UPDATE ON MINIMUM PENSION FROM 1.1.2006 - BY MAJ.NAVDEEP

Chain mails are floating referring to a circular issued by the PCDA(P) stating that the MoD has issued orders concerning the implementation of the decision of the Supreme Court regarding grant of arrears from 01-01-2006 rather than 24-09-2012. The news is incorrect. The said circular only concerns defence civilian pensioners based on the letter issued for civilian pensioners by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’’ Welfare (DoPPW). It may kindly be understood that the PCDA(P) has no authority to issue circulars on its own till the time the MoD issues a Government letter to the said effect. However, the good news is that the MoD is also working on the same and the letter should be out soon. Some added time after the issuance of the DoPPW letter was expected to be taken by the MoD since there are certain additional issues to be addressed by the MoD over and above the ones in the DoPPW letter and a mutatis-mutandis letter could not have been issued. For example, the MoD is to add the Military Service Pay (MSP) also in addition to the elements in the civil letter and then unlike civil pensioners, separate tables would have to be ultimately prepared by the Defence Accounts Department for various ranks and different categories which are not applicable on the civil side. Moreover, the benefit of the upward revision would be differently applied to ranks other than Commissioned Officers since they had been granted pensions based on the maximum of 5^th CPC scales fitted into the 6^th CPC pay bands with effect from 01-07-2009 while officers and all civil employees were granted pensions based on minimum of pay of the pay bands. The comprehensive letter alongwith comprehensive tables would definitely be issued in due course and we would have to be a little patient about the same.

PCDA ISSUED CIRCULAR 144 IMPLEMENTING W.E.F. 1.1.2006 INSTEAD OF 24.9.2012 FOR DEFENCE CIVILIANS

Revision of pension of Pre-2006 pensioners – PCDA Circular on 14-08-2015

OFFICE OF THE PR. CONTROLLER OF DEFENCE ACCOUNTS (PENSIONS)
DRAUPADI GHAT, ALLAHABAD- 211014

Circular No: C-144

No:-GI/C/0198/Vol- V/Tech
O/o the Pr.C.D.A. (Pensions)
Draupadighat Allahabad -211014
Dated: 14-08-2015

To,
The Treasury Officer
The PO- Master, Kathua, Srinagar (J&K)
The PO- Master, Campbell Bay (Andman & Nicobar)
The Defence Pension Disbursing Officer
——————————
Pay & Accounts Officer
——————————
Military & Air Attache, Indian Embassay, Kathmandu, Nepal (through Gorkha Record
Officer, Kurnaghat, Gorakhpur)
Director of Accounts, Panji (Goa)
Finance Secretary, Gangtok, PO-l, Thimpu Bhutan
The General Manager (Nodal Officer, PSBs)
All Managers, CPPC of Public Sector Banks.
All Managers, CPPC of Authorized Private Banks.

Subject: Revision of pension of Pre-2006 pensioners – reg.
Reference: This office Important Circulars No. 102 bearing no. GI/C/0198/VOL-IV/Tech dated 11-02-2013.

Attention of all pension disbursing authorities is invited to above cited circular wherein instructions had been issued for implementation of GOI, Ministry of P,PG and pensions, Deptt of P&PW OM No. 38/37/08-P&PW(A,) dated 28 January, 2013 and this order was applicable w.e.f 24.09.2012. Now, GOI, Ministry of P, PG and pension, Dept of P&PW have further issued orders under their OM No. 38/37/08 P&PW (A) dated 30.07.2015, that “the pension/family pension of all pre-2006 pensioners/family pensioners my be revised in accordance with this Department’s OM No. 38/37/08-P&PW(A) dated 28.1.2013 with effect from 24.9.2012.”

(2) In case the consolidated pension/family pension calculated as per Para 4.1 of OM No.38/37/08-P&PW (A) dated 01-09-2008 is higher than the pension/family pension calculated in the manner indicated in the OM dated 28.01.2013, the same ( higher consolidated pension/family pension) will continue to be treated as basic pension/ family pension.

(3) All other conditions as given in OM No. 38/37/08-P&PW (A) dated 1.9.2008, as amended from time to time shall remain unchanged.

