Bengal tweaks death gratuity rules to include stepchildren in ‘family’
Times of India | 24 February 2026
Kolkata: Bengal govt has included stepchildren as well as widowed and divorced daughters as beneficiaries of death gratuity. A new notification issued on Monday amended the state's death-cum-retirement benefit rules to expand the scope.
The new rules state that in the event of an employee's death, if no valid nomination for the gratuity exists, the funds must be distributed among all family members, including stepsons and stepdaughters. An official noted that Nabanna had been receiving numerous petitions from widowed and divorced daughters seeking a share of these benefits.
The amended directive, issued by finance department additional chief secretary PK Mishra, states that a "family" would now include: "spouse, sons including stepsons, unmarried/widowed and divorced daughters including stepdaughters, brothers below the age of 18 years, and unmarried or widowed sisters, in addition to parents."
The directive further clarified: "Any pending case involving divorced or widowed daughters where the death of an employee occurred prior to the enforcement of this notification may be considered and disposed of by the administrative department in light of these new rules."
An official explained that an employee can nominate a family member or even a non-relative and assign their respective shares. "This confers the right to receive any gratuity sanctioned by govt in the event of death while in service," the official said.