New Delhi [India], September 4 (ANI): Two spouses of Defence pensioners received long-pending family pension arrears dating back to 1996 during the nearly two-month-long Special Campaign 3 conducted by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, which concluded on August 31.
A sum of Rs 10.66 lakh was disbursed to Simarto, spouse of a defence pensioner, towards arrears of the liberalised family pension effective from January 1, 1996.
In another case, Rs 37.40 lakh was paid to Angoori Devi, also the spouse of a defence pensioner, towards arrears arising from the difference between the Ordinary Family Pension and Special Family Pension, effective from January 1, 1996.
Besides them, there was a release of Rs 16.70 lakh on account of family pension arrears to Jayalakshmi Karnan, the disabled dependent daughter of another defence pensioner, with effect from June, 2013, as well as the settlement of disability pension arrears of Rs 30 lakh in favour of Idan Singh, another defence pensioner, with effect from September 16, 2016.
During the Special Campaign 3 started on July 7, 2026, Kapur Singh, another defence pensioner, received Rs 26.12 lakh as war injury element arrears, with effect from January 1, 2006. Rukmani Nair, spouse of a defence pensioner, also disbursed dual family pension arrears amounting to Rs 19 Lakh, with effect from September 24, 2012.
Payment of outstanding Special family pension arrears along with interest amounting to Rs 18.57 lakh and arrears of Ex gratia along with interest amounting to Rs 12.60 lakh to Saranjit Kaur, mother of an army personnel, was also cleared with effect from July 28, 2008.
Sunaina Kumari, widow daughter of a defence pensioner, was given the pending family pension arrears of Rs 6.27 lakh, with effect from March 18, 2022.
There was also a disbursement of Rs 25.99 lakh towards the time-barred arrears of service pension to Ranjit Singh, a defence pensioner, pertaining to the period from October, 2004 to December, 2023. Payment of Rs 30.15 lakh was also disbursed to Koranga Lakshmi, spouse of a defence pensioner, towards family pension arrears from June, 2011 to February, 2026.
As per the Ministry, coordinated efforts of 40 ministries and departments have culminated in the successful resolution of 2,306 cases out of 3,193 taken-up cases, registering a redressal rate of 72 per cent. “Active follow-up is being done for the redressal of remaining grievances.”
It said the DoPPW is committed towards the welfare of the central government pensioners, including the meaningful and accessible redressal of their grievances. For this, annual special campaigns have been organised since 2024.
In the third edition, the department started Special Campaign 3 on July 7, 2026, for the timely and qualitative redressal of long-pending pension grievances, claims and issues. This campaign had a preparatory phase and an execution phase and concluded on August 31, 2026.
During the preparatory phase, the Ministry said all ministries, departments, and their attached or subordinate offices were mandated to identify long-pending grievances, claims, and issues received via both online and physical modes. Ministries and departments identified 1,062 target cases under this phase.
“Further, 2,131 grievance cases pending on the CPENGRAMS portal for more than one month were also taken for redressal in this phase.”
During the execution phase, it said, the department actively coordinated with the ministries and departments for redressal of these cases. Two mid-campaign review meetings were held, and the status of the pendency of these cases was sought regularly.
“The demographic distribution of the redressal reflects that most of the resolved cases pertain to the pensioners and family pensioners residing in rural areas. It is a healthy trend, as the redirection of grievances from rural areas in online mode through various portals operated by ministries and departments and the CPENGRAMS portal is bridging the digital divide. The collective efforts have resulted in the successful redressal of some long-pending cases,” added the Ministry. (ANI)
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