How Payment of Family Pension can be simplified?

Needless to say, Pension procedures are still cumbersome in spite of government reports have taken many steps to simplify the same.

A pensioner is not the one who jumps from the sky one fine morning suddenly. He works for the Government for most of his life and his family members also indirectly help him to serve for the Government. Government can have whatever details that are required by it while he is alive for payment of pension without any hurdles. More importantly, the Government can also get the details of the family while the employee is serving for Government. Once these details are obtained there is no need for providing the same after the retirement or demise of Government Employee.

Especially, when the family members who are already in great grief while the Government employee passes away leaving them behind, may not be in a position to provide all the records/details called for by the Government for payment of family pension.

Shri.J.V.K.Rao, a Connect while commenting the Connect article titled as Central Government Pension and Family Pension-Certain uncommon areas, explains this difficult moments for the family members. He also provides here the solution for payment of family pension without any confusion.

In the unfortunate event of the death of the Pensioner, the widow/widower has to submit many a document such as her/his finger prints, signatures, Photographs, Proof of date of Birth and if there is change in the Sur name after marriage, an affidavit indicating the names before marriage as would have appeared in the proof of date of birth certificate and after marriage, Bank Account details  from which Pension would be drawn etc. all  duly attested accompanying the filled in  prescribed Proforma attached with the Death Certificate in original.

All this is  very cumbersome and  hard for the widow/widower at the old age. Added to this, if the concerned Office which has to sanction the Family Pension is away from the place of stay of the Pensioner, it takes lot of time to fix the family pension as the dealing Officials would always find some thing or other lacking and the correspondence takes lot of time. IN THIS CONNECTION THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE OBSERVATIONS / VIEWS:

• Prior to retirement, the official is submitting a JOINT PHOTOGRAPH duly attested. –  Hence submission of Photographs attested once again may be waived. Simply Photographs  may be asked to be submitted  along with the  duly filled in Proforma.
• Along with the finger prints of the Official, the finger prints of the Spouse  and signatures of the spouse on a separate sheet may also be advised to be submitted  after due  attestation.
• The Official has to open a separate Savings Bank Account for Pension and submit the details. Here, the official may be advised to open Joint Account ( Either or Survivor) with the first name being the Official's and the second name be the spouse. So that there is no need to furnish Bank Account details afresh, unless the spouse desires other wise.
• Pending fixation of Family Pension, there should be continuity in Pension, may be  minimum amount may be paid without any break.

The above  are  some of my observations basing on the experience during last month while filing the Family Pension application on death of a Pensioner in Central Silk Board, an Autonomous Body under Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.