for pensioners to enable them to purchase iphones or computers and easily access the internet and get to know details of their bank balance and pay bills with the touch of the screen, from home.

Meanwhile, the Pensions Department has set up a website which has details of retired citizens' experience of services and talent so that their services can be made use of for human resources. It includes photographs as well.

The Director General said a number of local private sector and international companies have requested him for human resource personnel, who have retired from the government service.

"Unfortunately, at the moment we are not ready to provide details of experience and ability of our retired citizens.

We have decided to collect these details from their work places from next January. We can then speed up setting up the website which will then provide many vacancies from local and international companies for pensioners to earn extra money", he said.

"Though retirement is at the age of 60, our citizens have the capacity to provide excellent services and share their experience up to 80 years," he said.

"We have taken steps to avoid delay," he said. "We have launched a special digital identity card which contains the details of the pensioners and this is to be implemented from January," he said.

"In the near future we will provide special discounts on bus and rail fares to pensioners.

The Police Department is giving us the fullest cooperation by apprehending culprits who cheat e pensioners of their remuneration, which is their legal due . Now we save Rs. 70 million per year," he said.

"We are in the process of connecting all 328 divisional secretariats via network, to complete the work then and there so I can promise that in future there won't be a long delay in proceedings". He requested pensioners who go abroad for a period or as migrants to notify the Department and declare the forms to be filled to avoid inconvenience.

Nearly 6,800 Sri Lankans living abroad get their pensions via bank accounts or through Sri Lankan embassies. He pointed out that nearly 200 pensioners have transferred their pensions for social service projects such as to Elders Home, Orphanages and the Cancer Hospitals.

He recalled a recent incident where a pensioner above the age of 65 had given requested to stop his pension because he has started a small business and the income was sufficient for him and his wife.

For complaints regarding to the Pensions Department he requested the public not to hesitate to lodge a complaint it the complaint box in www.pension.gov.lk or to the hot line 1979 and he assured that immediate action will be taken.