PRESS
NEWS
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS
GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES RETIRING DURING COVID PANDEMIC WILL BE RECEIVING “PROVISIONAL"
PENSION TILL THEIR REGULAR PENSION PAYMENT ORDER IS ISSUED: DR. JITENDRA SINGH
Posted On: 27 JUL
2020 6:35PM by PIB Delhi
Government
employees retiring during COVID pandemic will be receiving “provisional"
pension till their regular Pension Payment Order (PPO) is issued and other
official formalities completed.
Union
Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region
(DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and
Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that after the Modi Government took over, the
Department of Pensions had upgraded and equipped itself to deliver the PPO to
the concerned employee without delay on the day of his or her superannuation.
Besides this, in the last few years, taking cue from Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s emphasis on digitalization, the Department of Pension also created a
Portal, which could be accessed by any government employee approaching
superannuation to find out the status of his or her pension papers, he said.
However,
because of the disruption in the official work due to COVID pandemic and
lockdown, Dr Jitendra Singh said, some of the employees who had retired during
this period may not have been provided with PPO. But, as an evidence of the
present government's sensitivity towards the pensioners and the senior
citizens, a decision was taken that in order to avoid a delay in the start of
regular pension covered under CCS (Pension Rules) 1972, the rules may be
relaxed to enable seamless payment of “Provisional Pension” and “Provisional
Gratuity” till the regular PPO is issued.
As per the
OM (Office Memorandum) issued by Department of Pensions, affiliated to the
Ministry of Personnel, 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.
Dr Jitendra
Singh said, this 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 to the Head of Office or may not be able to
forward the Claim Form in hard copy along with Service Book to the concerned
Pay & Accounts Office 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.
Vide
another circular, 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. (Release ID: 1641560)
