NEW DELHI: With Covid-19 claiming the lives of several government employees, many of them sole bread-winners of their families, the department of pension and pensioners welfare has asked all Central ministries and departments to ensure that the family pension for their next of kin is started within a month of receipt of such claim.
All departments have specifically been asked to keep a record of government employees who die “in service” on account of Covid and share updates on family pension claims with the ministry of personnel on a monthly basis.
Sources indicated that an effort is underway to compile a central database on government staff from various Union departments and personnel who have succumbed to Covid infections.
An official told TOI that deaths of seven employees working out of North Block, where the offices of home ministry and department of personnel are located, were reported due to Covid.
“The move to expedite family pension and other entitlements reflects the sensitivity and concern with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring every aspect of the Covid pandemic on a day-to-day basis.
Mindful of the hardships that the death of an earning member causes to a family, the government is making an effort to release family pension in such cases at the earliest,” minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh told TOI on Tuesday.
As per the office memorandum issued by the department of pension and pensioners welfare (DoPPW) on June 6, secretaries of all Central ministries and departments must personally monitor the in-service death cases and ensure, with the involvement of controller general of accounts and CMDs of pension disbursing banks, that the start of family pension happens within a month of receipt of claim and death certificate, For this purpose, the secretaries shall also nominate an officer of the respective ministry/department, whose name and contact details shall be reflected on the website for any family member to contact in case of delay.
Every ministry/department shall send a monthly position of such cases to the department pension and pensioners’ welfare.
The notification acknowledged that in many cases of in-service deaths due to Covid-19, the deceased employees were the sole bread-winners of their family and their death had left the families in an urgent need of funds for livelihood.
It is, therefore, incumbent to ensure that the family pension and the other entitlements are released to their families expeditiously, it underlined.
Dr Singh hoped that all the departments of the government will follow the latest instructions in letter and spirit, and the respective heads of departments will monitor the relevant cases on a regular basis.
He also hoped that various state/UT governments would emulate this practice for their own employees.