Jeevan Pramaan: Revolutionizing Pensioner Life Certificates with Digital Technology

Pensioners are always a constituent of any country as massive and diverse as India, as their pension benefits provide them with the means to sustain their lifestyle. Whether they be former employees of the government, members of the armed forces or anybody else from the list of various public sector organizations, the proper apportioning of pensions among such citizens is regarded as one of the key responsibilities of the government towards its subjects. However, there is a huge hitch with the system Life Certificate that pensioners need to get renewed every year for the Pension Disbursing Agencies. This procedure is crucial but cumbersome for the elderly and infirm pensioners or those who have shifted to some other region after retirement.

This, the Government of India has managed by Jeevan Pramaan: A biometric-enabled digital service. Jeevan Pramaan allows pensioners to make it easy to get their Life Certificates, saves them precious time, and ensures a regular and timely flow of pensions to them. Let's now dive into how Jeevan Pramaan works, its benefits for pensioners, and how it is transforming the way pensioners interact with the government to receive timely pensions.

What is Jeevan Pramaan?

Jeevan Pramaan is a government initiative wherein pensioners can submit their Life Certificate online hassle-free. The service makes use of the Aadhaar authentication through biometry, wherein the identity of the pensioner gets authenticated in the most secure manner possible. Once authenticated, a DLC is generated and can then be stored centrally in the Life Certificate Repository, which can thereafter be accessed online by any Pension Disbursing Agencies like banks, post offices etc.

The traditional filing of life certificates was cumbersome, requiring personal visits by pensioners to the respective PDAs or the place of an earlier posting. This would be inconvenient more so for aged, infirm, or immobile pensioners and those who have shifted residence after retirement. All these hassles in the filing process are obviated with Jeevan Pramaan. Pensioners can obtain and submit their digital life certificates.

Why Jeevan Pramaan is Important for Pensioners

The Life Certificate, therefore, is a document pensioners must have as it is proof of the existence of the pensioner. Under a valid Life Certificate, the pension payment would not likely be interrupted or delayed, thereby causing hardship to the pensioner. Traditionally, a pensioner had to be physically presented before the disbursing agency or through a representative to submit the certificate. Such practices sometimes created logistical challenges, mainly for retirees who either fell on the fringes or were old, unhealthy, or low-income.

With Jeevan Pramaan, pensioners now have an easy, digital convenient alternative to this traditional method. Some of the key benefits of Jeevan Pramaan are:

• Convenience and Accessibility: Pensioners can retrieve and submit their Life Certificates from anywhere with internet access, whether at their home or in some other place. This is particularly helpful for aged pensioners, handicapped ones, or even those residing in some remote corner.

• Time-Saving: The procedure takes less time and one doesn't waste too much time travelling to the Pension Disbursing Agency or similar offices.

• Reduced Paperwork: The digital format saves paper, thereby making the process eco-friendly and relieving administrative overhead.

• Security and Authentication: Through the use of the Aadhaar platform for biometric authentication, this process ensures the utmost security and safety and the prevention of fraudulent claims.

How Does Jeevan Pramaan Work?

Jeevan Pramaan creates and authenticates the Life Certificate of the pensioner in an easy and secure step-by-step method. Here's how it is done:

1. Life Certificate Generation

The generation of the Life Certificate is the first step of the Jeevan Pramaan process. Pensioners can download the mobile application or PC software of Jeevan Pramaan or even make their way to the nearest Jeevan Pramaan Centre (JPC) to get themselves registered. To register, a pensioner has to provide some key details:

• Aadhaar Number

• Pension Payment Order (PPO) number

• Bank Account Number

• Bank Name

• Mobile Number

Once the pensioner does this, they are now ready for biometric authentication.

2. Aadhaar Biometric Authentication

It is on the Aadhaar platform that it will be used to authenticate through biometric detection. Here, the pensioner will be required to provide biometric data that could be any form of a fingerprint scanner or iris sensor. Such biometric data is then matched against the Aadhaar database, thereby establishing his identity.

The fingerprint scanner or iris sensor protects the authentication process in such a way that only for the right pensioner would the Life Certificate be generated. Forgery or impersonation did not pose a problem with the manual submission of a Life Certificate.

3. Certificate Generation and Access

Once the pensioner successfully authenticates, he receives an SMS acknowledgement along with his unique Jeevan Pramaan Certificate ID. That means the Life Certificate has been generated and stored in the Life Certificate Repository correctly.

The Digital Life Certificate is now downloadable from the website or mobile application of Jeevan Pramaan, and pensioners can do it themselves. The certificate is available in real-time. Pensioners can log in according to their requirements.

4. Storage and Availability

Therefore, the so-developed Life Certificate is stored safely in the Life Certificate Repository, which at the same time gives both the pensioners' and the Pension Disbursing Agencies easy access to the certificate that, if and whenever needed, can be drawn back to such certificate for verification of the existence of a pensioner at any given point in time without again getting the hassle of obtaining a new certificate each time.

5. Pension Disbursing Agency Access

Once it is generated and then stored in the repository, the Life Certificate can be accessed online by the Pension Disbursing Agency. This may be a bank or a post office. This certificate can now be downloaded by the PDA using the pensioner's Jeevan Pramaan Certificate ID and then the payment of pension may be processed accordingly without a problem of submission of physical certificates in person.

6. Electronic Delivery (E-Delivery)

While providing the facility for online access to Life Certificates by the PDAs, Jeevan Pramaan also allows the electronic delivery of the Life Certificate to the PDA, completely freeing up the process from any manual intervention. Under the Jeevan Pramaan team, the PDA can work together to establish an e-delivery system wherein the Life Certificate would directly get delivered into the agency's system without any delay thereby ensuring a seamless and automatic pension disbursal process.