Center eases pension rules for kin of missing government employees

The family will now immediately get pension benefits after a govt. employee has gone missing

The government has eased pension rules for the families of missing Central government employees. The family members would immediately get the pension benefits after a government employee has gone missing and not wait to get declared dead in government records or the seven-year-period.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) has notified the new pension rules. A senior government official said that the decision has been taken amid reluctance by Central government officials to go on deputation to Jammu and Kashmir.

A statement issued by DOPT on Monday said, “In a major relief, particularly for government employees serving in militancy affected areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast as well as Naxal prone pockets” Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh has announced that the government has relaxed family pension rules for missing Central government employees.

The move is also aimed as an outreach initiative to the Kashmiri Pandit community employed under the Prime Minister employment package in J&K. The community has been protesting for their safety since Rahul Bhat, a revenue official employed under the PM package in 2010 was killed by terrorists in a targeted attack while he was at work on May 12 in Budgam’s Chadoora. The official said that since J&K is a UT now, the Lieutenant-Governor will have to notify the pension rules implemented by the Centre.

A statement said that according to the earlier rule, the next of the kin of an employee would not receive the family pension, if he went missing and it would not be paid till the missing employee was declared dead in accordance with the law or till seven years had passed.

“As per new the Official Memorandum , in all cases where a Government servant covered by NPS [National Pension Scheme] goes missing during service, the benefits of family pension will be immediately paid to the family of the missing government servant and in case he re-appears and resumes service, the amount paid as family pension during the intervening time of his missing period can be accordingly deducted from his salary,” the statement added. The changes will also apply to those covered under the Old Pension rules.

The Minister said, this is going to provide huge relief particularly in those regions where instances of government employees going missing are reported more frequently. The Minister said that “cases of abduction of central government employees working in violence-prone areas have come to the fore and therefore to instill confidence and to protect them and their family interests, the changes in the pension rules were brought about.”