10th Anniversary of National Anubhav Awards | 20 Aug 2025

Why in News? 

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for the Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, awarded the 8th "National Anubhav Awards" during the ceremony at Vigyan Bhawan, alongside the 57th Pre-Retirement Counselling Workshop. 

Key Points 

  • Awards 2025: The 10th anniversary of the Anubhav Awards in 2025 highlighted significant milestones in governance and diversity. 
    • One-third of this year's awardees were women, reflecting the increasing presence of women officials in governance. 
    • A total of 15 awardees from 11 ministries and departments were honored, including officers from a public sector bank and a central public sector enterprise for the first time. 
  • Notable Awardees:   
    • M. Venkatesan: Recognized for his service during critical times, including the 2014 Kashmir floods and Ukraine evacuation of 2022. 
    • Hukum Singh Meena: Led the digitization of land records in over 6.4 lakh villages. 
    • Shalini Kacker (SBI): Instrumental in Direct Benefit Transfer, pension reforms, and Digital Life Certificate campaigns. 
    • O. Virupakshappa (Department of Posts): Expanded postal savings and insurance schemes in rural areas. 
    • Saju P.K. (CRPF): Served in sensitive operational areas like Assam and Pulwama. 
  • Pre-Retirement Counselling: The event included pre-retirement counselling to inform soon-to-retire employees about pension procedures, health benefits, investment options, and income tax matters. 
  • New Initiatives Launched: The event saw the release of several initiatives, including: 
    • Guidelines for the Digital Life Certificate Campaign 4.0. 
    • A Coffee Table e-Book highlighting success stories from Special Campaign 2.0. 
    • Plans have also been announced to use artificial intelligence to analyze memoirs submitted on the Anubhav portal.

National Anubhav Awards 

  • About: The Anubhav Awards, initiated by the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW), is designed to recognize and document the experiences of retiring and retired Central Government employees. 
    • Launched in March 2015 on the direction of the Prime Minister of India, the objective is to create a culture of sharing experiences, fostering good governance and administrative reforms through the Anubhav Portal. 
  • Eligibility: Retiring Central Government employees/pensioners are eligible. Write-ups published on the Anubhav Portal, during the time frame notified by DoPPW, are considered for the awards.