look news india
The Railway Ministry has taken a big step for the lakhs of employees and their dependents who perform duty in difficult and risky conditions in Indian Railways. Central government for railway employees Railway Service (Extraordinary Pension) Rules [Railway Service (Extraordinary Pension) Rules] has been officially notified. The objective of this new framework is to provide a strong social and financial security cover to the families of railway personnel who lose their lives or become seriously disabled in serious on-duty accidents, terrorist attacks, riots, natural disasters or during hazardous operations.
Generally, under the general pension rules, the family gets only a fixed part of the last drawn salary as family pension. But under the new extraordinary pension rules, dependents may be entitled to receive final salary under special circumstances. Family pension up to 100% The legal path for giving has been cleared. Apart from this, the minimum limit of disability and family pension has also been fixed at ₹ 18,000 per month. This new structure will also be applicable to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and National Pension System (NPS) employees with fixed conditions.
The new rules classify death and disability in service into different categories depending on the severity and circumstances of the incident:
Category ‘Kha’: This covers those cases which are directly caused by adverse environment of railway service, occupational hazards or normal on-duty accidents. In case of death in this category, the family will get the last salary of the employee. 60% share Will be given in the form of family pension.
Category ‘Ga’: This category includes deaths caused by indiscriminate firing in public places, bomb blasts, violence by fellow employees, riots, massive natural disasters, extreme weather or during relief and rescue operations. In such cases, the dependent family will be entitled to the basic salary of the employee. equal to 100% Will get family pension.
Category Gha: This includes serious hazardous operational situations such as lethal attacks on railway personnel by terrorists, extremists or anti-social elements, actions against such elements, international wars, border skirmishes or wars. In this category also the family 100% family pension Has been given full rights.
If a Railway employee becomes disabled in a serious accident or terrorist attack while in service and is discharged from service, the disability pension given to him is divided into two parts—’Service Element’ and ‘Disability Element’. The Government has clarified that the total monthly disability pension under the Extra ordinary Pension Rules will, in no case Not less than ₹18,000 per month Could be.
Along with this, the humanitarian formula of ‘Broad-banding’ has been implemented to determine the disability percentage:
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If the disability is assessed up to 50% by the Medical Board, it will be considered as 50%.
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Disability more than 50% and up to 75% will be considered as 75%.
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Disability more than 75% and up to 100% will be considered as complete 100%.
In case of 100% disability, in addition to the service element, 30% of the final emoluments will be added as disability element. The most important thing is that for this the requirement of any minimum qualifying service has also been abolished.
Another sensitive provision has been added to the extraordinary pension rules. If the Medical Board certifies that the former employee suffering 100% disability is completely dependent on others for his daily routine (getting up, eating, looking after) and needs an assistant at all times, he will be entitled to monthly disability pension for life as well. Constant Attendant Allowance Will also be given. This amount will be given at the rate prescribed by the government from time to time, however, dearness relief (DR) will not be payable on this special allowance.
The spouse will have the first right in eligibility for family pension. In their absence, dependent children (including adopted and stepchildren), followed by parents, and then dependent siblings would come in the order of eligibility.
It was often seen that after the martyrdom or accident of an on-duty employee, the bereaved family had to submit separate applications and visit offices for months to get the pension sanctioned. The new rules have completely changed this system.
Now the employee or his family will not be required to submit any separate application for disability pension or family pension. It will be the direct responsibility of the Head of Office to take suo motu cognizance and present the case before the competent authority within 3 months of receiving the report of the Medical Board. No claim will be rejected due to delay by the officer. Apart from this, to make the entire process transparent, all the cases should be compulsorily HRMS (Human Resource Management System) Or online processing through Integrated Pay and Accounting System has been made mandatory.