A disabled brother/sister/a. child of central government employees OR Pensioner is eligible to receive family pension if his income is less than the eligible family pension at the normal rate i.e. 30 per cent of the last drawn payment by the deceased Government servant/pensioner. Earlier, any member of the family including a disabled child/victim was considered to be earning his livelihood if his income from other sources exceeded the minimum family pension of Rs.9,000 and admissible dearness allowance. However, in February this year, the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW-India) relaxed norms to include disabled members who need more care and medical assistance.
“At present, a member of the family, which includes a disabled child/sibling, is deemed to have earned his livelihood if his income from sources other than his family pension is equal to or more than the minimum family pension This is Rs 9,000 plus admissible dearness relief (DR) thereon, DoPPW-India said in a statement earlier this year.
As per Rule 54(6) of the CCS Rules (1956), a child or sibling of a deceased Government servant is entitled to pension if his physical or mental capacity makes him incapable of earning his livelihood. A large part of these people were left out of the purview of benefits due to the previous norms and this relaxation in the rules came as a relief to many.
“Directions have been issued to liberalize the income criteria for eligibility of child/brother of a deceased Government servant or pensioner for grant of family pension under CCS (Pension) Rules,” the DoPPW said.
The exemption granted under this rule change was applied prospectively and any arrears from the date of death were not admissible.
Meanwhile, central government employees and pensioners also got its benefit. dearness allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) hike under the rules of 7th Pay Commission rules recently. The DA of central government employees and pensioners is normally increased twice a year, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation had forced the government to stop the hike temporarily. After more than a year, the hike was finally implemented and the existing DA rates were increased from 17 per cent to 28 per cent. The 11 per cent hike was for the period January 2020 to January 2021 and the government is yet to announce the hike for the period January to June 2021.
The hike was implemented from July 1, 2021 and came as a major relief to over 50 lakh pensioners and existing employees.
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