RTI - Who is entitled for the family pension after the death of a retired employee?
26 Jul, 2012Background
The appellant’s late father was an employee of the Indian Railway. He retired from Service in 1968 and was getting pension since then. He expired in 1972; thereafter his mother was the recipient of the family pension who also expired in 2008. The appellant claimed that he has an unmarried sister whose income is less then Rs. 3500/- per month and as per rules framed by the Central Government, an unmarried daughter of a deceased employee is eligible for family pension. The appellant submitted that the concerned officials of the Indian Railway have made detailed enquires into the matter during the last 1 ½ years and are satisfied that his sister is eligible for family pension and yet pension has not been sanctioned so far thereby causing lots of mental torture, agony and harassment to him and her sister. In this regard he filed an application under Right to information (RTI) act. The Public Information Officer (PIO) submitted that that the Department had recommended the case but the Accounts Department of the Northern Railway had raised objections. The appellant argued that as per para 58 of P. S. No. 12008 / 2000, the income certificate furnished by the concerned beneficiary may be accepted by the Railway Authorities.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the PIO to furnish a copy of the objections raised by the Accounts Department of the Northern Railways to the appellant for meeting the objections as far as practicable. The Commission also directed the PIO to look into the matter afresh and if it is a genuine case, then cut through the meaningless procedural formalities and have an appropriate decision taken by the competent authority expeditiously.
Citation: Mr. Shailendra Kumar Barat v. Indian Railways in File No.CIC/AD/A/2012/001794
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/507
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