New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh on Tuesday interacted with representatives of various pensioners’ associations and chaired the 35th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) in New Delhi.
SCOVA was constituted in 1986 by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare to institutionalise coordination between the government and pensioners’ associations.
The committee functions under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, with the Secretary of the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare serving as its secretary.
The committee includes 15 non-official members representing pensioners’ welfare associations, along with officials from various ministries and departments. It provides a platform for associations to raise issues related to pensioners’ welfare and discuss them with concerned authorities.
Representatives of pensioners’ associations from Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Gujarat attended the meeting.
Senior officials from ministries and departments, including Health and Family Welfare, Railways, Department of Expenditure, Department of Financial Services, Department of Telecommunications and others also participated and discussed issues related to pensioners’ welfare and grievance redressal.
The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) coordinates with ministries and departments of the Government of India to frame pension-related policies and address grievances of central government pensioners.
The department also works closely with pensioners’ welfare associations representing lakhs of pensioners across the country to ensure participatory consultation on welfare measures.
The minister said the active participation of senior citizens helps the government improve systems and strengthen service delivery for pensioners.
“The vibrant participation and suggestions of senior citizens help us refine existing systems and practices for better service delivery,” Singh said, appreciating the constructive inputs from pensioners’ associations and officials from different government departments.
He noted that such meetings are increasingly becoming a productive bridge between the government and pensioners, unlike earlier years when discussions often ended without concrete outcomes.
Singh emphasised that the experience and suggestions of senior citizens play an important role in improving governance and encouraged pensioners’ associations to offer policy suggestions beyond grievance-related issues.
The meeting is expected to further strengthen coordination between the government and pensioners’ associations and contribute to improving the ease of living for central government pensioners.
