‘Bhavishya’ is an online portal for pensioners to track their pension sanctions and payments and for the authorities to get all data in one place
The ‘Bhavishya’ portal is an online platform designed to provide retiring employees and pensioners with a convenient way to track their pension sanctions and payments. Previously, retiring government employees had to visit sanctioning authorities repeatedly, carrying all their documents and service records, with their pensions starting promptly only in rare cases.
Now, the scenario has changed. The ‘Bhavishya’ portal serves as a centralised platform where pensioners can access their personal and service-related details, submit the pension application form online, and track the progress of their requests. Updates regarding the requests are sent to them via SMS and email, ensuring timely communication.
The portal was introduced in 2017 by the Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) to ensure the timely processing of pension and retirement benefits for retirees. According to the DoPPW, it serves as a 'common software module' designed to streamline pension processing across various ministries.
From January 1, 2017, it became mandatory for government departments and ministries to use the platform for processing pensions and to update Pension Payment Order (PPO) details on it.
While using the portal for pension sanction and processing is mandatory, a delay has been observed in several departments. So, DoPPW again directed government departments and ministries for compliance through an office memorandum dated October 23, 2024.
The retiring personnel need to submit Form 6-A on the Bhavishya Portal to apply for pension sanction and payment. In a significant improvement to the process, Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched this form, created by merging nine separate forms (Form 6, 8, 4, 3, A, Format 1, Format 9, FMA, and Zero Option Form) into one (Form 6-A).
The form was launched in August this year. At the time of launch, Union Minister Jitendra said, “The retiring officials, who are on e-HRMS, will fill Form 6-A through e-HRMS (only Superannuation cases) and the retiring officials, who are not on e-HRMS, will fill Form 6-A in Bhavishya. He also added that Form submission by the Pensioner with a single e-sign (Aadhaar-based OTP) will be enough.”
The new form (Form 6-A) is up for use from November 16. Retiring officials can fill out this single unified pension application form online on the Bhavishya portal or e-HRMS.
According to the DoPPW’s OM dated November 4, 2024, “The new Form 6-A has been incorporated into Bhavishya and e-HRMS 2.0 and will be accessible to retiring Central Government employees w.e.f. 06.11.2024. Consequently, the retiring Central Government employees, are henceforth, required to fill out the new Single Pension Application Form 6-A exclusively through the online mode on Bhavishya or eHRMS 2.0.”
So, the central government employees, retiring in December 2024, need not bother about waiting at the authority offices for pension sanctions. They only need to fill out this form online, which is integrated with the Bhavishya Portal and e-HRMS for use.