Govt employees under Unified Pension Scheme to get gratuity benefits: Jitendra Singh
New Delhi, June 18: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Wednesday announced a major reform for Central government employees enrolled under the Unified Pension Scheme, stating that they will now be eligible for retirement and death gratuity benefits. The announcement marks a significant policy shift to bring parity in post-retirement benefits and address a longstanding demand of government staff.
The provision, enabled under the Central Civil Service (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021, reflects the government’s commitment to extending social security to all categories of employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS), Dr. Singh said during a press conference at the National Media Centre.
Dr. Singh, who holds multiple portfolios including Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, and Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, described the move as part of a broader governance transformation undertaken over the last 11 years under the Modi government. He highlighted four key pillars of reform: simplification of governance, socio-administrative balance, human-centric policy, and innovation-driven public service.
“For the first time since Independence, a government has taken pride in removing outdated laws rather than adding to them,” Dr. Singh said. He noted the repeal of over 1,600 obsolete rules, including several colonial-era provisions, as a demonstration of trust in citizens—especially the youth. He also referenced the scrapping of job interviews for certain posts as a key step towards transparency and fairness in recruitment.
Dr. Singh emphasised reforms that protect well-performing officials while ensuring accountability. Amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, student-friendly provisions in handling unfair means cases, and streamlined disciplinary processes were cited as examples of this balanced approach. “We are here to punish the racketeers, not the students,” he stated, highlighting a shift towards supportive public policy.
The Minister underscored several human-centric reforms including digital life certificates for pensioners, inclusion of divorced and separated daughters in family pension norms, and maternity leave for stillbirth cases. “We used empathy and technology to frame rules that reflect lived realities,” he said, adding that over 19,000 delayed promotions were expedited to address bureaucratic stagnation.
Dr. Singh also spotlighted innovation, citing the iGOT-Karmayogi platform and the Capacity Building Commission as steps towards preparing a future-ready civil service. He highlighted CPGRAMS, India’s AI-enabled multilingual grievance redressal portal, which handles over 26 lakh cases annually with a disposal rate of 95–96%. Programs like Anubhav and the Assistant Secretary initiative for IAS officers aim to build institutional memory and knowledge-based administration. “We’ve moved from red tape to real-time, from file-pushing to feedback-based policy,” he said.
