Defence ministry urges pensioners TO COMPLETE ANNUAL IDENTIFICATION

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Defence requested the defence pensioners to complete their annual identification by May 25 to ensure smooth processing of monthly pension.

It has been noticed that 43,774 defence pensioners — who have migrated to online pension disbursal system SPARSH — have not completed their annual identification, neither online nor through their respective banks, according to the the ministry. “Further, for legacy pensioners (pre-2016 retirees) who continue to be on the old system of pension, it is informed that nearly 1.2 lakh pensioners have not completed their annual identification through any of the means available,” it added.

At the beginning of this month, the disbursement of monthly pensions to 58,275 defence pensioners was delayed as their banks could not confirm their annual identification by April 30.