OLD AGE PENSION TO FAMILY PENSIONERS WHO ATTAIN AGE OF 80 YEARS FROM JANUARY OF NEXT YEAR

Dear Smt Damayanthi Garu,

1. I hate to send you mails every day. But problems keep pouring in to me and requests are made to approach you. Since you take timely action on my mails, I am tempted to approach you whenever I get a new problem.
2. This problem I intend to bring to your kind notice is about old age pension of family pensioners (widows). The date of birth is endorsed in the PPO of soldier but only year of birth is mentioned for the family pensioner. Banks do not pay her old age pension when she attains the age of 80 years on the ground that her date of birth is not endorsed. I am sensitizing the ESM fraternity to get date of birth of spouse endorsed while they are still alive. But all are not on internet and do not have access to computers / laptops / phablets / tablets / smart phones with internet connection. It is only retired Officers who have these facilities as most of them are settled in places where you have internet facility. Service HQs have taken steps to educate pensioners both soldiers and family pensioners to get date of birth of spouse endorsed in the form of Corr PPO.Yet lakhs of ESMs have not got the date of birth of spouse endorsed due to unawareness of such a requirement. The state of family pensioners can well be imagined.
3. Madam, the problems is compounded when the lady has lost her husband. Officers' wives being educated are capable of managing to get their date of birth endorsed in Corr PPO by taking help of fellow regimental officers. But what I am bringing to your notice is about 5 lakhs widows of JCOs and OR who are mostly illiterate and do not know anything about pensions. They do not even know that they are eligible for 20% more pension + DR when they attain age of 80 years.To expect them to get their Date of Birth endorsed in Corr PPO is asking for the Moon. With the help of local ESM Associations some are being helped out. But this is not a satisfactory solution.
3. It may take another five to ten years when most of them will come to know of the requirement of endorsing date of birth of spouse in the form of Corr PPO. In the meantime, I request you to advise banks to pay old age pension from January of next year of the family pensioner when she attains 80 years by seeing the year of birth in the PPO of her deceased husband. For example by Jan 2016 a lady whose year of birth mentioned in PPO as 1935 is eligible to get her old age pension as she would have put in 80 years by December 2015. She can be paid old age pension by banks from January 2016 till the time her actual date of birth is notified in Corr PPO. Insistence of banks for date of birth is unfair and uncalled for.
4. I am extremely sorry to trouble you but your action to intimate banks to pay old age pension from January of next year when she attains age of 80 years as explained in para 3 will help many family pensioners to get their additional old age pension.
Utmost and profound regards,
Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd)
9493191380