Delhi Old Age Pension applications that are pending will now have to be cleared within seven working days, according to a fresh direction from the Delhi government’s Social Welfare Department.
Applications that have already crossed the prescribed 45-day timeline will be given priority.
The department has also formed a six-member Quick Response Team (QRT) of welfare officers to speed up the disposal of pending applications and monitor the process.
Delhi Old Age Pension applications get 7-day deadline
The latest reminder directs officials to ensure that all pending old-age pension applications are disposed of within seven working days from the date of the new instruction.
District Social Welfare Officers have been asked to monitor pending applications at every stage on a daily basis.
The aim is to identify where applications are being delayed and ensure timely action.
The department had earlier issued directions on September 14 to clear pending applications.
However, a significant number of applications remained pending despite those instructions.
More than 30% applications still pending
According to the department’s earlier status report dated September 5, more than 50% of old-age pension applications had remained pending even after crossing the prescribed 45-day period.
A further order issued on September 16 led to the formation of the QRT for faster disposal. Despite these steps, more than 30% of applications were still reported to be pending.
The latest instructions therefore place greater emphasis on monitoring and faster verification so that applications do not remain stuck at different stages of the process.
Additional verifiers deployed for faster checks
The government has also allowed additional verifiers to be deployed in districts to speed up the verification of pending pension applications.
District Social Welfare Officers have been instructed to use these additional verifiers and monitor pending cases every day.
The department has made it clear that applications should not remain pending without a valid reason.
If an application remains pending beyond the prescribed timeline without justification, responsibility will be fixed on the concerned official or employee.
Action may be taken under the applicable rules, including provisions for penalties.
What the new pension deadline means
The latest instructions are focused on clearing the existing backlog of old-age pension applications rather than changing the eligibility conditions for the pension.
For elderly applicants whose applications have already crossed the 45-day timeline, priority in disposal is now part of the department’s latest instructions.
The QRT and additional verifiers are intended to help officials complete the pending verification and disposal process more quickly.
The seven-working-day direction applies to the disposal of pending applications from the date of the latest reminder. The department has also ordered daily monitoring to track progress and prevent unnecessary delays.
