NEW DELHI: India's largest-ever drive to help pensioners submit their annual life certificate begins today. The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) is conducting the fifth nationwide Digital Life Certificate (DLC) campaign from November 1 to 30 in 2,000 cities and districts across the country, the department announced through the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on October 30.

Source: PIB — Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare

Every pensioner must submit a life certificate each year for the pension to keep coming. The digital route — Jeevan Pramaan, the government's Aadhaar-based digital life certificate service — lets a pensioner generate that certificate without visiting a bank or office in person, and this campaign is built to push that route to saturation.

2.30 croreDigital Life Certificates targeted this month
1.50 croreOf them targeted through face authentication
2,000Cities and districts covered
19 banks + 785 post officesAmong the partners running camps

The department says the campaign works on a saturation model, with a whole-of-government push behind it: 19 pension-disbursing banks, India Post Payments Bank, 785 district post offices and 56 pensioners' welfare associations are running camps, alongside the Controller General of Defence Accounts, Railways, the Department of Telecommunications, EPFO and state governments, with UIDAI and MeitY providing technical support. The campaign guidelines were notified through an office memorandum dated August 13, 2026.

Source: Jagran Josh

Face authentication is the centrepiece: a pensioner with a compatible smartphone can complete Aadhaar face authentication at home, with no separate fingerprint scanner needed. For those who need help, camps will offer assisted services, and the department says doorstep service will be provided to pensioners where required.

More than a certificate camp

The campaign is being run in an 'Utsav' mode: camps will also offer health check-ups and Aadhaar updation for pensioners, and senior DoPPW officials will carry out on-ground reviews and attend mega camps in areas with a high concentration of pensioners.

One caution for readers: the 2.30 crore and 1.50 crore figures are the campaign's targets, not certificates already issued. How close the drive gets to them by November 30 — and how smoothly face authentication works for the oldest pensioners — is the number to watch at month's end.