What Is A Family Pension Plan?

 

Concept of family pension under CCS (Pension) Rules 2021

 

The CCS (Pension) Rules 20211 (the Rules) specifies the concept and rules of family pension for government employees. Under the rules, a family pension is payable to the surviving family member of a government employee after his death, provided any of the following rules have been fulfilled –

• The employee has completed one year of continuous service.
• The employee died before completing one year of continuous service. However, before being appointed, the employee underwent a proper medical examination and was declared fit for government service by an appropriate medical authority.
• The employee retired from service and received a pension or a compassionate allowance as per the rules, as on the date of his demise.

 

The quantum of family pension¹

 

The rules also define the family pension that will be payable to the deceased employee’s family. The pension is fixed at 30% of the pay, subject to a minimum of Rs.9000 per month and a maximum of Rs.75,000 per month.

However, if the government employee dies when in service, the pension amount will be 50% of the pay subject to a minimum of Rs.9000 and a maximum of Rs.1.25 lakhs per month. The pension will be paid for up to 10 years.

If the employee dies after retirement, the pension will be paid up to the lower of the two tenures –

• Seven years
• Till the time the employee would have attained 67 years had he survived.

The minimum and maximum pension payments for above case will be Rs.9000 and Rs.1.25 lakhs per month, respectively.

If the age of the family member receiving the family pension is 80 years and above, an additional amount of the family pension will be paid from first day of the calendar month in which it falls due. It will be as follows –

 

Eligibility to receive family pension

 

The family pension is paid to the family member of the deceased government servant. The eligible members, in their order of priority, are as follows –

• Widow or widower (including a post-retiral spouse and judicially separated wife or husband),
• Children (can be adopted, biological, stepchildren or children born after retirement of pensioner),
• Dependent parents (including adoptive parents) of the deceased Government servant or pensioner and;
• Dependent siblings.

Remember, only one family member is entitled to receive the family pension. The first preference is given to the widow/widower and other members as per the aforementioned priority. However, if there is more than one widow/widower, the pension is paid to them equally. Similarly, in the case of twin children, the pension can be paid to both children equally.

 

Family pension for missing employees

 

If a government employee goes missing, the family pension will be paid to the family members at a rate specified in sub-rule (2) of rule 50 of the rules,and in the manner and subject to the eligibility conditions as applicable in the case of death of a Government servant during service. The pension will be paid from the latest of the following dates –

• The date the leave was sanctioned before he went missing.
• The date up to which all allowances and payments have been paid to the government employee.
• The date the police report has been lodged as a FIR or as a daily diary entry / or a General Diary Entry in the police station about the missing employee.

 

The bottom line

 

The Indian government compensates its employees for the services that they render. When they are alive, they get their salaries, gratuity and pension post-retirement. Moreover, after their death, their family gets compensated in the form of a family pension which creates a source of income for their financial needs. So, consider understanding what family pension is all about and its rules.

References

1. https://pensionersportal.gov.in/Document/CCS-Pension-Rules%202021-English.pdf

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