New Delhi – November 7: Underlining the transformative power of citizen-centric digital governance, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, and MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, announced that mobile-based face authentication adoption among pensioners has surged to nearly 80 percent under the newly launched Nationwide Digital Life Certificate (DLC) Campaign 5.0.
Addressing a high-level press conference at the National Media Centre in New Delhi, the Minister revealed that nearly 40 lakh Digital Life Certificates were successfully generated within the first five days of the nationwide campaign, compared to approximately 25 lakh during the corresponding period last year—marking an unprecedented 60 percent year-on-year increase. Concurrently, reliance on smartphone face authentication jumped from 61 percent to 80 percent, reflecting deepening digital confidence among India’s elderly populace.
Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed to a historic demographic milestone, noting that India now has approximately 70 lakh central government pensioners against roughly 50 lakh active employees. This reverses the previous balance, where active employees numbered 55–60 lakh against 50 lakh pensioners. With average life expectancy expanding and healthcare outcomes improving, the Minister stressed that senior citizens must be actively integrated as vital knowledge partners in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadmap for a ‘Viksit Bharat’.
“Many dedicated personnel retire at 60 while still at the pinnacle of their health, intellectual depth, and professional capability. Our goal is to leverage their immense experience and ensure they lead lives of dignity, comfort, and financial ease without being subjected to cumbersome physical verification queues,” Dr. Singh observed.
Tracing the evolution of life verification protocols, the Minister explained how the government transitioned from physical paperwork to biometric fingerprint scanners, before introducing AI-powered face authentication on smartphones. This breakthrough allows pensioners to generate their mandatory annual life certificates seamlessly from home, eliminating trips to bank branches, post offices, or treasury counters. Notably, out of 1.92 crore DLCs generated last year, over 1.17 crore were processed through face authentication.
Dr. Singh commended the emergence of an inter-generational ‘whole of society’ movement, highlighting how young grandchildren are actively assisting elderly grandparents in completing facial scans via mobile applications, converting technology adoption into an endearing family bonding experience.
The campaign rollout was attended by Secretary (Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare) Nivedita Shukla Verma; Chairman and CEO of Railway Board Satish Kumar; Secretary (Department of Posts) Subrat Das; Controller General of Defence Accounts Alka Nangia Arora; Controller General of Communication Accounts Vandana Gupta; UIDAI CEO Saurabh Vijay; and Additional Director General (PIB) Nanda Kishore Reddy.
Published by True Roots Media