'Family pension upper ceiling raised from Rs 45k to Rs 1.25L per month'

New Delhi: Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said that in a far-reaching reform regarding family pensions the upper ceiling has been raised from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh per month. He said the move will bring "ease of living" for the family members of the deceased employees and would provide adequate financial security to them.

The minister said that the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) has issued a clarification on the amount admissible incase a child is eligible to draw two family pensions after death of his or her parents.

"The amount of both the family pensions will now be restricted to Rs 1,25,000 per month, which is over two and half times higher than the earlier limit," said Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel. In accordance with sub-rule (11) of rule 54 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972, incase both wife and husband are government servants and are governed by the provisions of that rule, on their death, the surviving child is eligible for two family pensions in respect of the deceased parents, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

Earlier instructions laid down that the total amount of two family pensions in such cases, shall not exceed to Rs 45,000 per month and Rs 27,000 per month, which were determined at the rate of 50 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively taking into account of the highest pay of Rs 90,000 as per the sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations, it said. Since the highest pay has been revised to Rs 2,50,000 per month after the implementation of the seventh CPC recommendations, therefore the amount prescribed in Rule 54(11) of CCS (Pension) Rules has also been revised to Rs 1,25,000 per month being 50 per cent of Rs 2,50,000 and Rs 75,000 per month being 30 per cent of Rs 2,50,000, the statement said.

The above clarification has been issued on the references received from various ministry/department, it said. As per the existing rule, if parents are government servants and one of them dies while in service or after retirement, the family pension in respect of the deceased shall become payable to the surviving spouse and in the event of the death of the spouse, the child shall be granted two family pensions in respect of the deceased parents subject to fulfilment of other eligibility conditions, the statement said.