Pension pending since 1996! Here’s how spouses of two defence retirees received arrears of over ₹48 lakh

Spouses of two defence retirees received family pension arrears pending from 1996 under the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare’s Special Campaign 3, as per an ANI report on Friday.

In one case, Angoori Devi, the spouse of a defence pensioner, received arrears of ₹37.40 lakh, arising from difference between the Ordinary Family Pension and Special Family Pension, effective from January 1, 1996, the report said.

In the other case, Simarto, also the spouse of a defence pensioner, received ₹10.66 lakh towards arrears of the liberalised family pension, effective from 1 January 1996, it added.

The two-month long campaign was conducted by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions’ which in a statement said the DoPPW is committed to the welfare of central government pensioners, “including the meaningful and accessible redressal of their grievances”.

How families received the pending arrears

As per the ministry, the campaign included coordinated efforts of 40 ministries and departments and culminated in successful resolution of 2,306 cases out of the 3,193 taken-up — a 72% redressal rate. “Active follow-up is being done for the redressal of remaining grievances,” it stated.

The statement added that while Special Campaign 3 started in July 2026, there was also a preparatory phase wherein 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,” it added.

Next, during the execution phase, 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 campaign concluded on August 31, 2026.

Settled family pensions, disability, war injury element

According to the report, the department also settled a number of long-pending claims and arrears of various family members of other defence pensioners during the Special Campaign 3, which started on 7 July 2026. The details are as follows:

• Dual family pension arrears amounting to ₹19 lakh disbursed to Rukmani Nair, spouse of a defence pensioner, with effect from 24 September 2012.
• ₹16.70 lakh released towards family pension arrears to Jayalakshmi Karnan, disabled dependent daughter of another defence pensioner, with effect from June 2013.
• Sunaina Kumari, widow daughter of a defence pensioner, was given pending family pension arrears of ₹6.27 lakh, with effect from 18 March 2022.

“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,” according to the ministry statement.