In a major relief, particularly for Government employees serving in militancy affected areas like Jammu & Kashmir, North-East as well as Naxal prone pockets, the Centre has notified rules extending pensionary benefits to missing Central Government employees.
According to the earlier rule, the next of kin of an employee would not receive the family pension, if he or she went missing and the family pension would not be paid till the missing Government was declared dead in accordance with the law or till seven years had passed since he went missing.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced that the government has relaxed family pension rules for missing central government employees. “Now, in all cases where a government servant covered by NPS goes missing during service, the benefits of family pension will be immediately paid to the family of the missing government servant.
In case he re-appears and resumes service, the amount paid as family pension during the intervening time of his missing period can be accordingly deducted from his salary,” Jitendra Singh said in a Press note. The Minister said this is going to provide huge relief particularly in those regions where instances of government employees going missing are reported more frequently. He said, cases of abduction of central government employees working in violence-prone areas have come to the fore and therefore to instill confidence and to protect them and their family interests, the changes in the pension rules were brought about.