NCJCM Meeting Discusses Pension Benefits for Compassionate Appointees and Railway Pension Rule Merger

The National Council (Joint Consultative Machinery) met on February 25, 2025, under the chairmanship of Shri V. Srinivas, Secretary (Pension), at Lok Nayak Bhawan, New Delhi, to discuss key issues concerning central government employees, including pension benefits for those appointed on compassionate grounds and the merger of Railway Pension Rules with the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021.

Key Discussions and Decisions

The meeting saw participation from DoPPW officials, representatives from the Ministry of Railways, and members of the staff side of NCJCM, led by Shri Shiva Gopal Mishra.

1. Extension of OPS Benefits to Compassionate Appointees

One of the primary topics of discussion was the applicability of the DoPPW Office Memorandum (OM) dated 03.03.2023 to employees appointed under compassionate grounds.

• The staff side requested that the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) be extended to compassionate appointees who applied before January 1, 2004, but were appointed after this date.
• A key argument presented was that compassionate appointments do not involve a formal notification or advertisement. To address this, it was proposed that the date of application submission should be treated as the date of notification/advertisement for the purpose of pension eligibility.
• The Ministry of Railways supported this proposal, and it was decided that an inter-ministerial consultation involving DoPT, DOLA, DFS, and DoE would be initiated to resolve this issue.

2. Merger of Railway Pension Rules, 1993, with CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021

The second major issue discussed was the merger of the Railway Pension Rules, 1993, with the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021.

• The staff side urged the government to expedite this merger to ensure uniformity in pension regulations across departments.
• Officials clarified that the matter is still under examination and that the Ministry of Railways can initiate amendments separately as per requirements.

Outcome and Next Steps

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the chair, and necessary follow-up actions were identified:

• Inter-ministerial discussions to review and modify DoPPW’s OM to benefit compassionate appointees.
• Further examination of the Railway Pension Rules merger to align them with the latest pension regulations.

The decisions taken in this meeting could have far-reaching implications for thousands of government employees, particularly those appointed on compassionate grounds, as well as retired railway personnel awaiting clarity on pension rule standardization.

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