1.3 crore pensioners generate digital life certificates during Centre's month-long campaign

New Delhi: A whopping 1.3 crore digital life certificates were generated during a month-long special campaign by the government to further simplify the process for pensioners across the country.

The Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) successfully concluded the digital life certificate (DLC) campaign 3.0 on November 30, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

It was launched to simplify digital life certificate submissions, particularly for super senior pensioners, it said.

The campaign is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the digital empowerment of pensioners and to further increase their ease of living, said V Srinivas, secretary of DoPPW.

"Under the leadership and guidance of Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, the DLC campaign 3.0 was India’s largest campaign held in 800 district headquarters with 1,900 camp locations and 1,100 nodal officers.

"An all-time high 130 lakh pensioners submitted their DLCs, with 39 lakh DLCs submitted through face authentication technology," Srinivas told PTI.

He said the State Bank of India reached a landmark of 11 lakh DLCs, Punjab National Bank 2.75 lakh DLCs, and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) 7.5 lakh DLCs.

Each of the 17 pension disbursing banks achieved over 40 per cent DLCs during the campaign, said Srinivas, a 1989 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Rajasthan cadre.

The campaign was a success because all stakeholders -- the Controller General of Defence Accounts, Railways, IPPB, banks, pensioners' welfare associations, Employees Provident Fund Organisation, and Unique Identification Authority of India came together to work for a collective cause, he added.

"The DLC is a boon for pensioners. It makes life easier and secure in old age. It was widely adopted across the nation in all states and districts," Srinivas said.

The campaign was the largest-ever campaign conducted for improving pensioners' welfare in India and it generated 1.3 crore DLCs, according to the statement.

This groundbreaking technology proved particularly beneficial for; elderly pensioners with faded fingerprints, differently-abled individuals facing mobility challenges, and pensioners living in rural and remote areas, it said.

Pensioners need to submit a life certificate annually for the continuation of their pension. Traditionally, these life certificates were submitted in physical mode only which was inconvenient for the pensioners.

In November 2014, an Aadhaar-based scheme for online submission of digital life certificates, Jeevan Pramaan, was launched by Modi to ensure transparency in the system and facilitate the pensioners to submit life certificates at their comfort, thus greatly enhancing their ease of living.

To promote Jeevan Pramaan, the nationwide DLC campaign 3.0 was conducted from November 1 to 30.

Focused efforts led to the submission of a substantial number of DLCs by pensioners aged 80 and above. More than 8 Lakh DLCs were submitted, the Personnel Ministry statement said.

The IPPB took the lead in delivering doorstep services for super senior pensioners, it added.

The campaign strived to achieve a saturation model, aimed at complete coverage across the country to ensure no pensioner was left behind, prioritising underserved populations, the statement said.

During the first DLC campaign in 2022, 37 cities were covered and 91 lakh life certificates were processed, it said, adding that 1.41 crore DLCs were generated by March 2023.

The DLC 2.0 campaign last year was expanded to 100 cities, generating 1.17 crore DLCs (1.47 crore DLCs by March 2024), the statement said.

The campaign achieved remarkable success with over 1.30 crore DLCs processed, as of November 30, building on previous campaigns, it said.

"By March 2025, it aims to achieve over 1.60 crore of DLC submissions," the statement said.