(4) All pension disbursing authorities are therefore, requested to revise the pension/family pension in affected cases in terms of Govt. OM No. 38 /37/08-P&PW(A) dated 28-01-2013 w.e.f. 01.01.2006 instead of 24.09.2012. Payment made w.e.f. 01.01.2006 will be adjusted against the arrears now being paid and these cases may be reflected in the monthly account sent to this office as ‘change item’.

(5) Where the PDAs are in doubt in regulating the payment of revised pension/family pension under these orders, the cases with full details of pensioner/family pensioners and PPO No: etc may be referred to Audit Section of this office for advice and further action.

sd/-
(Subhash Kumar)
A C D A (P

AS PER THE LATEST ORDER OF DOPT ISSUED FOR CIVILIANS, IF IMPLEMENTED TO VETERANS THE MINIMUM PENSION

MINIMUM PENSION TO BE FIXED AS PER LATEST ORDERS OF  DOPT
Rank	Pay band	Gr.Pay.	MSP	X gp pay	Total	Minimum Pension from 1.1.2006
X' GROUP
LAC	7490	2000	2000	1400	12890	6445
CPL	7720	2400	2000	1400	13520	6760
SGT	9300	2800	2000	1400	15500	7750
JWO	10740	4200	2000	1400	18340	9170
WO	12560	4600	2000	1400	20560	10280
MWO	13770	4800	2000	1400	21970	10985
Y' GROUP
LAC	7050	2000	2000	0	11050	5525
CPL	7490	2400	2000	0	11890	5945
SGT	8040	2800	2000	0	12840	6420
JWO	10460	4200	2000	0	16660	8330
WO	12280	4600	2000	0	18880	9440
MWO	12560	4800	2000	0	19360	9680
HFO/HFL	15600	5400	6000	0	27000	13500

MINIMUM PAY BAND FIXED FOR THE RANKS OF AIR FORCE
Group	LAC	CPL	SGT	JWO	WO	MWO	HFO/HFL
X Group	7490	7720	9300	10740	12560	13770	15600
Y Group	7050	7490	8040	10460	12280	12560	15600

Raj Kadyan hopeful of announcement on OROP scheme on Aug. 15

New Delhi, Aug. 11 : Defence expert Lieutenant General (Retd.) Raj Kadyan on Tuesday said he was hopeful that the government would make an announcement on implementation of the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme on August 15.

Lieutenant General (Retd.) Kadyan, along with a delegation of ex-servicemen, had met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss the OROP issue yesterday.

“The meeting with the Finance Minister was very positive, he is a patient listener. We put forth our points, we asked about the status where it stands today. He has one or two issues of worry from his side to which we adequately responded. We made it very clear that no dilution in the definition that has been worked out by the Koshyari Committee and accepted on the floor of the Parliament will be acceptable to ex-servicemen,” Lieutenant General (Retd.) Kadyan told ANI.

“He then clarified that it is matter of days not months. If I go by my own assessment on this, we can hope something to come on 15th August, we are very hopeful. Otherwise the agitation will continue,” he added.

The One Rank, One Pension scheme has been a long-standing demand of ex-servicemen. It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel, who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement. (ANI)

Click below for news 

https://youtu.be/wwBvqm6K0Vc  

PM LIKELY TO ANNOUNCE DATE OF OROP ON AUGUST 15

File Photo.

NEW DELHI: Agitating military veterans, on a relay hunger strike for the last 57 days, are now hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce the long-delayed implementation of one rank, one pension (OROP) from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15.

Some ex-servicemen say there "are concrete indications" that the government will announce OROP on Independence Day since "the file, after some heated disagreements between the finance and defence ministries, has finally reached the PMO".

PRE-2006 PENSIONERS-ORDERS ISSUED FOR MINIMUM 50% OF PENSION OF PRESENT PAY

GOOD NEWS-ORDERS ISSUED TO REVISE PENSION FROM 1.1.2006 TO 24.9.2012 to Pre-2006 pensioners.

Pension Revision From 1-1-06

ISSUE OF MEDICAL CERTIFICATES BY ECHS

ECHS HAS ISSUED ORDERS  TO ISSUE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES FOR THE BENIFICIARIES. FOR ORDERS CLICK THE LINK PROVIDED

http://echs.gov.in/images/pdf/med/med141.pdf

Behind One Rank One Pension scheme delay, worry about small hike for jawans

MoD sources said that the main reason behind the delay is the minuscule increase that jawans may get if OROP is implemented in its present form.

