August 8, 2025

In a big relief for many employees, the Rajya Sabha was told that service done by workers in autonomous bodies will be counted for gratuity when they join the central government. Union Minister of State for Personnel, Jitendra Singh, revealed this in a written reply on Thursday. The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) has set the Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021 for central government staff. But these rules don't automatically apply to autonomous bodies. So, what’s the catch? The DoPPW issued an Office Memorandum on February 12, 2020, which says that if an employee moves from an autonomous body with a National Pension System (NPS) and similar gratuity rules to the central government, their past service will count for gratuity. But, there’s a condition – the employee must resign properly and get permission to take up a new government job. Minister Singh explained, “The payment of gratuity, interest, or counting service duration in autonomous bodies depends on their own rules because DoPPW’s rules don't automatically apply to those employees.” He added this in reply to a question about whether an NPS employee moving from an autonomous body to the government can choose not to count past service for gratuity. Manjeet Singh Patel, president of the All India NPS Employees Federation, cheered the government’s announcement. He said, “It is a very welcoming move by the government to assert that the service rendered in an autonomous body would be counted for the grant of gratuity in the central government. It will help in removing any doubt from the minds of the government employee concerned.” This clarity is sure to ease worries for many employees planning their career moves. In short, if you're moving from an autonomous body to the central government with proper permissions, your hard-earned service won't go waste when it comes to gratuity. A much-needed boost for your pension and peace of mind!

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Tags: Gratuity, Central government, Autonomous bodies, National pension system, Employee benefits,