Provisional Family Pension to Widows/Widowers – Humanitarian Appeal by Bharat Pensioners’ Samaj to support bereaved families and suggestions to Bridge the Gap between Pension Rules and Ground Reality for Timely Financial Relief
BHARAT PENSIONERS’ SAMAJ
(All India Federation of Pensioners’ Associations)
No: BPS/BDPA(I)/Suggestion/FP/2026
Dated 7th September, 2026
To:
Ms. Vandana Gupta,
Controller General of Communication Accounts, BA & IT
Department of Telecommunications
New Delhi – 110 047
Sub: Provisional Family Pension to Widows/Widowers – Our Suggestion to Bridge the Gap between Pension Rules and Ground Reality for Timely Financial Relief – Reg.
Ref: 1) CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 and Central Treasury Rules, Vol. I.
2) Your Office Letter No. 2-177/2022-23/BA&IT/610 dated 23.10.2025.
Respected Madam,Sir,
1. Kindly refer to your office letter cited above, wherein the national average processing time under DoT for conversion of Family Pension to the spouse has been indicated to be less than the prescribed period of one month. While appreciating the efforts being made by the Department for expeditious processing of such cases, we respectfully wish to place before your office certain practical aspects which, in our view, merit consideration from the perspective of the bereaved families.
2. In this connection, we respectfully wish to place before your office certain practical difficulties faced by the bereaved family members, particularly widows/widowers, after the death of a Government servant/pensioner. Our objective is not to question the existing procedure, but to suggest a practical measure which, we believe, may considerably reduce the financial hardship of the family as well as the administrative pressure on the CCA offices.
3. In our country, following the death of a family member, the bereaved family generally observes a mourning period ranging from about 16 days to 30 days, and in certain communities the customary period may extend even up to three months. Consequently, the spouse may not be in a position to immediately attend to official formalities or arrange the documents required for submission of the Family Pension claim.
4. Thereafter, collection of the requisite documents from various Revenue Authorities and other State Government authorities itself may take considerable time. In some cases, discrepancies may also be noticed in the Date of Birth or other particulars appearing in Form-3, Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, Bank Passbook and other records. Rectification and verification of such discrepancies may further require considerable time.
5. Thus, in actual practice, the time required merely for the family to collect, verify and submit all the requisite documents may itself extend to several months from the date of death of the Government servant/pensioner, even before the time required for processing and authorization of Family Pension by the CCA office is taken into account.
6. It is against this practical background that this Association respectfully suggests that the provisions relating to Provisional Family Pension under Rule 354-A of Central Treasury Rules, Vol. I may kindly be considered for effective implementation wherever applicable.
7. Normally, Provisional Pension/Family Pension is initially granted for a limited period, such as six months. Such provisional payment would provide sufficient immediate financial support to the bereaved spouse while the formalities for regular authorization of Family Pension are completed. In cases where Family Pension in favour of the spouse is already authorized in the PPO, such a mechanism could also facilitate early commencement of payment without waiting for completion of every procedural formality.
Such an arrangement would serve two important purposes:
(i) it would substantially reduce the immediate financial hardship of the widow/widower; and
(ii) it would also reduce repeated representations and the resultant pressure of work on the staff of the CCA offices.
8. Further, in terms of Rule 354-A of CTR, Vol. I, the Head of Office referred to therein may kindly be considered in the light of the relevant provisions of the CTR and the role of the CCA/Accounts Officer, so that the possibility of making Provisional Family Pension available at the appropriate level may be examined.
9. Similarly, in cases where Family Pension has not been authorized in the PPO for want of the necessary sanction from the Head of Office, the competent sanctioning authority may kindly be advised to examine the applicability of Rules 80, 80-A and 80-B of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, and to sanction and arrange payment of Provisional Pension/Family Pension wherever the eligibility for such pension is otherwise clear and there is no dispute regarding entitlement.
10. Such an approach would ensure that a bereaved family is not left without financial support merely because completion of documentation, verification or procedural formalities takes some additional time. At the same time, the regular process of verification and final authorization can continue in the normal manner.
In view of the above, this Association respectfully requests that the matter may kindly be re-examined from the practical and humanitarian perspective, and, if considered appropriate, suitable guidelines may kindly be issued to all the CCAs and the General Managers of BSNL, who function as Heads of Offices/pension sanctioning authorities, for ensuring effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the CTR, Vol. I and CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 regarding Provisional Pension/Family Pension.
We sincerely believe that such an enabling and practical approach would not only provide timely financial relief to widows/widowers and other eligible family members but would also help in reducing avoidable correspondence and administrative workload at various levels.
We therefore hope that the above suggestion will receive your kind consideration and that suitable action/guidelines may kindly be issued at the earliest in the larger interest of pensioners, family pensioners and the Department.
Yours Sincerely,
(D.D. MISTRY)
Secretary BSNL/PSU
Bharat Pensioner Samaj
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