GUWAHATI, FEB 23: Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh stated Monday that development and peace reinforce each other—peace accelerates growth, while development bolsters stability—during a Pre-Retirement Counselling workshop in Guwahati, Assam. Organized by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare with Assam government support, the event drew senior officials, bank representatives like SBI, and retiring employees, marking the second such program this year.
Highlighting the Northeast’s decade-long overhaul, Singh noted pre-2014 visitors would marvel at upgrades: Guwahati-Shillong roads, rail expansion to new states, fresh airports, iconic bridges like Bhupen Hazarika, and better security. He credited PM Modi’s frequent visits for mainstreaming the region through hands-on oversight.
Amid rising life expectancy swelling pensioner ranks, Singh explained the PRC initiative harnesses retirees’ prime vitality for nation-building, rejecting their sidelining at 60. Over 10 years, citizen-focused reforms digitized processes, slashing delays from NOC hassles and paperwork.
CCS Pension Rules now feature a single digital form, shedding colonial relics. Key changes include family pensions for single/divorced daughters sans legal delays, pre-10-year service deaths, and shortened waits for missing employees’ families—vital in once-troubled areas.
Digital Life Certificates via face recognition aid lakhs of elderly at home, alongside Bhavishya portal, unified bank windows, Pension Adalats, and bolstered welfare associations resolving decades-old cases. Singh urged retirees as Viksit Bharat stakeholders, confident PRC will guide purposeful post-career lives while tapping their expertise.
