The government has decided to extend the gratuity scheme to include employees of central educational institutions and other autonomous bodies who joined after 2004, accepting a long-standing demand.

However, family pension, paid after the death of a government employee, continues to elude the staff of autonomous institutions, which are set up primarily in the education and culture sectors.

Those employees of autonomous organisations such as central universities and schools under the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti who joined after 2004, when the New Pension Scheme (NPS) was introduced, will be paid gratuity according to the provisions of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

When the NPS was introduced, the payment of gratuity to staff who joined after 2004 was discontinued. The payment resumed following a government order in 2009 but not for employees of autonomous institutions.

The education ministry has now issued an order to all the autonomous bodies, asking them to pay gratuity.

“The MoLE (ministry of labour and employment) has clarified that the Payment of Gratuity Act is applicable to all employees of educational institutions,” said the order issued on December 16.

The decision will benefit nearly two lakh faculty members and other staff in central educational institutions. According to the Payment of Gratuity Act, the gratuity works out to half month’s basic salary multiplied by the number of years of service, provided the employee has worked for a minimum of five years.

The KVS Pragatisheel Shikshak Sangh has also demanded family pension for all staffers.

“The families of the teachers who lost their lives during the pandemic were paid a nominal relief amount. They were deprived of the benefits of family pension. Such an attitude of the central government and the KVS is a gross violation of human rights,” said a member.