<span style="color: #222222;">Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh today said that the Government has decided to extend the payment of provisional pension up to a period of one year from the date of retirement in view of the pandemic situation. At a meeting held online with senior officials of the Ministry, Mr Singh said that provisional family pension is also liberalized. He said, instructions were issued that family pension may be sanctioned immediately on receipt of a claim for family pension and death certificate from the eligible family member, without waiting for forwarding of the family pension case to Pay and Accounts Office.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Dr Singh said, similarly orders have been issued to extend the benefit of lump sum compensation to the NPS employees also, if they suffer a disability in the performance of duty and are retained in Government service in spite of such disablement.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Moreover, to ensure timely credit of pension in cases, where Pension Payment Order has been issued but not sent to Central  Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) or banks due to lock-down, the matter was taken up with Controller General of Accounts  to issue necessary directive to CPAO and CPPCs of banks to use electronic modes during the unprecedented situation of COVID-19 pandemic till normalcy returns.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">In some cases, Government servants have died after retirement without submitting the pension papers. In order to avoid hardships to the families of such Government servants, instructions have been given for issue of Pension Payment Order for release of arrears of pension from the date of retirement till the date of death of retired Government servant in all such cases and for grant of family pension to the family member from the date of death.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">India Posts and Payment Bank with its 1 lakh 89 thousand Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks under the Department of Posts roped in to collect DLC from home. Approximately 1 lakh 48 thousand Central Government Pensioners have already availed this facility till now. Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare DOPPW also roped in an Alliance comprising 12 Public Sector Banks which does Doorstep Banking for its customers in 100 major cities of the country for including the collection of Life Certificate also under this service. DoPPW advised all the Pension Disbursing Banks to adopt the Video based Customer Identification Process V-CIP as an additional facility for obtaining a Life Certificate from the pensioners, within permissible RBI guidelines.</span><br />''  <br />