As one of the reformation agenda of the Ondo State Head of Service, Mr Dare Aragbaiye to restate the State Civil Service for exceptional service delivery and make bureaucratic processes less cumbersome, the state government would soon commence an automated system of processing documents of Pensioners for their retirement benefits.
To this effect, the State Information Technology Agency has developed a computerized system that would electronically capture Pensioners and process their documents online for easy and quick reception of their benefits.
Presenting the design to the Pension Reform Committee at the office of the Head of Service in Akure, the Director of Software in the State Information Technology Agency, Mrs Bola Oyebode said the process would allow for interface with each of the retirees at the point of exit from service for capturing and collation of their data.
Mrs Oyebode noted that instead of the usual manual process of obtaining various documents from different Ministries, Agencies and Departments of government for approval, the documents would be automated and uploaded to a preferred server for assessment by relevant government officials, adding that the process would lessen the burden of Pensioners and reduce movement of documents from one place to another.
In his remarks, the Head of Service commended the Agency for the innovation which he said would enhance easy access to Pensioners records, eradicate fraud in the pension office and put an end to the activities of the syndicate that exploits Pensioners by collecting a certain percentage of money to process their retirement benefits.
He added that with the system, Pensioners’ data could easily be collated, arranged, processed and retrieved while falsification of documents would be difficult to perpetrate.
The Administrative Secretary of the State Public Service Reform Office, Mr Oluwagbenga Akingbesote said the Committee has reduced the documents to be submitted by retirees for the process of their retirement benefits from about 30 to 16.
Mr Akingbesote opined that with the reduction in a number of documents to be processed and the introduction of an automated processing system, the time and resources to be spent by Pensioners would be drastically reduced.
The Permanent Secretary of the Pension Transition Department, Mr Tope Kolawole and his counterpart in the Local Government Pension Transition Department, Dr Bunmi Eniaiyewu, who was represented by the Director of Local Government Pension, Mr Gbenga Tolulope presented a report to the Committee.
Other members of the Committee include among others Permanent Secretaries of Hospital Management Board, Dr Adeniran Ikuemola, Civil Service Commission, Mrs Folasade Adegoke, Teaching Service Commission, Mrs Funmilayo Ajayi, Department of Service Matters, Mr Bayo Philip and the State Auditor General, Mr Sunday Adegoke.
