If the recommendations in
the draft notification on disability pension come into effect, the
disability pension for soldiers will go down substantially.
By:
IANS | Mumbai |
Published:October 12, 2016 9:54 pm
Parrikar said that misgivings are being created by “certain quarters”,
similar to what was done when the demand for One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP)
was there. (File photo)
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said he has raised the
issue of anomalies in the 7th Pay Commission report with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. “Yes,
there are some anomalies in the 7th pay commission and the pension…we
will resolve that. But, I don’t think that can be an issue for national
debate,” Parrikar said at an event here.
“I can assure the people of the country and our armed forces that I
have personally taken up the matter with the Prime Minister. There are
procedures of the government of India. We will complete those procedure
at the earliest and see that one by one, those anomalies are removed,”
he said.
Asked about the issue of disability pension, on which a draft
notification on the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission has been
uploaded on the Defence Ministry’s website, the minister said: “It is
just a draft now.”
The draft notification talks of replacing the present percentage-based system of pension with slab-based pension system.
“In disability pension also, there are some categories of officers,
in whose cases there could be some anomaly. We will check it,” he
assured.
The minister maintained: “No final order has been issued as yet, only
a draft resolution has been put up on the website. We will examine and
try to address all that can be addressed, and forward the same to the
anomalies committee for their opinion.”
If the recommendations in the draft notification on disability
pension come into effect, the disability pension for soldiers will go
down substantially.
Parrikar said that misgivings are being created by “certain
quarters”, similar to what was done when the demand for
One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP) was there. It took time to ensure that other
forces do not move the court with similar demands, he added.
“Not every one can be satisfied,” the Defence Minister said.
He informed that so far, two instalments of Rs 4,000 crore and Rs
2,000 crore have been released, with annual cost for OROP being Rs 7,500
crore.
“There are 20 lakh armed forces personnel and about 22 lakh
pensioners. It is a huge number, almost a third of the government
employees. Whenever you apply a principle to anyone, anomalies will
surface,” the minister said.
According to the pay panel’s recommendation, for 100 per cent
disability, an officer would get Rs 27,000 per month, those in the ranks
of Subedar Major to Naib Subedar would receive Rs 17,000, while
Havildars and below would get Rs 12,000.
At present, a soldier, who gets 100 per cent disability, is entitled
to a pension equal to the last drawn salary and an additional 50 per
cent as ‘service component’.
The draft notification invited criticism from ex-servicemen, who said it will affect the morale of the soldiers.
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