Pension halted for 1,818 retired Singareni workers over missing life certificates

Hyderabad: Over 1,800 retired Singareni workers have stopped receiving their monthly pensions—just because they didn’t file life certificates. The Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation (CMPFO) flagged the issue after freezing payments to all 1,818 affected.

Alavandar Venu Madhav, who’s with the Singareni Retired Employees Welfare Association, said the lapse was serious and urged CMPF officials to notify pensioners immediately so the issue doesn’t drag on. He urged the CMPF authorities to issue a clear public notification asking the concerned individuals to submit their documents immediately so payments could resume.

The affected pensioners fall under the Coal Mines Pension Scheme–1998. Since March 8 last year, CMPFO has been disbursing a minimum monthly pension of ₹1,000 under this scheme to retired miners, Madhav said. Using the Right to Information Act, he had earlier written to the regional commissioners of CMPFO in Godavarikhani and Kothagudem seeking clarity on pension distribution.

In a written reply, the Public Information Officer at CMPF Kothagudem stated that the regional office currently pays pensions to 18,111 retired coal workers, out of which 2,134 receive the minimum ₹1,000 pension. The total monthly pension outlay from Kothagudem alone stands at ₹20.6 crore, the officer noted. However, the payments to 1,818 beneficiaries have been paused due to missing life certificates.

Madhav thanked the CMPF authorities for sharing this data and called on the affected pensioners to submit their Jeevan Pramaan (digital life certificate) online to CMPFO at the earliest, to ensure their payments resume without further delay.