Odisha's Higher Education Department on Wednesday, July 12, asked the heads of all government higher educational institutions to furnish a monthly report on the progress of timely payment of pensions to non-teaching employees. The direction was issued keeping in view the increasing number of pension-related cases of such staff.

As per government norms, any delay in payment of pension would lead to payment of 18 per cent interest per annum for the period of delay and the interest would be recovered from the person(s) responsible for the delay. Asking the institutions to adhere to the guideline and take appropriate action, the department stated that the monthly progress report on pension disbursal should be submitted on the last working day of every month to the GA department, according to a report by The New Indian Express.

Earlier this month, while reviewing the department's activities, Higher Education Minister, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, had asked the authorities to open a dedicated pension cell to ensure that employees received their pension on the day of retirement. "All the pending pension cases should be cleared up within a specific timeline," he had directed the concerned officials.

The minister also emphasised that transparency and integrity should be maintained by the officials in the pension disbursement process, in adherence with the 5T principles of governance of the government.