Compassiote family pension: Will it be a reality?

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Jan 23: One has to take solace from what they say ‘better late than never’. At long last, the State Fince Department has asked various departments to expedite the disposal of cases regarding compassiote family pension. 

The State Government did have a compassiote appointment scheme under which the next of kin of a government employee dying while in service was given a government job on application. However, at certain time the number of such applicants was very high and few got jobs under the scheme. This came to the notice of the State Government as well as the Seventh Pay Commission. The pay commission then recommended the State Government to pay full salaries to the next of kin of employees dying while in service till the deceased employees in question attain their superannuation ages, after which the mode of payments will have to be converted to pension like other employees. The recommendation did go well with the State Government that made no delay to accept it with effect from April 1, 2017. However, not a single next of kin of employee to have died while in service has been given salaries under compassiote family pension, let alone compassiote pension, till date.

As though good sense prevailing on it, the State Fince Department reviewed the Compassiote Family Pension Scheme and asked all heads of departments to expedite disposal of cases under the scheme. The departments let the Fince Department know that it was difficult for them to get the scheme for being a new one. However, the Fince Department spelt out the scheme in no uncertain terms at the review meeting.

However, it remains to be seen if the present dispensation at Dispur is going to take tangible measures to make the scheme a reality. Hope not the enthusiasm shown by the State Fince Department in the run-up to the presentation of the State’s annual budget fizzles out with the passage of time like many of its ilk in the past.