The fear within political decision-makers is that OROP, if implemented in present form, may result in many dragging the government to courts, and may even create a political crisis. (Source: PTI)

Written by Pranav Kulkarni | New Delhi | Updated: June 26, 2015 8:31 am

As ex-servicemen steadfastly press for the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP), top Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources have said that the main reason behind the delay is not funds, but the minuscule increase that jawans may get if OROP is implemented in its present form.

Sources said that the concern within the government is that the jawans may get an increase of just about “few hundred” rupees per month — a raise that may not justify the decade long OROP agitation.

The fear within political decision-makers is that OROP, if implemented in present form, may result in many dragging the government to courts, and may even create a political crisis. “It is no longer a budgetary concern. The formula to arrive at Rs 8,300-odd crores has already been approved. The real worries within South Block are political. Under the present formula, the jawans may just get about few hundred rupees of increase per month in their present pensions. This amount, the political class within the present government believes, is too small to pacify the agitation that has been spread over almost three decades,” a top Defence Ministry official said.

According to the official, the implementation — which is just short of being announced any moment, may trigger dissatisfaction and will result in soldiers dragging the government to courts and become a political issue. Citing the reason behind the small increase for jawans, the official said: “The government, in 2009, corrected the pensions of retired armed forces personnel to parity as per Sixth Central Pay Commission.

The jawans largely benefited out of the correction as the pension amounts increased. So the gap that earlier existed has largely been bridged. Rs 5000 crore has already been spent on bringing about the parity,” the official said. According to Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) data, OROP — if implemented in its present form — will ensure an increase of between Rs 525 and Rs 1,720 to jawans in their monthly pensions by virtue of percentage of their low basic pensions. Widows will get a hike of Rs 1,500 per month. The officers are likely to get a per month pension increase between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.

According to sources, UPA too was worried about the political and legal consequences of these “relatively small” monthly increments after implementing OROP and had carried out “three rounds of equalisation” to work out a solution.

The MoD official said that so far, the present government, though committed, has not carried out any such equalisation. Group Captain V K Gandhi, general secretary, IESM said, “Our present demands have been agreed upon not only by officers but even by jawans. We are not willing to accept any dilution in the demands.”

One Rank One Pension: Madras High Court Notice to Centre on Petition by Ex Serviceman

MADURAI:  The Madras High Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a petition seeking a direction to issue a notification to implement the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme within a stipulated period.

Acting on the petition by ex-serviceman S Chinnadurai, Justice S Vaidyanathan ordered notice to the Cabinet, Finance and Defence secretaries and sought their reply within two weeks.

The petitioner contended that 90 per cent of the ex- servicemen are living below the poverty line.

Previous governments had already announced OROP and allocated Rs. 500 crore for it. On May 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also assured that OROP would be implemented by the government but no timeframe had been given, he alleged.

The Indian ex-servicemen movement had also sent a memorandum and he had also submitted a representation.

     

Mr Chinnadurai said it was mandatory on the part of the government to implement OROP before the fiscal 2014-15 after announcing the scheme.

The delay in implementing the scheme would demoralize serving soldiers and ex-serviceman and adversely affect the integrity of the country, he said.

He said that armymen, who sacrificed the better part of their youth for the country, were not even getting proper jobs after they retired between 30 and 40 years of age.

Read at NDTV

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New OROP formula may be similar to MPs’ pension plan TNN | Jun 5, 2015, 04.48 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The government is working on a fresh option to resolve the ongoing stand-off over 'one-rank-one-pension' demand of ex-servicemen, sources said on Thursday. 

According to a senior government official, they are working on a proposal that would be similar to the pension scheme for MPs. The scheme operates on a band concept, with additional money for each additional year of service. 

The proposal is to create pension bands for each rank, and then provide additional money for each extra year of service. So all officers who retire in a particular rank will be in the same band of pension, with the total pension payment going up according to the number of years he has spent in that rank. 

"We are working out the fine details," one source said. Senior government officials are thrashing out the finer details, and it would be presented to the representatives of ex-servicemen and the military brass. 

The latest move comes even as ex-servicemen are continuing with their protests against what they feel is a huge let down by the Narendra Modi government, which had come to power promising to implement the OROP scheme. 

