Centre extends employees' provisional pension payment period

New Delhi: Employees will get provisional pension up to a period of one year from the date of retirement as the Centre has decided to extend the payment period.

In an online meeting with senior officers of the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed the liberalisation of provisional family pension, reports PTI.

Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said that instructions were issued that family pension may be sanctioned immediately on receipt of a claim for family pension and death certificate from the eligible family member without waiting for forwarding of the family pension case to Pay and Accounts Office.

"Singh today said that the government has decided to extend the payment of provisional pension up to a period of one year from the date of retirement in view of the pandemic situation," the statement said.

In some cases, government servants have died after retirement without submitting the pension papers, it said.

In order to avoid hardships to the families of such government servants, instructions have been given for the issue of Pension Payment Order for release of arrears of pension (from the date of retirement till the date of death of retired government servant) in all such cases and for grant of family pension to the family member from the date of death, the statement said.

He said that orders have also been issued to extend the benefit of lump-sum compensation to National Pension Scheme (NPS) employees also if they suffer a disability in the performance of duty and are retained in government service despite such disablement.

According to rules, if a government servant suffers a disability due to an injury or disease in the performance of duty and is retained in government service despite such disablement, lump-sum compensation is paid to the person in lieu of the disability element of the disability pension.