According to an official letter of Finance department issued on Thursday, the government has extended the benefits of family pension to all eligible employees covered under National Pension Scheme (NPS) upon their in-service death.

The existing government employees covered under NPS had been given the option to avail the benefit by May 10, 2023. But it has come to the notice of the government that some employees in service could not submit their option within the stipulated period.

Considering this, the government has decided to extend the timeline for one more year i.e., upto May 10, 2024 for the serving government employees to exercise their option for availing the benefits of family pension under NPS, the department said.

Minister Sri Nayak reviewed various activities of the department in details yesterday. Though it was a holiday, the review was a crucial one and continued for more than two hours. A dedicated pension cell should start functioning immediately and the employees must receive their pension on the very day of retirement. All the pending pension cases must be cleared up within specific time line , he directed .

All out efforts be made to fill up the vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff in the colleges. He impressed upon the officers to create a database of all the faculty of the Government aided /GIA colleges through a Software so that the vacancy can be monitored and rationalized. Also reviewed the status of RUSA and World Bank funding, Students scholarships and others. A detailed discussion was made on further improvement in standard of higher education and development of educational Institutions in the state . The provision / allotment of funds in different heads be utilised properly in due time . Measure to be taken to achieve higher NAAC ranking and participation in National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was also discussed.

While advised the officers of the department to maintain absolute integrity and transparency ,Sri Nayak has warned for any deviation to this will not be tolerated .He has asked the secretary Higher Education to personally review the funds pending in various colleges and ensure its early utilization.

Among others Arabinda Agrawal Secretary Higher Education , other departmental Officers were present in the review meeting held in Lok Seva Bhawan.