The government has clarified that unmarried, widowed or divorced daughters of deceased government employees remain eligible for family pension, subject to prescribed conditions and provided they were dependent on the deceased at the time of death. The clarification was issued in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, as part of a series of written replies tabled during another stormy sitting dominated by opposition demands for a debate on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Parliament has seen repeated adjournments over the past two days, with the opposition staging a walkout on Wednesday afternoon. However, normal questions and written replies were taken on record before the disruption led to a premature adjournment of the House.
In a written reply, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the Central Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 2021, notified by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, clearly provide for family pension to be paid to an unmarried or widowed or divorced daughter, if there is no surviving spouse or eligible son.
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“Further, in the case of a widowed daughter, the death of her husband and in the case of a divorced daughter, her divorce took place or the divorce proceedings filed in a competent court during the lifetime of the government servant or pensioner or his or her spouse,” Singh stated.
He said the same provisions apply to railway and defence personnel under separate service rules.
The benefit, however, would remain available only until such a daughter “gets married or is remarried or until she starts earning her livelihood, whichever is the earliest,” the minister said.
Officials clarified that the rules are designed to ensure that dependent daughters of deceased government employees and pensioners are not deprived of support in the absence of surviving parents or eligible siblings.
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