Malicious Reversion to Slab System of Disability Pension
Malicious Reversion to Slab System of Disability Pension
Remember 3rd CPC? Post 1971 Victory the then government had reduced pension of soldiers from 70 percent to 50 percent! The present government has, post-surgical strikes, in a macabre replay of similar cussedness has with Notification dated 30 September 16, has reduced Disability Pension of Military to less than half that of equivalent Group A/IAS official.
Protection available to Disabled Civilian. People with Disabilities constitute 2.21 percent of Indian population. Consequently they have been provided three percent reservations in government jobs. A disabled government employee is guaranteed job security under Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. This act guarantees job as also full time attendant to even those employees who suffer from 100 percent disability. Some of the major benefits available to a civilian government employee, including Defence Civilians are:-
(a) Job guarantee till normal age of retirement, which is 57 to 60 years for civilian employees.
(b) Special Allowance for Disabled Women Employees at rate of Rs. 3000/- per month.
(c) Transport Allowance at double the normal rates subject to minimum Rs. 2250/- per month.
(d) Special Casual Leave of four days in a year.
(e) Special Casual Leave of 10 days in a year to attend seminars/training etc related to disability.
(f) Children Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy at double the normal rates.
(g) Disability Pension at 30 percent of last pay drawn for 100 percent disability. Which for a civilian employee of equivalents grade as Sepoy will be Rs. 21000/ per month.
No Protection for Disabled Military Officer and Men. Officers and men serving in the Indian Military get none of the above mentioned facilities. Instead:-
(a) Protection of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 not available to military. Hence can be thrown out (invalided) of job.
(b) No special allowances of any kind.
(c) No special leave of any kind.
(d) No help for children etc.
(e) Disability Pension at Slab System, which for a Sepoy will be Rs. 12000/ per month, which is just about half of equivalent civilian employee.
Uniqueness of Military Service. While discussing probability of onset of job related disability in military we need to remember two immutable facts.
(a) Inherently Stressful job of Army Officers and Soldiers. This fact is acknowledged by the MoD itself, who have DRDO (DIPR) conducted a number of studies to understand and remove/ reduce causes of stress in the Army. Apparently stress of military life will over a period of time result in disability due to causes like cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes and such like diseases.
(b) Presumption of Fitness at the time of Enrollment. Supreme Court has opined that since only physically fit persons can join the military hence presumption is that any disability occurring during service has to be attributable to military service. The 7th CPC has also called for a liberal approach by observing that there is a presumption of service-connection in all disabilities that arise during service.
Hollow Arguments of 7th CPC. Now let us revisit 7th CPC arguments which form the basis for MoD Notification dated 30 September 16 on Military Pension.
(a) Malicious Argument. The 7th CPC maliciously states that 'no officer has been invalidated from service in last 10 years. Apparently it wants to buttress it argument that officers are misusing the disability regime. But it clearly hides the fact that nobody, but, nobody is invalidated from his job amongst the civilian employees. Thus it is no crime for a military officer with less than 75 percent disability to continue in service. These officers retire with disability pension which is their due and not more.
(b) Nailing the Misuse of System Argument. To prove that officers of brigadier and higher rank have been misusing the system of disability pension the 7th CPC has produced a table covering the period 2007 - 2013 showing percent of officers from various ranks getting disability pension. This table shows that percent of Colonels and Lieutenant General retiring with disability pension has remained nearly constant. However their has been perceptible increase in percentage of Lieutenant Colonel, Brigadier and Major General.
(c) One-sided, hence Biased Approach. The 7th CPC has based its recommendations on apparently one-sided inputs given by CGDA. It has failed to provide an opportunity to reply to the accused, which is a mandatory requirement under the law of the land. If 7th CPC or the government of India had any desire to really know the truth they should have asked for a response from Services Headquarters.
(d) Need to Discount Statistical Error. Out of a total military strength of 1300000 the officers are 70000 or 5.4 percent. As per 7th CPC during the period 2007-2014 a total of 37537 All Rank retired with disability from three services and out of them 2151 or 5.73 percent were the officers. This marginal difference of .3 percent can even be due to statistical error.
(e) Mass Punishment is Illegal. Coming to Brigadier and Major Generals. As per figures available in public domain around 2300 officers retire from three services every year, of which approximately 180 are Brigadier/ Major General equivalent. As per 7th CPC their disability percentage has jumped from 7.6 in 2007-08 to 17 percent in 2013-14. Even if we discount the increase in absolute numbers on account of AVSC and for argument sake accept that entire increase is malafide, total number of such manipulator comes to 10 per year or 70 for the period 2007-14. Which means that for fault of 70 the 7th CPC has recommended and government of India has punished 18.7 million military pensioners in general and 43000 officer rank pensioners in particular!
