Central govt employees retiring during Covid-19 pandemic to get 'provisional' pension

NEW DELHI: Central government employees retiring during Covid-19 pandemic will receive provisional pension till their regular pension payment order (PPO) is issued and other official formalities completed, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said on Monday.
Conceding that some employees who retired during this period may have not been provided with PPO due to disruption in official work due to Covid-19 and lockdown, Singh said the government, sensitive to the concerns of pensioners regarding delay in start of pension, had allowed relaxation of CCS (Pension Rules) 1972, to enable seamless payment of “provisional pension” and “provisional gratuity” till the regular PPO is issued.
As per the office memorandum issued by department of pensions on July 17, 2020, the payment of “provisional pension” will initially continue for a period of six months from the date of retirement and this period may be further extended up to one year in exceptional cases. These instructions shall also be applicable in cases where a government servant retires otherwise than on superannuation i.e. voluntary retirement, retirement under FR 56, etc.
The MoS said this decision has been taken considering the constraints of pandemic and lockdown, due to which a government servant may face difficulty in submitting his pension forms to the Head of Office or may not be able to forward the claim form in hard copy along with service book to the concerned Pay & Accounts Office in time, particularly when both the offices are located in different cities. This is very pertinent to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) who are constantly on the, he added.