Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh today said that over 25 lakh people have adopted face authentication to generate their Digital Life Certificate. Dr Singh said this while addressing the launch of 4th Nationwide Digital Life Certificate Campaign in New Delhi. The minister said the campaign is a unique opportunity for digital empowerment of pensioners, aligned with Digital India.
He said, biometric was used earlier to generate these certificates, but for pensioners aged 75 and above, it may not be reliable. Dr Singh added that about 2200 pensioners aged over 100 years are drawing their last drawn salary as pension. Out of the 25 lakh retirees, who are using face authentication, over 30 thousand beneficiaries are over 90 years of age. He said that the figures exhibit that more and more people are now adopting modern technology.
He further added that the use of face authentication to generate digital life certificate is not just about ease of delivering pension, but about change in social and economic behaviour and making use of the available technology. He said that the initiative has drawn interest from foreign countries including Mongolia and Maldives. The Minister said that delegations of civil servants visited the country to study and understand India’s citizen-centric policies such as Digital Life Certificate and CPGRAMS.
He also informed that the campaign will run till the end of this month. The minister also launched a booklet and short film on the campaign.