Defence matters: A new spoke in the 'One Rank One Pension' wheel

• Lt-Gen Harwant Singh (Retd)
| 
• Updated: Jun 02, 2015 10:47 IST

It needs to be stated that central police organisations (CPOs) are wrongly designating themselves and by some others as paramilitary. There is absolutely nothing military about them. Masquerading as paramilitary, they ask for equivalent of one rank, one pension (OROP). They appear to have been prompted by others opposed to the grant of the OROP. This is yet another attempt to put one more spoke in the OROP wheel.

There are only two paramilitary groups in India — Assam Rifles and Rashtriya Rifles. So, the police, including the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a plethora of others, need to disabuse themselves of this notion of being paramilitary.

ANOMALIES IN ALLOWANCES

Nearly 85% of military personnel retire at the age of 35-37 years whereas policemen retire at the age of 60. Another 23-24% of military personnel retire at varying ages between 45 and 56 years. When a soldier and a police constable reach the age of 60, the latter would have drawn approximately `45 lakh more than a soldier (pay in the case of a constable and pay plus pension in the case of a soldier). So, it’s pointless to compare onions with apples. Look at the anomalies in just a few allowances which an armyman gets and a policeman is given. The paratrooper allowance for a soldier is Rs 800 to Rs 1,200, whereas it is between Rs 7,200 and Rs 11,000 in case of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA BN), which is one of the CPOs.

AT THE RECEIVING END

A disabled armyman is sent out of service whereas a government servant is retained till the age of 60 years. A soldier posted in Kashmir (other than high altitude) and northeast gets no special allowance, whereas a policeman from the CPO gets double house rent allowance (HRA). When posted in peace stations such as Shillong, Aizwal, Sikkim and better part of Jammu and Kashmir, a soldier gets no extra allowance, whereas a policeman from the CPO gets 12.5% of the basic pay as a special duty allowance —25% of the basic pay as hardship allowance for IAS officers of the UT cadre and detachment allowance of Rs 300 per day for all central armed police forces personnel. None of these allowances are applicable to the defence services. Then there is what is called headquarter allowance of Rs 4,000 for the civil services officials which the officers of the defence forces don’t get. While the list of such difference is long, just one more example should drive home the point as to how civil services and the CPOs have feathered their nests. A defence services officer on instructional staff at the National Defence College gets Rs 1,800 per month whereas one from the CPO and civil services gets Rs 19,000 per month.

DISCRIMINATION

The higher command of the defence services need to explain to their officers and men as to how this vast difference in allowances have come about and why they have never raised such issues with the seriousness they demand. Why they were being denied non-functional upgradation and how the services came to accept this palpable discrimination?

Some retired chiefs of the CPOs have alleged that their personnel have suffered more casualties than armymen. This is evidently incorrect. Most CPO casualties have been at the hands of ill-trained and ill-equipped Maoists and other insurgent groups and all this speaks poorly of the leadership and training of these CPOs. These chiefs of the CPOs need tell us as to how many IPS officers have been killed in fighting Maoists. The BSF needs tell the nation how more than three crore Bangladeshis have crossed over to India?

EXCUSE TO DELAY OROP

This government is fast losing its credibility and appears to be seeking one or the other excuse to delay and perhaps dilute the OROP. Various figures are being floated, but no one tells how much nonfunctional upgradation has been granted since the sixth pay commission to the class-A central services officers (over four dozen of them). As also if any of these services suffer anywhere near the same range of disadvantages as the defence services officers.

Though the parliamentary committee has been very clear and precise in spelling out what exactly the OROP is, it is the bureaucracy which is trying to flummox the politicians by firstly throwing different figures and then frightening them that others too will ask for the same. On the other hand, they also prompt the others to demand the OROP. The political class should be alive to the compelling rationale for the grant of the OROP.

UNAWARE POLITICIANS

The political class seems to be unaware of the deep bonding between the veterans and those still in service, and the denial to the former, what is rightly their due, will equally impact the latter.

Finally, the Supreme Court was constrained to observe that the veterans were being forced to beg. Today, the military service fails to draw the right material in its officer cadre and it is possible to substantiate this argument with many instances of poor display of leadership within the military in the recent past.

Let this piece end with a quote from Lord Morgan’s book — Anatomy of Courage. “If we persuade intelligent youth to hold back from the army in peace, we ought not to complain, if we are poorly led in war.” India has a long history of its armies being poorly led and thus suffering unbroken chains of military defeats at the hands of invading armies.

