Pension; Are you going to retire soon? Then this article is for you. After retirement in the central government, many people have to face difficulties in getting pensions. Pension is not released on time. The pension file moves from one table to another. The Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions regularly receives such complaints. Recently, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has issued an office memorandum to all ministries and departments in this matter.
Memorandum issues by Govt
It contains the list of time limits for approval of pension-related files. The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has asked all ministries to ensure that there is no delay in disposal of pension-related matters. The Office Memorandum of the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare states that the process of authorizing pension and gratuity involves various actions to be taken by different offices/authorities. In the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021, the time limit for completion of each of these actions has been prescribed. As per Rule 54, every Head of Department (HOD) has to prepare by the 15th day of every month a list of all such government servants who are due to retire within the next fifteen months from that date.
As per Rule 55, the government servant is required to obtain complete details in respect of government accommodation at least one year in advance of the anticipated date of his retirement. These details may be sent to the Directorate of Estates for the issue of a ‘No Dues Certificate’ for the period 8 months prior to the retirement of the government servant.
As per Rules 59 and 60, the Head of Office shall forward the pension case to the Pay and Accounts Office within two months from the date of receipt of the pension form from the government servant along with the correspondence in format 10. On receipt of the pension letter, the Accounts Officer will conduct the requisite investigations. On attaining the age of superannuation, the pension payment order will be issued two months before the date of retirement of the government servant. The Accounts Officer shall forward a copy of the pension payment order to the Central Pension Accounts Office within two months from the date of receipt of pension letters from the Head of Office.
The CPAO shall issue a special authority seal and forward it to the pension disbursing authority along with a copy of the pension payment order within twenty-one days from the date of receipt of the pension payment order. Thereafter, the Pension Disbursing Authority shall take action to disburse the same from the date on which the pension is due to the retired government servant.
The Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare has issued its Office Memorandum
All Ministries/Departments have been requested to bring the above provisions to the notice of the personnel dealing with pension benefits in the Ministry/Department and attached/subordinate offices under it to comply with the above provisions. In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his talks with secretaries to the Government of India, had directed to make the pension-related grievance redressal system more sensitive, accessible, and meaningful. In compliance with the same directions, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, Department of Pensions, and Pensioners’ Welfare issued an Office Memorandum last month.