Old Age Pension Punjab: How to apply, Eligibility and status

Senior Citizens are considered as the treasure of the nation. After decades of their hard work and contribution to society, it is now the country’s turn to take care of them. With a view to helping senior citizens financially, the central government in association with the state has introduced a scheme known as Indra Gandhi Old age Pension Scheme. Under this scheme, the eligible senior individuals are given a certain amount of money every month for their necessities.

The department of social security services is in charge of pension in the state of Punjab. With a view to streamlining financial aid to the weaker sections of the society, the pension scheme was started.

How to apply for the old age pension?

The individual who is entitled to the old age pension can either apply for the same online or offline.

Under the offline procedure

• The application form for old age pension can be downloaded by visiting the official website http://punjab.gov.in/e-forms and click on the old age pension PDF form.
• The application form has to be submitted along with supporting documents like Aadhar card, Voter ID, ration card, birth certificate or BPL card along with passport size photos of the candidate.
• After downloading the form, fill in all the details as requested such as name, age, gender and address. Submit the completed form to be certified by Sarpanch, Panchayat member in rural areas and by Municipal Councilor in an urban area. However, as per new criteria laid by the state, this procedure has been removed. Now a self-declaration by the applying individual is sufficient.
• The form once certified will be sent to the DSSO office of the concerned department, who shall be entitled to approve the same.
• Once the application form is approved and the party is found to be eligible the pension amount will be released, which would be awarded to the candidate on a monthly basis.

Under Online procedure

• The application form for the old age pension can also be found online, that can be filled and submitted. The link to the online application is http://punjab.gov.in/eform/login.xhtml. You can log in using the id and password. And for new users click on the user registration link and fill the details for registration.
• On successfully completing the login procedure, click on the service you want to apply.
• A new tab will open up, in this page click on application form online link. Complete the form by providing correct details as to name, age, gender, address, and etc.
• Check the details and click on submit button. Then click on view saved the application form and select your filled application form to upload the supporting documents like Aadhar Card.
• Upload the documents and click on submit for verification of the form.

Eligibility Criteria for an old age pension

The scheme was introduced to provide aid and assistance to destitute and needy senior citizens. Hence the eligibility criteria to apply for old age pension are as follows:

• The person applying for the pension under the scheme must be a permanent resident of the state of Punjab.
• The applicant must fall under the prescribed criteria for BPL (below poverty line). The whole objective of the scheme is to help the weaker section of the society, hence it is a priority to provide financial aid to those senior citizens who belong to BPL category as laid down by the state.
• The age of the applicant is the next important criteria to be eligible for old age pension under the scheme. As per the rules followed in the state of Punjab the required age for men and women to avail the pension is 60 and 58 respectively.
• The last but not the least requirement for being eligible to get the pension is that the applicant should not receive any financial assistance or pension from central or any state government under the scheme.

As per the new notification issued by the government, the eligible applicants in the state of Punjab would receive 500 rupees as pension amount form the state government instead of 250 rupees. The pension amount will be credited to the bank account of the applicant in an urban area and issued through panchayat in rural areas.

How to check the status?

To know the pension application status visits the official webpage of E- District Sewa by entering the application number. Link for E – district Sewa – http://punjab.gov.in/eform/edastatus.xhtml