Govt tweaks rules for pension to divorced daughters of armed

The Defence Ministry has tweaked existing rules for granting family pension to divorced daughters of armed forces personnel if their divorce petition has been filed during the lifetime of one of their parents.
Earlier, divorced daughters of armed forces personnel were eligible for family pension if a decree of divorce had been issued by the competent court during the life time of at least one of the parents.
The defence ministry said it amended the rules after receiving representations from various quarters to review the eligibility criteria and cited cases where divorce proceedings were initiated during the lifetime of one or both parents but none were alive by the time the decree of divorce was granted.

"The Government has been receiving grievances from various quarters that the divorce proceedings are a long drawn procedure which take many years before attaining finality," it said.
The ministry said the matter has been examined and it was decided to grant family pension to a divorced daughter of an armed forces personnel in such cases where the divorce proceedings has been filed in a competent court during the life time of one of their parents provided the claimant fulfils other conditions.
"In such cases, the family pension will commence from the date of divorce," it said.