An initiative to issue Digital Life Certificate (DLC) to the pensioners through India Posts is a big hit in Telangana with the State standing second in the country by successfully uploading the details of as many as 29,167 retired employees and generating online Jeevan Praman certificates.
During the course of the intensive doorstep services rendered by the Telangana circle, several pensioners were able to get their DLCs without hassle.
Take for example the case of a retired government employee Ramagiri Rajaiah of Timmapur village in Jannaram mandal of Mancherial district. Rajaiah met with an accident and suffered fractures and was all at sea as the deadline to obtain the Life Certificate to continue drawing the pension was approaching fast.
Unable to step out of the house, Rajaiah got information about the DLC facility and sent a word to the nearest post-office.
No sooner was the service request made, Gram Dak Sevak of Jannaram sub-office Jadhav Kiran rushed to his house and in less than 10 minutes the process was completed. Similarly, Samala Lakshmi Narayana of Timmapur was also lucky. Bed-ridden and unable to walk, Narayana’s friend in Mancherial town alerted the postal staff about his plight. Sahadeva Rao, the branch post-master of Timmapur branch post-office personally went to Narayana’s house and issued the DLC.
Another example of how the postal staff patiently helped the pensioners despite difficulty in obtaining the fingerprints. Postman Mahesh of Chennur Sub-Office tried all means for 40 minutes to obtain the biometrics of pensioner Susarla Kamala Bai, but in vain. During the last attempt, he was able to get the fingerprints successfully.
So was the case of Vittal Rao Kulkarni, a retired VRO of Bhainsa in Nirmal district, who too got his DLC online.
The service by the postal department was such a hit that in Wanaparthy area, it was like pensioners themselves giving leads to postmen on one side as well as telling their pensioner friends about DLC service at doorstep through postmen.
In Nirmal, Armoor, Kamareddy, Nizamabad areas large number of beedi and EPFO pensioners were covered. Nirmal branch worked hard even on Sundays to get first-mover advantage in the first week of November particularly before commencement of Asara pension payments where postal staff become busy with pension payments.
The details of inclusion of DLC scheme through IPPB device were popularised through local newspapers, print media. Poster, pamphlets regarding details of this scheme was displayed in every branch office, sub office and head office.
The delivery staff were directed to attend to every bed-ridden pensioners to enrol DLC.
Dr P.V.S. Reddy, Post-Master General, Hyderabad region, Telangana circle, whose jurisdiction covers postal services in 27 districts of the State told The Hindu on Sunday that staff from IPPB and post-offices worked in excellent coordination with great team spirit and reached out to pensioners proactively.
“It’s basically an outreach programme by our teams letting people know as well as making people use the unique service,” he said adding that one issue faced by the staff was matching of biometrics of senior citizens and pensioners.
Due to old age, fingerprints get worn out and it is a hard task for both the department as well as pensioners. “With patience and persistence, our staff got over,” Dr. Reddy pointed out.
Dr. Reddy said that the experience of successfully taking DLC services to the doorstep of people has served as a useful template for ushering in new team work between century-old post-offices and newly created IPPB in 2018. Nizamabad, Nirmal and Kamareddy branches of India Posts stood out in issuing DLCs. Nizamabad branch, in particular, put extra efforts to stand first with 3,521 among the districts in Hyderabad region in getting DLCs of pensioners uploaded till November 30.