NEW DELHI, Aug 17: Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday conferred the National ANUBHAV Awards on retiring and retired government employees, describing their experience and expertise as a valuable national asset.
Addressing the 9th National ANUBHAV Awards Ceremony, 2026 and the 60th Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop at Vigyan Bhawan, Singh said technology-driven pension services had improved efficiency while reducing manpower and financial requirements.
He stressed the need for continuous reforms in pension services based on feedback from pensioners and retiring employees, saying their experiences could help identify gaps and improve government policies and administrative practices.
The Minister said the ANUBHAV initiative, launched in 2015 on the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was aimed at documenting and utilising the knowledge and experience gained by government employees during their years of service.
Singh conferred National ANUBHAV Awards on five awardees and also presented Jury Awards. He released the Handbook on Pension Mitra, the ANUBHAV Awardees’ Citation Booklet and guidelines for the Nationwide Digital Life Certificate Campaign-5.
Highlighting pension reforms, Singh said procedures had been simplified and several unnecessary requirements removed. He also referred to strengthened family pension provisions and technology-enabled services such as Digital Life Certificate, Face Authentication, Bhavishya and Pension Adalats.
He said digital initiatives had made pension services more convenient for elderly citizens while reducing the administrative burden and helping resolve grievances more efficiently.
The Minister also underlined the importance of engaging retired employees in nation-building, noting that many continue to possess valuable professional knowledge, skills and experience after retirement.
The 60th Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop brought together around 800 Central Government employees in the National Capital Region due to retire in March 2027. The programme covered pension benefits, CGHS facilities, Digital Life Certificates, cybersecurity, investment options, family pension, income tax, grievance redressal and other post-retirement services.
Secretary, Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, Nivedita Shukla Verma said ANUBHAV had emerged as an important platform for preserving institutional knowledge. More than 14,000 experiences have been shared on the portal, while the 2026 awards received over 2,000 nominations, the highest so far.
Singh congratulated the awardees and said pension reforms should focus not only on timely delivery of retirement benefits but also on ensuring dignity, convenience and continued engagement with the experience of former government employees.
