National Anubhav Award Scheme 2025 Announced for Retiring Government Employees

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions has announced the guidelines for the National Anubhav Award Scheme 2025, aimed at celebrating the contributions of retiring and retired government employees. Launched to document personal experiences and achievements, the scheme seeks to honor outstanding write-ups that detail the significant moments of employees’ careers, offering a treasure trove of institutional memory for the nation.

The Vision Behind Anubhav Awards

In 2015, under the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Anubhav Awards Scheme and its portal were introduced as a platform to encourage retiring and retired government officials to share their experiences during their service period. The initiative has since gained immense popularity, with 98 organizations participating and 10,886 write-ups published over the past decade.

The initiative not only highlights the personal experiences and achievements of government employees but also serves as an invaluable resource for current and future governance. These memoirs provide insights that are aimed at improving governance processes and fostering a better understanding of the challenges faced by public officials.

Key Details of the 2025 Anubhav Awards Scheme

The Anubhav Awards Scheme 2025 has been officially notified by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, with updated guidelines for eligible retirees to participate. All write-ups submitted between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, will be considered for the 2025 awards.

Categories for Recognition

The scheme aims to recognize the contributions of eligible government employees in several categories, including:

Accounts
Administrative work
Good Governance
Government Process Re-engineering
Information Technology
Research
Simplification of Procedures
Learning from Failures
Public Dealing
Development of Personal Traits
Instances of Strength, Valor, or Bravery

The awards will honor individuals across a wide range of contributions to public service, emphasizing categories that promote good governance, procedural simplification, and technological innovation.

Eligibility and Selection Process

Eligibility: The scheme is open to employees from Central Government and Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), including Public Sector Banks. Employees set to retire in the next eight months or those who have retired within the last three years are eligible to participate.

Selection Process:

Eligible employees need to submit their write-ups via the Anubhav Portal, which must be under 5,000 words, with appropriate supporting documents.
Submitted write-ups will be assessed and approved by the relevant Ministry or Department.
After approval, write-ups will be subjected to a two-tier examination by the Screening Committee of the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare.
The Evaluation Committee will finalize the list of awardees and obtain clearances before submitting the names to the Hon’ble Minister of State for final approval.

Awards and Entitlements

The scheme will confer 5 Anubhav Awards and 10 Jury Certificates for the best write-ups. Each Anubhav Awardee will receive:

A Medal
A Certificate
A cash prize of Rs. 10,000 (to be remitted digitally)

Jury Certificate winners will receive a medal and certificate as recognition for their contributions.

Awardees will also receive travel allowances, covering both the awardee and an accompanying person, for attending the award ceremony in New Delhi, along with accommodation arrangements facilitated by the concerned Ministry or Department.

Promoting Participation Across Ministries

The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has urged all ministries and departments to extend invitations to all retirees to share their experiences on the Anubhav Portal. These experiences can inspire others, and provide learnings that will help shape future governance. The portal also features useful resources like FAQs, guidance steps, and short films on previous awardees to motivate participation.

The Power of Sharing Experiences

The Anubhav initiative aims to not just recognize individual contributions but also build a collective resource of lessons, best practices, and inspirational stories for future governance. Through this platform, retiring employees have an opportunity to leave behind a legacy that will guide the next generation of civil servants.

The decision of the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions regarding the awards will be final.

Retirees are encouraged to participate and make their voices heard, not just to share their journey but also to contribute to the administrative history of India, ultimately helping the system evolve and grow.