New Delhi: The service rendered in the autonomous body by an employee would be counted for the grant of gratuity in the central government, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) has notified the Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021 for central government civilian employees, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

These rules are not suo motu applicable to the employees of autonomous bodies, he said.

"However, DoPPW vide Office Memorandum (OM) No.7/5/2012-P&PW(F)/B dated 12th February, 2020 provides that on mobility from autonomous bodies having National Pension System (NPS) with provision of retirement/death gratuity for its employees similar to that in the central government, the service rendered in the autonomous body would be counted for grant of gratuity in central government subject to condition that the employee resigns with proper permission to take another appointment in the government," Singh said.

The payment of gratuity, payment of interest or counting of service duration and the like by the autonomous bodies depends on the particular gratuity rules being followed by the particular autonomous body as the rules of DoPPW are not suo motu applicable to the employees of autonomous bodies, the minister added.

He was asked about the "details of rule position which allows an NPS employee, who moved from autonomous body to the government with proper permission and technical resignation, to opt not to have past service rendered in autonomous body counted in the Central Government and to receive payment of gratuity for past service", among others.

President of the All India NPS Employees Federation, Manjeet Singh Patel, welcomed the Centre's response and said it will help in removing any doubt from the minds of employees concerned.

"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," he told PTI.