Deceased employees' daughters to get more rights

Chandigarh, Aug 3 (UNI) The Haryana government has decided to expand the scope of Family Pension Scheme to confer equal beneficiary pension rights to the daughters of the deceased Government employees.

The pension benefit has also been extended to the widowed or divorced daughter for lifetime or until her remarriage.

A Finance Department spokesman said a number of amendments had been made in the rules contained in Family Pension Scheme, 1964 in their application to the state which would be enforced immediately for the benefit of the wards, dependent of all employees and retirees who were governed by this scheme and cover the entire family members in such a way to make them equal beneficiaries of the scheme.

He said that giving equality to the daughters, the Family Pension had been made admissible to the children in their order of birth thus scrapping the rule that it was first admissible to son only.

The elder of the children, be it girl or boy, would be entitled to family pension and younger of them would not be eligible for the same unless the elder next above him or her had become ineligible.

Furthermore, the Government had also extended the entitlement of pension to the widowed or divorced daughter for lifetime or until her remarriage, he added.

He said that the pension would be paid in equal shares among twin children. In case one such child ceases to be eligible, the share would revert to the other child. When both of them cease to be eligible the family pension would be payable to the next eligible child or twin children.

He said that as per the amendments the parents who were wholly dependent on the Government employees when he or she was alive would also be eligible for family pension provided the deceased employee had not left behind a widow or a child.

Similarly, the son or unmarried daughter the entitlement of family pension would remain until they attain the age of twenty five years or they start earning their own livelihood.

The widowed or divorced daughter would also become ineligible for the pension if she starts earning her livelihood.

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