Govt implementing One-Rank One-Pension for ex-servicemen

Govt implementing One-Rank One-Pension for ex-servicemen Appealing to ex-servicemen not to take the extreme step of returning their gallantry awards, government today said it has started implementing recommendations of the high level panel on One-Rank One-Pension. However, Defence Minister A K Antony said in the Rajya Sabha that implementing the award in one go was difficult. "In one stretch, we will not be able to implement it but we are near that goal... it is a long process," he said. He said the government has implemented all recommendations of the committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary which went into the demands for One-Rank One-Pension. This would have a financial implication of Rs 2,200 crore and would help 12 lakh ex-servicemen, he said. Source: PTI

Grant of unequal pay in the same rank is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution'

Highlighting the plight of ex-servicemen, especially wives of deceased personnel, several hundreds former soldiers and officers on Sunday collected medals and submitted a memorandum to the President seeking ‘One Rank, One Pension (OROP)'. Under the Chairmanship of Lt. Gen. (retd.) Raj Kadyan of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), former soldiers and over 300 women assembled at Jantar Mantar here in support of the demand. “Some 6,000 medals have been collected to be returned to the President of India, the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, and we submitted a memorandum containing 1.25 lakh signatures in blood at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday,” IESM vice-chairman Major General (retd.) Satbir Singh told The Hindu. Plight of women Expressing anguish over the plight of wives of deceased jawans who have not got the benefits of an earlier raise given by the government, he asked how a woman can take care of the needs of a family with a pension of Rs.3,500. He said the IESM Chairman had sought personal audience from the President to meet a delegation on Sunday; but since that did not happen, it was decided to hand over the memorandum at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and not the boxes of medals. Gen. Satbir Singh said the ex-servicemen are also hurt that despite the recommendation by the Parliamentary Defence Standing Committee in May 2010, asking the government to consider afresh the OROP issue, nothing has been done. On the other hand, he said, reports suggest the government is considering raising further the salaries and allowances of Members of Parliament in the light of recommendations of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, all in a matter of few days. Congress MP from Punjab Pratap Singh Bajwa told The Hindu that he had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha last week stating that unequal pension exists even after the “so-called parity” in pension to Personnel Below Officers Rank. Inequality He said a soldier who retired before December 31, 2005, with parity in pension with effect from January 1, 2006 gets Rs.5,523 a month while a solider who retired after January 1, 2006 with same length of service gets Rs.8,700 a month. Citing the Babu Ram Dhiman versus Union of India case, he said the Chandigarh bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal ruled that the grant of unequal pay in the same rank was a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution and that the State cannot lay down different criteria for grant of pension for same rank of officers on the basis of the cut-off date of retirement. He urged the Defence Minister to reconsider the OROP issue and not compare them to civilian counterparts since their terms of service and risk the armed forces personnel face, in discharge of their duties with pride and honour, are different.

Ex-Servicemen Return Medals

NEW DELHI: In a major embarrassment for the government, over 5,000 ex-servicemen on Sunday threatened to return their medals over the government’s reluctance to accept their 'one-rank-one-pay' demand. They also submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil on the issue. The ex-servicemen have been demanding implementation of the one-rank-one-pay policy for the last 26 years. Interestingly, ex-servicemen have timed their protest to the MPs pay hike demand in a clear attempt to put more pressure on the government. Yashpal Rathi, a spokesman of the group, charged the government with insensitivity. “The government doesn't care about us. They are only concerned about us when we are fighting the enemy on the battlefield. But now we are considered as junk. Our protest is futile unless our demands are discussed in Parliament,” he said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a few months ago said that the demands of the ex-servicemen were being looked into. On March 5, 2010 the prime minister had said that a committee that was tasked to look into the demand did not come up with a favourable recommendation. “The factual position is that we have constituted a committee under the cabinet secretary to look in into issue of one-man-one-pension and other related matters. The committee did not recommend one-man-one-rank-pension,” Mr Singh had said. Defence minister AK Antony, too, had been maintaining that there were practical difficulties in accepting the demand. “The one-rank-one-pay demand for armed forces hasn't been totally accepted because it can't be given to Armed Forces alone. It would also have to be given to retired civilians, government officials, paramilitary forces and policemen,” the defence minister had said.

