The State government on Thursday specified July, August and September as months every year when the State government pensioners and family pensioners could produce their life certificates to the Pension Disbursing Officer concerned for annual mustering. Earlier, they were to produce their life certificates in April, May and June during a year.
The State government's decision followed a representation from Tamil Nadu Retired Officials’ Association and the eventual request from the Commissioner of Treasuries and Accounts seeking to change the time period for mustering in the present scenario and to avoid peak summer season.
A senior official said there have been requests that it was difficult for pensioners and family pensioners to produce their life certificates during summer. “We have changed the timing only to suit their convenience. The change will come into effect from this year onwards,” the official told The Hindu .
There are about 7.3 lakh pensioners in Tamil Nadu, including State civil pensioners, teacher pensioners, civil family pensioners, teacher family pensioners and other categories, including ex gratia pensioners as of March 2019, according to data available with the Finance Department.
“If any pensioner, including family pensioner, fails to do so (produce life certificate any time between July, August and September every year), the Pension Disbursing Authority shall call for the personal appearance in October and pension/family pension will be stopped from November onwards for those pensioners, including family pensioners, who neither appear directly for mustering nor furnish life certificate,” the G.O. in this regard said.
Pensioners who retired from the State government service, including family pensioners, are to furnish life certificate, non-employment certificate and non-remarriage/non-marriage certificate every year to the pension disbursing officer concerned. If they failed to do so, the Pension Disbursing Officer concerned would call for the annual mustering of the pensioners/family pensioners.
If the pensioners/family pensioners neither produced certificates nor appeared for annual mustering, the Pension Disbursing Officer would stop the payment of pension and it would resume only on production of the necessary certificates or after the pensioners' personal appearance before the officer.