DELAY IN ONE RANK ONE PENSION -

(Source- Jottings)

One rank, one pension: Army veterans running out of patience, plan protest rallies

Rahul Singh, Hindustan Times, NewDelhi

 |  

Updated: May 29, 2015 09:39 IST

The failure of the NDA government to implement the longstanding demand for one rank, one pension (OROP) in its first year has fanned deep resentment among ex-servicemen who have now decided to boycott official functions, hold rallies and go on hunger strikes in protest.

On Thursday, a 1971 war hero declined to attend a function in Pune where defence minister Manohar Parrikar and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis were to felicitate him. Wing Commander SD Karnik (retd) decided to boycott the function as there was “no action, talk only” by the government on OROP.

The pension scheme is aimed at ensuring that retired soldiers of the same rank and the same length of service receive the same pension, irrespective of their date of retirement. The initial corpus of the scheme is estimated to around Rs 8,300 crore.

Various ex-servicemen groups were hoping that Prime Minister Modi would make an announcement about the implementation of OROP on May 25 during a rally in Mathura to mark the government’s first year in office. The OROP is expected to benefit close to 3 million defence pensioners.

Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who heads the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement, said, “We will do all we can to lodge our protest over the non-implementation of the OROP despite the PM’s and defence minister’s assurances. We are planning to hold a big rally in Delhi on June 14 followed by hunger strikes across the country.”

Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan asked veterans to be patient, stressing that the government was seized of the matter. Currently, all pre-2006 (the year the 6th pay panel report became effective) pensioners receive lesser pension than not only their counterparts but also their juniors. For instance, a major general who retired in 1995 draws a basic pension of Rs 30,350 but an officer retiring in the same rank after 2006 gets Rs 38,500.

Similarly, a colonel who retired in 2003 gets Rs 26,150, compared to Rs 34,000 drawn by a colonel who retired this year. The implementation of the scheme is expected to benefit 600,000 widows. Decorated veterans have in the past returned their medals, gone on hunger strikes and signed petitions in blood to draw the government’s attention to the OROP issue.

The UPA government had in 2009 declared that it had earmarked Rs 2,200 crore annually to improve the pension of jawans, a step it described as partial implementation of the OROP that had benefitted 1.2 million pensioners.

The OROP proposal was stuck as the defence ministry had to iron out some complex administrative and financial issues. The sticking points in its implementation have been resolved by the defence ministry and the matter is currently being scrutinised by the finance ministry.

Read: Be patient, navy chief admiral RK Dhowan to ex-servicemen on 'One Rank One Pension'

(Source- Hindusthan Times)

======================================

A year on, ex-servicemen await govt to deliver on OROP promise

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 17

Retired veterans of the armed forces say they are awaiting three key promises made to them by the Centre to be fulfilled even as the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is scheduled to complete its first year in office on May 26.

Maj General Satbir Singh (retd), vice-chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), today said President Pranab Mukherjee, while addressing the first joint session of Parliament of this government on June 9 last year, had stressed on these three issues.

The President said: “My government ….will appoint a veterans’ commission; build a national war memorial to honour the gallantry of our soldiers ...and the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme will be implemented.”

Sources in the government said the OROP could be formally announced on May 26. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who was in Goa today, said the much-awaited OROP for the armed forces was likely to be cleared in a few days.  

One Rank One Pension Cleared in Principle, PM Modi to Take Final Call: Sources

One Rank One Pension Cleared in Principle, PM Modi to Take Final Call: Sources

New Delhi:  The Centre has in principle cleared the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme for retired armed forces personnel, sources have told NDTV. The government has made a provision for an additional Rs. 8,300 crore for this purpose.

The scheme, which seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, has been a long-standing demand of the over 20 lakh ex-servicemen in the country. Majority of Defence personnel hang up their boots much before 60 years. Also, over the years the disparity in the pension drawn by personnel of same rank who retired for instance a decade ago and those who retire now is substantial.

Demand for One Rank One Pension has been an emotive issue with defence pensioners for long. And, between 2008- 2010 veterans have on several occasions marched to Rashtrapati Bhavan to return their gallantry medals.

Sources say once Prime Minister Narendra Modi is back on May 19 from his three-nation tour, a final round of discussions will take place with him. The official announcement is likely to be made later this month, coinciding with the first anniversary celebrations of the NDA government.

The government has already made it clear that One Rank One Pension will be implemented with effect from April 1, 2014.

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