Buoyed by the latest government decision promising time-bound delivery of services under the e-Service Level Agreement (e-SLA), NGOs working for senior citizens have demanded that ‘old age pension’ be included under its ambit. “Hundreds of Delhi’s destitute and poor older persons, eligible for old age pension and other social assistance services, cannot avail these due to non-availability of specific instructions to authorities concerned and non-cooperation from government departments,” said Himanshu Rath of NGO Agewell India.
Many older persons who have finally succeeded in filing their applications have no idea about the status of their applications for old age pension. “So we appeal to the Delhi government to include the process of old age pension under the e-SLA project,” he said.
“There are other problems too which need to be brought under e-SLA,” said Ritu Mehra, from NGO Pardarshita. “Several times, it has come to our notice that a person stops getting pension after two consecutive years of receiving it. The e-SLA scheme can bring in accountability for all such problems,” Mehra added.
