Govt holds workshop to streamline pension litigation management

The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare held a national workshop to improve the management of pension-related litigation for Central Government employees, focusing on coordination, best practices, and grievance redressal to reduce court cases.

The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare is the nodal Department for formulation of policies relating to pension and other retirement benefits of Central Government Civil employees.

National Workshop on Pension Litigation

According to the release, the 2nd National Workshop on Pension Litigation was convened in pursuance of the Government's directives on effective and efficient management of litigation, with a focus on enhancing coordination and strengthening the capacity/skills of the Nodal officers and panel lawyers of all the Ministries/Departments handling pension-related litigation and its monitoring. It had deliberations and presentations from speakers on best practices, systemic reforms and grievance redressal to minimise pension litigation towards the welfare of pensioners and good governance.

The Compendium of case laws and flyer, launched in the Workshop, outlined the best practices in handling pension litigation and recent judicial pronouncements in recurring pension litigation matters, providing a comprehensive overview of the concerned pension-related policies, as per the release. The compendium and flyer underscored the importance of a coordinated approach to managing pension litigation. Pension litigation is not centrally handled by any Department; it is handled on behalf of the Central Government separately by all respective Departments.

Initiatives to Minimise Litigation

For minimising litigation, Special Campaign 3 was also launched, wherein the focus is on the redressal of the long-pending grievances/claims and issues. This campaign, along with other initiatives, viz. Pension Adalats and Inter-Ministerial Review Meetings on long-pending grievances, is an attempt to resolve the grievances, thereby obviating the need to approach courts of law with the resultant effect of reduction in litigation.

Policy Reforms and Rule Clarifications

Further, the Department, based on the clarification and advices sought by various Ministries and Departments, issues Office Memoranda to clarify the rule position to bring ease in the life of the pensioners, including super-senior pensioners. The Department has issued the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, and revised it further by CCS(Pension) Rules, 2021. To ease eligibility conditions of family pensioners, Rule 50 of the said Rules (erstwhile Rule 54 of the Rules of 1972) has been provided for various categories of family pensioners, including divorced and disabled daughters.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Ind. Charge) Science & Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State PMO; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today. (ANI)

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