New Delhi: In a recently released guidelines, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has clarified that that a daughter’s name cannot be deleted from the list of family members eligible for a government servant’s family pension.
A memorandum released by the department specifies that a daughter is officially recognised as a family member once her name is submitted by the government employee through the designated Form 4. The government employee has to mention the daughter’s name regardless of whether she i eligible for a family pension or not.
According to the rule, a daughter (unless affected by a mental or physical disability) qualifies for a family pension until she marries, remarries, or becomes employed.
Unmarried, widowed, or divorced daughters above 25 years of age may also receive a family pension, provided all other children in the family are either over 25 or are financially independent.
A disabled child is, however, has the primary entitlement to the family pension.
What are the new norms?
Some provisions of the pension rule have been tweaked. For instance, female government servants/pensioners involved in ongoing divorce proceedings, or those who have filed cases against their husbands under relevant protective acts, may formally request to have their children receive the family pension in the event of their death. If no eligible child exists at the time of the woman’s death, the family pension will be payable to the surviving widower, reported the Business Standard.
