Himachal CM seeks ‘one rank, one pension’ for ex-servicemen

   Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Saturday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi here and pleaded the case for implementation of ‘one rank, one pension’ scheme for the ex-servicemen.

   He said the implementation of the scheme would benefit the majority of the ex-servicemen in the state and would give them additional economic security in their old age.

   The chief minister also apprised Gandhi about various developmental projects and schemes launched in the state, an official statement said.

   He said the state has adopted the party’s election manifesto as an official document and all the promises made in the manifesto are being implemented.

Fixation of salary in Public Sector Banks to re-employed ex-servicemen.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
JEEVAN DEEP
10, PARLIAMENT STREET.,
NEW DELHI-110 001

F. No.4/1/2012-SCT (B)

Dear,
   Please refer to your D.O. No 12(35)1211/D(Res-I) dated 24/04/2012 regarding grievances of ex-servicemen re-employed in Public Sector Banks for fixation of their salary in banks.

   2. In this connection, I would like to mention that the Department of Financial Services had circulated instructions/directions/Circulars such as of the DoP&T’s earlier OM No. 3/19/2009-Estt.Pay II dated 8.11.2010 as well as the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’S letter No.1(4)/2007/D(Pen/Policy) dated 09.02.2011 to all Public Sector Banks(PSBs)/Financial Institutions (FIs) and Insurance Companies (ICs) for compliance.

Committee to Look Into pay and Pension Grievance Of Retired Military Personnel.

   A Committee was constituted by the Government in July, 2012 under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary and consisting of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Secretary, Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare and Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training for looking into the pay and pension related issues of relevance to Defence Services Personnel and Ex- Servicemen.

   Although there was no military representative on the Committee, consultations were held with all the Service Chiefs by the Committee before finalizing the recommendations.

   Four recommendations were made by the Committee on revision of pension/family pension of Armed Forces personnel. They are- One Rank One Pension - Bridging the gap in pensions, Enhancement of family pensions, Dual family pension and pension to physically/mentally challenged son/daughter of armed forces personnel on marriage. All the recommendations of the Committee, 2012 have been implemented by issue of eight Government letters on 17.1.2013. These are available on the websites www.desw.gov.in and www.cgda.nic.in.

    This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Shri Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Dr. Chandan Mitra in Rajya Sabha today.

Eligibility of Unmarried Daughters of Armed Forces personnel for grant of Family Pension beyond 25 years of Age.

No. 2(2)/2012/D(Pen/Pol)
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare

New Delhi the 14th Dec., 2012

To
The Chief of Army Staff
The Chief of Naval Staff
The Chief of Air Staff

Subject:- Eligibility of Unmarried Daughters of Armed Forces personnel for grant of Family Pension beyond 25 years of Age.

Sir,

   The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry's ID No. 878/A/D(Pen/Sers)/04 dated 21.9.2004 extending the provisions of Department of P&PW OM No. 1/19/03-P&PW (E) dated 25.08.2004 and this Ministry's letter No. 1(3)/2007-(Pen/Policy) dated 25.10.07 which makes unmarried/widowed/divorced daughter eligible for family pension beyond 25 years of age subject to fulfilment of other prescribed conditions. Attention is also invited to this Ministry's ID No. 9(6)/2007-D(Pen/Policy) dated 21.2.2008 under which it was clarified in consultation with Department of P&PW that liberalised family pension/special family pension (dependent pension) was not covered under the provisions of this Ministry's above said letter dated 25.10.2007. A lot of references are being received in this Ministry for making unmarried/widowed/divorced daughter eligible for grant of liberalised family pension/special family pension beyond 25 years of age, if otherwise in order. References are also being received in this Ministry for dissolving the provisions contained in Regulation 230(c) of Pension Regulations for the Army Part - I (1961) and similar provision in Pension Regulations for Navy and Air Force, which debars unmarried daughters for continuance of Special Family pension if they were in receipt of children allowance even after disqualification of all other eligible heir(s).

Ex-servicemen to get timely pensions

   The defence ministry on Wednesday took several decisions to ensure ex-servicemen get their pensions in time, stung by criticism over the huge delay in former NSG commando Surender Singh getting all his dues. Anti-graft crusader Arvind Kejriwal had raised the case of Singh, who was injured in the 26/11 terror attacks, last month, forcing the government to admit there had been a considerable delay since the soldier's retirement "paperwork'' had not been completed in time.

   At a meeting chaired by defence minister A K Antony, it was decided that 50% of the pension of soldiers who are "invalidated out" or are "war casualties" should be disbursed immediately, pending the completion of retirement/medical board formalities. It was also decided the Army and Navy should follow the IAF's example of the which has established " e-tracking process" to ensure pensions are disbursed in time.

Grievance of EX-Servicemen.

   In view of the persistent demand from the Ex-servicemen and their associations, Government constituted a committee headed by Cabinet Secretary in July, 2012 to look into the Pay & Pension related issues of Armed Forces personnel & ex-servicemen.

