The Hon. K. Kader Masthan

¶ 01 Improvement of services provided by the Department of Pensions.

¶ 02 Hon. Speaker, under Standing Order 27(2), I wish to ask the Hon. Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government:

¶ 03 - Around 700,000 pensioners live in our country. The Department of Pensions should serve those who gave long service to the State. Yet, many find it a nightmare: visitors are kept at reception, officers upstairs respond only via internal phones, and elderly pensioners—unable to get through by phone or to the hotline—must travel long distances to Colombo. Can: 1) A proper system be established so a visitor can directly meet the relevant officer? 2) Time-slotted, online live consultations be arranged through the Department or Divisional Secretariats, especially for elders, given phone contact failures and hotline inaccessibility? 3) Services via District and Divisional Secretariats be improved, and a national pensioners’ advisory committee with representation from all districts be formed to improve departmental services? 4) Two days per month be set aside for officers from other agencies to meet Department of Pensions officers? 5) A special online system be created for officers in other state institutions to coordinate pension-related matters, enabling simultaneous live connections among the pensioner, his/her institution, and the Department? 6) For each benefit, inform the House of the timelines from application to disbursement? 7) When related institutions file online pension applications, can pensioners be allowed to view and/or verify via a print copy? 8) For those appointed beyond the maximum age limit who served the country long, can legal provisions be made to grant pensions? If not, why?