Stakeholders consulted before pension rules amendment: Minister

Union minister Jitendra Singh was responding to a question from Trinamool Congress member Santanu Sen on whether stakeholders were consulted before the amendment to the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules

Union minister Jitendra Singh has said intelligence and security organisations were consulted before the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules were amended last month to bar former officials from publishing materials related to the “sensitive information” post-retirement without prior permission.

Union minister Jitendra Singh. (File photo)

“Prior to amendment, it was up to the concerned official to decide whether the published material falls in the prescribed prohibited categories or not. In case, the official feels that the material he is going to publish does not fall in the prohibited category then he could publish the material without any prior approval of the Government,” Singh told Parliament on Thursday. He added in case the officer publishes something under prohibited categories, a loss to the country would already have happened. “To prevent such situations, the current amendment has been made.”

Singh was responding to a question from Trinamool Congress member Santanu Sen on whether stakeholders were consulted before the amendment to the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules.

Former Army chief Ved Prakash Malik said knowing how the government functions, either the permission will not come, or it will take a very long time.