Scheme for Grant of Pension Benefits to the Media Persons in the Union Territory of Puducherry

What is the Puducherry journalists' pension scheme?

The Scheme for Grant of Pension Benefits to the Media Persons in the Union Territory of Puducherry is a welfare scheme of the General Administration (Information and Publicity) Department, administered by the Directorate of Information and Publicity. It pays a monthly pension of Rs 6,000 to veteran journalists of the union territory.

The scheme has a long history. It was first notified in G.O.Ms.No.01 dated 9 January 2003, but as the government's own order records, that scheme "is yet to be implemented". Following representations from the media to simplify it and implement it early, the government revised it and notified the Revised Scheme for the grant of Pension Benefits to the Media Persons in the Union Territory of Puducherry, 2014 through G.O.Ms.No.3 of January 2015, in supersession of the 2003 order. The 2014 scheme is the one in force.

The stated object is "to grant financial assistance to the Media Persons in the indigent circumstances in this Union Territory of Puducherry, keeping in view the special nature of the service rendered by them to the society in creating a sense of socio-political awareness among the people."

The Directorate of Information and Publicity runs four other measures for media persons alongside this one: the grant of identity cards, the grant of accreditation cards, financial assistance for the purchase of a laptop, desktop computer or smart phone, and the grant of free bus passes.

Who is eligible for the journalists' pension, and who is not?

You can apply if:

• You are a citizen of India and a resident of the union territory of Puducherry by birth, or by continuous residence of not less than 10 years.
• You have completed 58 years of age at the time of applying.
• You have put in not less than 20 years of service as a full-time Editor, Reporter, Sub-Editor, Press Photographer, Videographer or Correspondent of a newspaper, periodical, news agency or electronic media. Service with newspapers and periodicals published in Puducherry counts, and so does service with news agencies and electronic media headquartered outside the union territory.
• You hold an accreditation card under the Pondicherry Press Representatives Accreditation Rules, 1984, or a press identification card under the Puducherry Media Representatives Identity Card Rules, 2013, issued by the Directorate of Information and Publicity.

A relaxed route exists. A media person who is unable to pursue the profession on account of chronic ill-health or permanent incapacity can be sanctioned pension with at least 10 years of service in any of the listed capacities, irrespective of present age, provided the other conditions are satisfied. A medical certificate is required for this route.

You cannot apply if:

• You are below 58 and are not applying on the ill-health or incapacity ground.
• Your service falls short of 20 years, or 10 years on the relaxed route.
• Your work was part-time or in a capacity outside the list. The scheme names full-time editorial and camera roles specifically.
• You do not hold an accreditation card or a press identification card from the Directorate. This is a hard gate, not a formality.
• You cannot show birth in Puducherry or 10 years of continuous residence.
• You already receive a pension or honorarium from the Central or State Government. Where you draw an old age pension, assistance for physically handicapped persons, or an honorarium for artists and writers, you must opt for one, this scheme or the existing benefit.

Note the definitions the scheme uses. Electronic media means audio and visual media units engaged in broadcasting or telecasting news and registered with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. News agency means an agency engaged in collecting news and selling it to media organisations. Newspapers and periodicals must be duly registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India. Work for an unregistered publication does not count.

How much is paid, and what happens to the family?

The pension is Rs 6,000 per month, "or such amount as may be fixed by the Government from time to time" under clause 5 of the scheme.

On the pensioner's death, 50 per cent of the pension is given to the spouse as family pension. The scheme defines "family" as the media person and his or her wife or husband and children, excluding major children who are independent and separated from the parent.

The family pension is not automatic. The spouse must apply to the Director of Information and Publicity in Form-IA, accompanied by the death certificate or legal heir certificate.

How to apply for the journalists' pension in Puducherry

The scheme runs on paper through the Directorate of Information and Publicity.

1. Confirm you hold a current accreditation or press identification card. If the card has lapsed, renew it with the Directorate before applying. The pension application rests on it.
2. Get the Revenue Department certificate. You need a combined nationality, nativity, residence and income certificate from an officer of the Revenue Department not below the rank of a Deputy Tahsildar. The rank matters; certificates from a lower officer are returned.
3. Obtain the experience certificate in Form-II from your former employer, showing designation, period of service and place of work. If you cannot get it: because the publication has closed, for example — the scheme allows the Assistant Director of the section concerned to issue the certificate from records available in the Department. Ask for that in writing rather than abandoning the application.
4. Collect your age proof. A birth certificate, or a transfer or school leaving certificate.
5. Prepare the declaration about other pensions. Certify what pension or honorarium, if any, you receive from the Central or State Government. Where you draw one, state which benefit you are opting for.
6. Fill in Form-I and attach the certificates above together with a copy of your Aadhaar, and a medical certificate if you are applying on the ill-health or incapacity ground.
7. Submit to the Director of Information and Publicity, Puducherry, and take a dated acknowledgement.

Spouses of deceased pensioners follow the same route using Form-IA with the death certificate or legal heir certificate.

How is the application decided?

Every application is placed before a selection committee, along with a verification certificate in Form-III completed by the Assistant Director or Public Relations Assistant of the Directorate.

The committee comprises the Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government (Information and Publicity) as chairperson; the Joint or Under Secretary to Government (Revenue); the Under Secretary or Deputy Secretary (Finance); the Regional Administrator of the region concerned, for applicants from the outlying regions; two accredited media persons from print or electronic media; and the Director of Information and Publicity as Member Secretary.

The committee, "after satisfying itself the genuineness of the application", may sanction the pension, after which the Director issues a sanction order in Form-IV. The committee may also reject any application for reasons to be recorded in writing, so an applicant is entitled to know the ground of rejection. The Director maintains a register of sanctions in Form-V.

Why do applications get rejected, and how do you fix it?

• No accreditation or press identification card. The commonest gate. Apply for or renew the card with the Directorate first.
• Service short of 20 years, or part-time service. Gather employer certificates covering every stint. Broken service with several employers can add up, but each period must be certified.
• Experience certificate unobtainable. Use the scheme's own fallback: ask the Assistant Director of the section concerned to certify from departmental records.
• Revenue certificate from the wrong authority. It must come from an officer not below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar.
• Residence short of 10 years. This scheme's residence test is longer than most Puducherry schemes. Add nativity certificate, voter roll entries and utility bills spanning the full decade.
• Undeclared other pension. Declare it and opt. Concealment is a ground for rejection and for recovery.
• Age below 58 without a medical certificate. Only the ill-health or incapacity route relaxes age, and it needs the certificate.

Where do you get help or complain?

• Contact the Director of Information and Publicity, Government of Puducherry, quoting the date and inward number of your application. The Directorate publishes the pension application form for journalists and their families on info.py.gov.in.
• Applicants in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam may route representations through the Regional Administrator concerned, who also sits on the selection committee for cases from those regions.
• Because the committee must record reasons for rejection in writing, ask for those reasons before reapplying.
• An unresolved grievance can be filed on CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in against the Government of Puducherry, Information and Publicity Department.

No fee is payable for the form or for processing, and no agent can influence the selection committee.