India, Oct. 10 -- The Delhi government has directed district social welfare officers to clear all pending old-age pension applications within seven working days, after a departmental review found that more than half of the applications had not been sanctioned or disposed of within the prescribed 45-day timeline, officials said on Saturday.

In a circular issued on September 29, the Social Welfare Department said that pendency persisted despite earlier directions and asked all district social welfare officers (DSWOs) to ensure time-bound disposal, particularly for applications approaching or exceeding the stipulated service-level agreement (SLA) period.

The department's September 14 circular, citing a status report dated September 8, had ...