Team Herald
PANJIM: The Director of Accounts has proposed the constitution of a pension cell for timely settlement of pension benefits cases and verification of services.
He submitted the proposal in a reply to the Goa Human Rights Commission in a complaint over inordinate delay in processing pension papers of retiring government employees.
Accounts Director G P Kanekar stated that staff of the pension section have been directed to work on Saturdays, Sundays and even on holidays to cope with clearing pension and family pension cases.
Advocate Aires Rodriguese had approached GHRC after retired peon Mahadev Paryekar committed suicide allegedly due to non-clearance of his pension papers.
The Accounts Director in his reply clarified that as the employees of the High Court of Bombay at Goa are not employees of the State of Goa, the rules and regulations of the Maharashtra government are applicable to them.
Rodrigues, in his complaint, had drawn the attention of the GHRC that many employees have to run from pillar to post to get their pension even months after their retirement.
Rodrigues demanded that the head of every department undertake the work of preparing pension papers at least a year in advance of the date on which the government servant is due to retire.
Kanekar in his reply further stated that the Accounts Department is on the verge of issuing computerised pension payment orders thereby reducing the work of issuing them manually.
Paryekar’s family members had alleged that non-clearance of the retirement benefits must have led him to suicide in March this year.
