Married Daughter Pension: This State Recognizes Married Daughter as Government Employee Family Member, Check Details

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Married Daughter Pension

The Pension Branch of the Finance Department of the Government of West Bengal has issued a very important and public welfare-oriented guideline for the state government employees and pensioners. In line with the long-standing demands of the state government employees and the rules of the Central Government, major changes have been made in the ‘West Bengal Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1971’. This amendment has been implemented under the power of Article 309 of the Constitution.

New definition of ‘family’ in the context of gratuity

The most significant aspect of this amendment is the expansion of the definition of ‘family’ in the context of death gratuity. Till now, married daughters were outside the scope of this benefit as direct members of the family. But the new notification has clarified that from now on, ‘Married Daughter’ will also be considered as a legal member of the family of the government employee.

According to the new rules, the family members who will be considered for death gratuity are:

  • Husband or wife: Depending on the gender of the employee.
  • Children: Son (including step-son) and daughter. In the case of daughters, unmarried, widowed, divorced and married – all are included. Step-daughters will also get this benefit.
  • Father and mother: Both parents.
  • Siblings: Brothers under 18 years of age and unmarried or widowed sisters.

Strict instructions to preserve name in service book

There was a long-standing practice at the administrative level that once a government employee’s daughter got married, she was no longer considered a ‘dependent’ or part of the family and her name was removed from the service book. The new guidelines of the Finance Department have abolished this practice. From now on, even after the daughter’s marriage, her name will have to be recorded as a relative in the service book. That is, the daughter’s name cannot be deleted from government records due to a change in marital status.

Future of Undisposed Cases

The document states that this notification of the Finance Department was published on February 20, 2026. The notification has strictly instructed the administrative departments that if any gratuity application or case related to married or divorced daughters is pending (Undisposed) before the introduction of this rule, then they should be immediately adjudicated and disposed of on the basis of this newly revised rule. This is expected to speed up the processing of many pending files.

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