BackGovernment employees pension rules changed due to Covid. 5 points
Pension rules have been relaxed to enable seamless payment of Provisional Pension and Provisional Gratuity till the regular PPO is issuedThese instructions shall also be applicable in cases where a government employee retires otherwise than on superannuation
PremiumThe ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the process of issuance of Pension Payment Order (PPO) and completion of other formalities for government employees who are retiring now. To ensure that pensioners are not inconvenienced, the government has decided to issue “provisional" pension till their regular pension is issued.
1) Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh said the department of pension has a portal which can be accessed by any government employee approaching superannuation to find out the status of his or her pension papers.
2) Because of the disruption in official work due to COVID pandemic and lockdown, Dr Singh said, some of the employees who had retired during this period may not have been provided with PPO. In order to avoid a delay in the start of regular pension covered under CCS (Pension Rules) 1972, the rules have been relaxed to enable seamless payment of “Provisional Pension" and “Provisional Gratuity" till the regular PPO is issued.
3) The payment of “Provisional Pension" will initially continue for a period of six months from the date of retirement and the period of “Provisional Pension" may be further extended up to one year in exceptional cases. These instructions shall also be applicable in cases where a government servant retires otherwise than on superannuation i.e. voluntary retirement, retirement under FR 56, etc.
4) The decision has been taken considering that because of the constraints of pandemic and lockdown, a government servant may find difficulty in submitting his pension forms or may not be able to forward the Claim Form in hard copy along with Service Book in time, particularly when both the offices are located in different cities. "This is very pertinent to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) who are constantly on the move and whose Heads of Offices are located in cities different from where the Pay & Accounts Office is located," Dr Singh said.
5) In another circular, the Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare (DOPPW) has directed all offices maintaining GPF (General Provident Fund) Accounts to complete all credit entries including accruing interest to the employees two years before retirement and then one year before retirement so that Provident Fund is also paid accurately in time.
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