Controller General of Communication Accounts (CGCA) Vandana Gupta on Thursday inaugurated the Pension Campaign 2025 for the Delhi Circle at the Office of the Principal CCA, Delhi. During the launch, she interacted with pensioners to understand their concerns and identify ways to enhance departmental support and service efficiency.

Through a video conference, Gupta directed all CCA field offices to achieve 100 per cent Digital Life Certificate (DLC) submission, reaffirming the campaign’s goal of ensuring seamless and transparent pension services for every beneficiary. She also personally submitted a Digital Life Certificate on behalf of a pensioner, symbolising the drive’s focus on efficiency and accessibility.

The CGCA also inaugurated a health camp for pensioners at the same venue, which included sessions on cybersecurity awareness. Officials highlighted the use of the Sanchar Saathi app and portal, developed to protect senior citizens from fraudulent communication and enhance their digital safety. The initiative empowers pensioners to safeguard themselves from telecommunication fraud with greater confidence.

The campaign forms part of the nationwide initiative led by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW), which has launched the 4th National Digital Life Certificate (DLC) Campaign — India’s largest outreach programme for pensioners. Running from 1 to 30 November 2025, it will cover every district and over 2,000 sub-divisional headquarters across the country.

Executed in collaboration with the CGCA, Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), 19 pension disbursing banks, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), Pensioners’ Welfare Associations (PWAs), UIDAI, and the Ministry of Electronics and IT, the initiative aims to make pension disbursal simpler, quicker, and entirely digital.

Under the DLC 4.0 campaign, the Office of the CGCA will conduct 320 pension camps nationwide, up from 226 in 2024, targeting 100 per cent DLC submission. The drive will assist approximately 22,300 pensioners whose certificates are set to expire in November 2025 and has already facilitated the submission of nearly 160,000 DLCs in the current financial year.

The CGCA manages a pensioner base of nearly 400,000 individuals, including retirees from MTNL, of whom 328,678 have already migrated to the SAMPANN system—a digital platform that streamlines pension processing, sanctioning, and disbursement.

The SAMPANN (System for Accounting and Management of Pension) portal automates the entire pension lifecycle, from authorisation to direct credit in beneficiaries’ bank accounts. Pensioners can access digital profiles, payment histories, e-PPOs, monthly statements, and grievance tracking via the portal and mobile app. The system has generated annual savings of over Rs 400 million, enhancing both efficiency and transparency.

Launched on 29 December 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, SAMPANN embodies the government’s principle of “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.” It provides a secure, paperless, and efficient pension disbursement mechanism for nearly 400,000 pensioners of the Department of Telecommunications.

The CGCA’s campaign underscores a holistic welfare approach—integrating health camps, yoga sessions, Ayurveda initiatives, and cyber awareness programmes—to promote the physical, emotional, and digital well-being of pensioners nationwide.