Rs 18 crore pending pension arrears released under Army Medical Service's campaign

New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Pending-pension arrears totalling over Rs 18 crore were disbursed during a special campaign organised by the Director General Medical Services (Army), an official said on Tuesday.

Lt Gen Sadhna Saxena Nair, Directorate General of Medical Service (Army), said, “Many veterans and their families had no idea they were owed arrears due to legacy system gaps. We have reached out, verified, and ensured what is rightfully theirs has been returned.”

The Medical Personnel Record Section Officers [MPRS(O)] undertook an initiative to resolve pension anomalies affecting veterans, spouses and next of kin of officers from the Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Services, said the official in a statement.

As part of this effort, more than Rs 18 crore in pending pension arrears have been disbursed with a substantial increase in monthly pensions, it said.

The initiative has addressed overdue cases related to Liberalised Family Pension (LFP), Special Family Pension (SFP), monetary rewards for Gallantry awards, and One Rank One Pension (OROP) revisions. Veterans, widows and family members are encouraged to verify their status through the SPARSH portal or by contacting MPRS(O) via Defence Pension Liaison Centres.

The focus was on the resolution of anomalies in pension classifications, rates, and categories, especially for families entitled under LFP, SFP, and OROP, the statement said.

Over Rs 18 crore were disbursed to rightful beneficiaries, with the Identification of Unaware Beneficiaries through a compassionate outreach campaign that identified and contacted veterans and families who were previously unaware of their dues, it said.

Personalised Assistance Desks were set up at liaison cells of CDA Pune and CDA Allahabad so as to assist families with documentation and facilitate faster disbursement.

In addition, Digital Transparency was introduced for Real-time status updates and grievance redressal mechanisms.

Earlier, under the government’s flagship ‘Swasth Naari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan’, the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) conducted more than 60 health camps, benefitting nearly 30,000 women, an official said.

Medical camps were organised to extend specialist health check-ups, screening for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus, Hypertension, Breast, Cervical, and Oral Cancers, said the official in a statement.

A special emphasis was being laid down on Maternal and Child Health Care, including Antenatal Care, nutrition counselling and immunisation, said the statement.

Other health initiatives during the campaign included awareness drives on menstrual hygiene, sessions on adolescent health and Nutrition for school children in conjunction with various Service Headquarters and administrative authorities.

--IANS

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