Chief Secretary Punjab has constituted a Provincial Coordination Committee for assistance of widows of civil servants, who die while in service.
This Committee would be chaired by Additional Chief Secretary while Secretary Finance, Secretary (Services), Secretary (Regulations), Ch. Muhammad Ilyas, Member PPSC, Secretary of the concerned department, a representative of Accountant General Punjab and Economic Advisor Benevolent Fund/Secretary Funds, would be members of the committee. This committee may co-opt any other officer as its member. It shall meet at least once in every three months. Five members of the committee shall form the quorum. The terms of reference of the committee would be dissemination of information about the benefits and relief measures admissible to the widows and bereaved families of the deceased civil servants as per law, rules and policies of the government through the concerned departments. The committee will oversee the performance of the departments regarding liaison with the families of civil servants who die while in service. The committee will act as a think-tank for reviewing laws, rules and policies extending benefits to the widows and simplification thereof developing SOPs for speedy processing of cases. It will also take measures for capacity building of focal persons nominated by the administrative departments for handling of cases of widows in the departments and monitoring progress of focal persons and help desk for assistance to widows of civil servants established in the complaint cell of the Chief Secretary.
The committee may suggest and recommend additional benefits and reforms to make the relief and assistance more meaningful. The Provincial Coordination Committee may constitute sub-committees for performing its functions.
Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary Punjab has established a help desk in his complaint cell at the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Lahore to coordinate with the concerned departments for speedy disposal of the cases of the widows of civil servants who die while in service regarding provision of admissible benefits available under different laws of the Punjab government. The incharge of the help desk will be responsible for reviewing complaints from the widows and their processing for ensuring redressal of their grievances, coordination with the focal persons of the administrative departments to collect and update the data about claims of the widows, monitoring performance of the focal persons nominated by the administrative departments for handling such cases and submission of periodical reports to the Provincial Coordination Committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary Punjab.