Uttar Pradesh Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, on Wednesday, said that the government would ensure resolution of all the issues facing pensioners, including timely and error-free payment of pension to them.

Inaugurating the new building of the Pension Directorate within the premises of the Institute of Financial Management Training and Research in Indira Nagar, Lucknow, Khanna said that it would help in enhancing facilities for pensioners of the state.

“Ensuring timely disbursement of pensions to pensioners should be our top priority. Pensioners must not face any kind of trouble. We have got the opportunity to serve the elderly and we must perform our duty,” he added.

On the financial administration through the district treasuries, the finance minister asked the treasury officers to develop a fool-proof mechanism to ensure that there are no errors in the pensions provided to pensioners or their dependents and the designated amounts are paid on right time to the right beneficiaries.

“We must avoid complications like recovery due to incorrect disbursement,” he pointed out.

The Pension Directorate was established on June 2, 1988, for reforms in pension administration and for expediting the process of pension fixation and payment. The objective of the directorate is to settle the pension cases of government employees within the state instead of at the office of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

Until now, the directorate was functioning from the eighth floor of Indira Bhawan, but due to insufficient space for document preservation and record-keeping, it has been relocated to the campus of the Institute of Financial Management Training and Research. The renovation of this administrative building has been carried out by the Public Works Department at a cost of Rs 1 crore.

Currently, the directorate is handling the pension cases of officers in the Group A category, members of various commissions, and employees of agricultural universities and technical colleges including the Khadi Board. Besides, in case of death of personnel covered under the National Pension System while serving, there is a provision to sanction family pension to their dependents based on their option.

So far, the Pension Directorate has undertaken the resolution of pension cases of more than 81,000 employees. Presently, action is being taken to issue an online pension authorisation letter through e-Pension system.