CGEGIS is a group insurance scheme covering regular Central government employees. 

The panel, headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, is seeking detailed payout information from ministries, departments, and Union Territory (UT) administrations for three more financial years, in addition to the years already covered. The move could provide the Commission a broader financial picture of the scheme.

In a recent communication to ministries, departments, and UT administrations, 8th CPC Deputy Secretary Ravi Prakash Yadav told nodal officers that “Annexure-M (CGEGIS) has been revised to include additional information for the financial years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23”.

The communication does not spell out how the additional three years of data will figure in its eventual recommendations. But the expanded Annexure-M will give the Commission a longer record of employee deaths, insurance payouts, and savings-component payments.

The Scheme

Under CGEGIS, a monthly contribution is deducted from an employee's salary and divided between an insurance fund and a savings fund. The insurance component provides a benefit to the family when an employee dies in service, while the savings component is paid back to the employee at retirement.

For Groups A, B and C, departments have been asked to report the amount paid under the insurance component, the amount paid under the savings component, and the number of employees who died while in service for each year from 2017-18 to 2025-26.

The exercise will therefore give the Commission a year-wise and employee-group-wise record of CGEGIS-related payments, including amounts paid to families following the death of employees in service and savings amounts returned to employees upon retirement.

Demands For Restructuring CGEGIS

Employee organisations have intensified demands for restructuring the scheme, particularly its insurance component. 

A memorandum submitted by the Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO) has pointed to the relatively low insurance cover available to employees, particularly in Group C. It has argued that the existing Group C insurance slab of ₹1.5 lakh dates back to the era of the 4th Pay Commission and no longer reflects prevailing financial conditions.

Other employee associations have also made similar submissions. The Ministerial Staff Association (MSA), Survey of India, said in its memorandum that CGEGIS “has not been revised since its inception in 1990”. 

It argued that the present insurance cover is inadequate to provide meaningful financial protection to the family of an employee who dies while in service. It has sought an increase of at least 10 times in the existing insurance cover.

CGEGIS Insurance Slabs

The FNPO has similarly argued that CGEGIS insurance slabs have remained linked to recommendations dating back more than four decades. It has called for the 7th CPC-recommended slabs of ₹15 lakh for Group C, ₹25 lakh for Group B, and ₹50 lakh for Group A to be implemented as minimum levels, followed by further enhancement under the 8th CPC.

The postal employees’ federation has also proposed higher monthly contributions of ₹1,000, ₹1,500 and ₹3,000 for Groups C, B, and A respectively, alongside insurance covers of ₹1 crore, ₹1.5 crore, and ₹3 crore. It has proposed an inflation-linked mechanism under which CGEGIS coverage would rise automatically by 25% whenever the Dearness Allowance reaches 50%.

The Railways Senior Citizens Welfare Society (RSCWS) has also urged the 8th CPC to examine the scheme. In its memorandum, it said the insurance coverage is widely viewed as inadequate in the light of present-day financial requirements and that the benefits are not commensurate with contributions deducted over extended periods.