BHAVISHYA - Promoting Digital Empowerment and Ease of Living for Pensioners

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Context

• The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DOPPW) introduced ‘Bhavishya’, a centralized pension processing software.

Details

• ‘Bhavishya’, a centralized pension processing software aims to tackle delays and clerical errors in pension processing.
• This system also helps reduce financial loss and harassment for pensioners.
• Bhavishya streamlines pension processing across all central government Ministries and Departments.

Implementation and Adoption

• Since January 1, 2017, Bhavishya has been mandatory for all central civil Ministries and Departments.
• By August 14, 2024, 99 Ministries/Departments, 1,020 Offices, and 8,320 Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) have adopted it.
• The system has issued 250,845 Pension Payment Orders (PPOs).
• It unifies stakeholders on a single platform and follows the CCS Pension Rules, 2021.

Recognition

• Bhavishya is ranked 3rd best in the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) 2021.
• This ranking reflects its effectiveness and efficiency.

Best Practices

• Auto Registration of Retirees: Bhavishya integrates with payroll systems to auto-fill basic data of retiring employees. It provides Management Information System (MIS) reports to departments and DOPPW about upcoming retirements.
• Self-Registration: Stakeholders, including DDOs, Heads of Offices (HOOs), and Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs), can self-register on the platform.
• Self-filling of Pension Forms: Retirees complete their pension forms themselves, simplifying the process.
• Strict Timelines: Bhavishya enforces strict deadlines for each stage of pension processing. The process starts online 15 months before retirement. Automated alerts help pensioners and stakeholders meet deadlines.
• Transparency and Accountability: The system ensures transparency and accountability. It makes it easy to identify delays and assign responsibility.
• Automatic Calculation of Retirement Benefits: Bhavishya provides accurate pension calculations across all Ministries and Departments. It reduces manual intervention and grievances.
• Real-Time Updates: Pensioners receive real-time updates through email and SMS alerts. These updates cover every action related to pension processing, up to the initial credit of their pension into their bank accounts.
• e-PPO Integration: Bhavishya links with the PFMS module of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). It enables the issuance of electronic PPOs (e-PPOs). These e-PPOs are transmitted from the Ministry/Department’s PAO to the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) and can be viewed online by the paying branch.
• End-to-End Digitization: Bhavishya ensures a paperless process with encrypted data transfer.
• Digilocker Integration: e-PPOs are automatically uploaded to the retiree's Digilocker account. This provides anytime, anywhere access without logging into Bhavishya.
• Pensioners Identity Card: Bhavishya issues pensioners' identity cards.
• Bank Integration: The software connects with various bank pension portals. It offers post-retirement services such as Form-16, pension slips, life certificate status, and arrears statements.

Impact

• 83% of Superannuation PPOs are issued either before retirement or within 30 days.
• This improvement greatly enhances efficiency and reduces processing times.

READ ABOUT OLD PENSION SCHEME VS NEW PENSION SCHEME: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/old-pension-scheme-vs-new-pension-scheme

READ ABOUT NPS VATSALYA: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/nps-vatsalya

READ ABOUT DIGILOCKER: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/digilocker#:~:text=DigiLocker%20is%20a%20digital%20platform,various%20government%20agencies%20and%20departments.

READ ABOUT National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA): https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/nesda-portal 

PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Recently, 'Bhavishya' was in the news. What is it? a) A new educational initiative for underprivileged children b) A centralized pension processing software c) An advanced weather forecasting system d) A digital health record management system   Answer: b) A centralized pension processing software

SOURCE: PIB