DUAL PENSION FOR WIDOWS

INFORMATION PUBLISHED SHOULD BE SPREAD AND SPREAD UNTIL SOMEONE GETS BENEFIT Every day and night millions and millions of people surf the Web in search of information. Whatever they gather, are freely distributed to all. But the benefits availed depends upon the individual’s curiosity to practice it. Crying child only gets milk. You knock only then the doors will open. Now that the information regarding the landmark judgement of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Kochi on the grant of dual family pension to the widows of the re-employed ex-servicemen in banks has been published. All the affected widows and their well wishers should note that even though the verdict is applicable for all similar cases, but the benefit is passed on only to the petitioner not to all. The respondents to the petitioner will never allow the verdict to be applicable to all unless and until all the affected file similar petitions individually in the Tribunal. Therefore now the ball is now in our court. All the affected widows and their well wishers should wake up now to knock the doors for similar verdict to get dual family pension. The judgment clearly says that “By no stretch of imagination, the pension received from Canara Bank can be treated as a pension received from the Government. So there is absolutely no merit on the contention (of the respondents) that she is not entitled to get pension from the Air Force……..” READ THE JUDGMENT HERE:http://www.aftdelhi.nic.in/benches/kochi_bench/judgments/may/TA_No.16_of_2010.pdf

Low Cost Housing For Personnel

Low Cost Housing For Personnel Army Welfare Housing Organization (AWHO) has taken up construction of low cost housing for the serving and retired Personnel Below Officer Ranks (PBOR) and widows of deceased PBORs under the Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY). Under the scheme, houses have been constructed in Jaipur and Pune with an expenditure of Rs. 12 Crores and Rs. 20 crores respectively and construction has been taken up at Allahabad with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 15 crores. Further, planning for construction of houses has been taken up at Belgaum (Karnataka) and Bhatinda (Punjab) with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 23 crores each; and at Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Dehradun (Uttarakhand) with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 16 crore each. Presently, the rates of dwelling units under JJAY schemes range between Rs. 8 to 12 lakhs, approximately. All serving and retired PBORs and widows of deceased PBORs and eligible for JJAY schemes which are allotted by a draw of lots in case the demand is more than the availability. This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Bhudeo Choudhary in Lok Sabha today. Source :PTI

MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY AIR CHIEF MARSHAL HRUSHIKESH MULGAONKAR

TODAY IS BIRTH DAY OF AIR CHIEF MARSHAL HRUSHIKESH MULGAONKAR, CHIEF OF AIR STAFF, HE WAS CAS DURING 1976 TO 1978, YOU CAN GET HIS DETAILS FROM SITE OF INDIAN AIR FORCE. HE HAS COMPLETED AGE OF 90 YEARS AND TOMORROW HE WILL BE ENTERING AGE OF 91., HE IS STILL SOUND AND IN GOOD HEALTH. LONG LIVE TO AIR CHIEF MARSHAL H MULGAONKAR. Ex-Sgt. WALAWALKAR JY

Widow of soldier entitled to dual pension

Widow of soldier entitled to dual pension ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL, KOCHI. Express News Service First Published : 23 Jul 2010 03:38:23 AM IST Last Updated : 23 Jul 2010 11:28:44 AM IST KOCHI: The Regional Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in Kochi on Wednesday ordered that the widow of a reemployed soldier is entitled to dual family pension. Disposing of a petition filed by Sobhanakumari of Malappuram, wife of the late Sergeant Sivasankaran Nair, the AFT comprising Justice K Padmanabhan Nair and Lt General Thomas Mathew pronounced the Ministry of Defence's stand against the petitioner's entitlement to get two family pensions simultaneously as "illegal and unsustainable". The petitioner's husband, after being discharged from Indian Air Force, got reemployment in Canara Bank and died in harness while serving in the bank. Till the date of his death, he was getting the Air Force pension. But, after her husband's death, when the petitioner claimed family pension, the Air Force rejected it on the grounds that she was getting pension from the bank. In her petition before the Tribunal, Santhakumari pointed out that there is no provision which disentitles her from getting two family pensions at a time and that the pension from the Canara Bank is not paid out of the consolidated fund of India. The MoD took the stand that she was not entitled to get two pensions based on Regulation 195 (a) of Pension Regulations of Air Force 1961 according to a legal heir shall be eligible for family pension from Air Force only if he or she is not in receipt of another pension from the government. Pointing out that Canara Bank is a statutory body incorporated under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act and that its funds are not part of the government funds, the AFT made it clear that the pension from Canara Bank cannot be treated as pension from the government. Hence there is no justification in denying family pension to the petitioner on the grounds that she has been already receiving pension from the bank The tribunal directed the MoD to disburse the pension within three months, failing which with interest at the rate of 9 percent a year.

TV PROGRAMME ON ISSUES OF EX- SERVICEMEN

TV PROGRAMME ON ISSUES OF EX- SERVICEMEN A Door Darshan Programme on issues of Ex Servicemen Titled. “Defence Watch” will be telecast at 10.30PM Today i.e. 08 Aug 10 at “DD News”. The programme will be repeated at 3.30 PM as Wednesday 11Aug 10. This programme has Gen Ashok Mehta as the anchor with Air Marshal Roy (ECHS expert), Brig Gulia (President IESL) and self as participants. You are requested to watch the programme. Pass on the info to as many ESM as possible. Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement

SBH HAS PAID THE ARREARS

STATE BANK OF HYDERABAD HAS PAID THE ARREARS ON JULY 31ST ALONG WITH JULY PENSION.