Bhubaneswar: The state government has extended the benefit of retirement gratuity and death gratuity to all of its employees who are covered under the New Defined Contribution Pension System, also known as the National Pension System.
Following the Union government’s order in this regard for its employees, the state finance department has also issued a memorandum to implement the same.
“It is reiterated that state government employees joining in the pensionable establishment on or after 01.01.2005 and covered under NPS shall be eligible for benefits of ‘Retirement Gratuity and Death Gratuity’ on the same terms and conditions as are applicable to the employees covered by Orissa Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1992. This shall take effect from the same date–01.01.2005,” the memorandum read.
All the state government employees recruited on or after January 1, 2005 would be entitled to receive gratuity on retirement or death while in service, state finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said. More than one lakh state government regularised employees recruited after 2004 would get the benefits, he said.
Gratuity is calculated as a proportion of the last salary drawn and takes into account the number of years put in by the employee. As per sources, the employee will get 26 and half times of his/her last salary in the last month of service.
However, opposition Congress and BJP smelt politics behind the move. Both the parties have alleged that the BJD government has taken this step to grab votes of government employees.
PNN