   The Committee submitted its report dated 17.08.2012 on pension issues, which has been accepted by the Government. The recommendations relate to OROP-Bridging the gap in pension, Enhancement of family pension, Dual Family Pension and Family pension to mentally / physically challenged son/daughter of armed forces personnel on marriage.

Amendments in Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Central Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 2012.

[To be published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub section (I)]

Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, dated the 4th October, 2012

   G.S.R. - In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to article 309 of the Constitution, the President hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Central Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979, namely:-

   1. (1) These rules may be called the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Central Civil Services and Posts) Amendment Rules, 2012.

   (2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

   2. In the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Central Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979

(I) in rule 2, for clause (C), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

Deprived Section of Ex-Servicemen.

   Ex-servicemen with service less than 15 years are not entitled to pension as it is a mandatory requirement for a Personnel Below Officer Rank to render 15 years and for Commissioned Officers 20 years qualifying service to earn pension. Minimum qualifying service is an essential criterion for pension in the Government.

   The Short Service Commissioned Officers who are not pensioners are eligible for certain schemes of DGR like Training, Security Agencies and other self-employment schemes. Ex-Defence personnel with more than 5 years of service are entitled to CSD canteen facilities available in units / establishment apart from being employed as security guards. Some grants out of RakshaMantri Discretionary Funds is also provided to non-pensioners upto the rank of Havaldar.

Re-Employment to Ex-Servicemen.

   Central Government provides 10% reservation for Ex- servicemen in civil jobs in Group `C` posts and 20% in Group `D` posts. Most State Governments provide reservation for Ex-servicemen which varies from State to State as it is based on the total population of Ex- servicemen domiciled in the State and the rehabilitation policy of the concerned State.

Welfare Schemes for Ex-Servicemen

The details of welfare schemes for Ex-Servicemen are as below:            Financial Assistance from Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF): (I)                1.         Financial assistance to institutions: (a)               Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centres (PRC) at Kirkee and Mohali. (b)               St Dunstan’s After Care Organisation. (c)                Cheshire Homes at Delhi, Dehradun, Lucknow. 2.                  Financial assistance for serious ailments: to the non-pensioners only. 3.                  Supply of Honda Activa (Self Starter) Scooter to ESM. 4.                  Tool Kit for Ex-Servicemen Technicians. 5.                  Re-imbursement of interest by way of subsidy on loan taken from banks for construction of house to War bereaved, war disabled and attributable peace time casualties and their dependents.

6.                  Grant to Training-cum-Productions Centres in Military Hospitals and other places. 7.                  War Memorial Hostels: The War Memorial Hostels were constructed with a view to provide shelter to the children of War widows, war- disabled, attributable cases. 8.                  Sharing cost of construction of Sainik Rest Houses. 9.                  Financial Assistance from RakshaMantri’s Discretionary Fund (RMDF). The financial assistance is provided to needy Ex- servicemen, widows and wards from RMDF for various purposes. 10.              Prime Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme. 11.              Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). (II)        Resettlement and Rehabilitation Schemes: (A)        TRAINING PROGRAMME:  for Officers, JCO/OR and Ex-Servicemen (ESM) Training. (B)        RE-EMPLOYMENT:       in Central and State Government; Re-employment through DGR; DGR sponsored Security Services Scheme. (C)           LOAN RELATED WELFARE SCHEMES:Enterpreneur Schemes; Herbal and Medicinal Plants; Horticulture; Floriculture; Franchising; Other Business Activities. (i)    SELF EMPLOYMENT SCHEMES:Ex-Servicemen Coal Loading and Transportation Scheme; Coal Tipper Attachment Scheme; Management of CNG Station by ESM (Officers) in NCR; Mother Dairy Milk Booths and Fruit & Vegetable (Safal) shops; Allotment of Oil Product Agencies under 8% Defence quota; Allotment of LPG Agency under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG VitrakYojana; Allotment of Regular LPG, Distributor under 18% quota; Sponsorship of ESM(O) of COCO Operatorship; Allotment of Army Surplus Vehicles.             Widows, dependents and children of martyred and disabled war soldiers get liberalized/special/normal family pension as per their entitlement. Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare in the Ministry of Defence is the Nodal Department for welfare of ex-serviccmen, widows or dependents and children of martyred and disabled soldiers. Its attached offices namely Directorate General of Resettlement andKendriyaSainik Board are working in this direction. Rajya and ZilaSainik Boards at the State & district level look into the condition of families of martyrs and disabled soldiers.             Besides this, each Service Headquarter has dedicated cell to look into welfare issues of widows, dependents and children of martyred and disabled war soldiers. Record offices, local formations/units have system in place to periodically interact formally & informally with families of martyred & disabled soldiers. Category-wise details of welfare schemes for ESM are as follows: Category Army Air-force Navy Total Widows of Ex-Servicemen 500033 24384 11742 536159 War Widows 4173 44 19 4236 Disabled Ex-Servicemen 4397 197 176 4770    This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr MM PallamRajuin a written reply to ShriIshwarlalShankarlal Jain in Rajya Sabha today.