Recommendations for Defence Minister and COSC. It is apparent that 7th CPC, with malicious intent, has made biased recommendation for reversion to Slab System of Disability Pension for the military. By accepting these illogical and biased recommendations the government of India in general and MoD in particular have adopted an openly discriminatory approach towards the military in general and Military Officer Corps in particular. This is a matter which goes much beyond pension and shows adversarial attitude of politico-bureaucratic combine. Hence I recommend:-
(a) Need to apply same yardstick to all disabled government employees. The 7th CPC is wrong in claiming that military disability pension was skewed in favour of officers by the 6th CPC. Fact is that 6th CPC merely brought disability rates for defence personnel at par with civilians who were always on 'percentage of pay' system for calculating disability pension. Thus if `equilibrium has been disturbed in case of military than same is the case of civilian employees. The Modi government having accepted the recommendations of 7th CPC has a duty to explain why slab system of the disability pension has not been extended to the civilian employees? The Defence Minister should apply similar System of Disability Pension to all employees of MoD including Defence Civilians and Military.
(b) Demand Higher Starting Threshold for Jawans. Defence Minister be asked to immediately reverse the notification regarding Disability Penison for Military and bring back Percentage Based Disability Pension with a proviso that minimum disability Pension for military will be Rs. 20000/-.
(c) Order Inquiry. COSC may please ask three services to order in-depth time-bound inquiry into the allegation of 7th CPC that some Brigadier and higher rank officers have manipulated the system to claim disability pension. Those found guilty be stripped off their disability pension and prosecuted for fraud.
(d) Approach the People. In a democracy military belongs to the people and because of their willingness to give ultimate sacrifice both officers as also soldiers are held in great esteem by the society. These societies ensure that their militaries get higher pay and allowances while serving and also grant liberal pensionary and disability benefits to their disabled soldiers. But sadly unholy nexus of politico-bureaucratic combine has denied fair compensation to Indian military and the Military Officer Corps is being subjected to innuendo and deprivation too. This point needs to be driven hope to Indian Parliament through a sustained campaign by Services Hqs through official channels like Parliamentary Committees and by veterans through media.
Remember 3rd CPC? Post 1971 Victory the then government had reduced pension of soldiers from 70 percent to 50 percent! The present government has, post-surgical strikes, in a macabre replay of similar cussedness has with Notification dated 30 September 16, has reduced Disability Pension of Military to less than half that of equivalent Group A/IAS official.
Protection available to Disabled Civilian. People with Disabilities constitute 2.21 percent of Indian population. Consequently they have been provided three percent reservations in government jobs. A disabled government employee is guaranteed job security under Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. This act guarantees job as also full time attendant to even those employees who suffer from 100 percent disability. Some of the major benefits available to a civilian government employee, including Defence Civilians are:-
(a) Job guarantee till normal age of retirement, which is 57 to 60 years for civilian employees.
(b) Special Allowance for Disabled Women Employees at rate of Rs. 3000/- per month.
(c) Transport Allowance at double the normal rates subject to minimum Rs. 2250/- per month.
(d) Special Casual Leave of four days in a year.
(e) Special Casual Leave of 10 days in a year to attend seminars/training etc related to disability.
(f) Children Education Allowance and Hostel Subsidy at double the normal rates.
(g) Disability Pension at 30 percent of last pay drawn for 100 percent disability. Which for a civilian employee of equivalents grade as Sepoy will be Rs. 21000/ per month.
No Protection for Disabled Military Officer and Men. Officers and men serving in the Indian Military get none of the above mentioned facilities. Instead:-
(a) Protection of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 not available to military. Hence can be thrown out (invalided) of job.
(b) No special allowances of any kind.
(c) No special leave of any kind.
(d) No help for children etc.
(e) Disability Pension at Slab System, which for a Sepoy will be Rs. 12000/ per month, which is just about half of equivalent civilian employee.
Uniqueness of Military Service. While discussing probability of onset of job related disability in military we need to remember two immutable facts.
(a) Inherently Stressful job of Army Officers and Soldiers. This fact is acknowledged by the MoD itself, who have DRDO (DIPR) conducted a number of studies to understand and remove/ reduce causes of stress in the Army. Apparently stress of military life will over a period of time result in disability due to causes like cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes and such like diseases.
(b) Presumption of Fitness at the time of Enrollment. Supreme Court has opined that since only physically fit persons can join the military hence presumption is that any disability occurring during service has to be attributable to military service. The 7th CPC has also called for a liberal approach by observing that there is a presumption of service-connection in all disabilities that arise during service.
Hollow Arguments of 7th CPC. Now let us revisit 7th CPC arguments which form the basis for MoD Notification dated 30 September 16 on Military Pension.
(a) Malicious Argument. The 7th CPC maliciously states that 'no officer has been invalidated from service in last 10 years. Apparently it wants to buttress it argument that officers are misusing the disability regime. But it clearly hides the fact that nobody, but, nobody is invalidated from his job amongst the civilian employees. Thus it is no crime for a military officer with less than 75 percent disability to continue in service. These officers retire with disability pension which is their due and not more.
(b) Nailing the Misuse of System Argument. To prove that officers of brigadier and higher rank have been misusing the system of disability pension the 7th CPC has produced a table covering the period 2007 - 2013 showing percent of officers from various ranks getting disability pension. This table shows that percent of Colonels and Lieutenant General retiring with disability pension has remained nearly constant. However their has been perceptible increase in percentage of Lieutenant Colonel, Brigadier and Major General.
(c) One-sided, hence Biased Approach. The 7th CPC has based its recommendations on apparently one-sided inputs given by CGDA. It has failed to provide an opportunity to reply to the accused, which is a mandatory requirement under the law of the land. If 7th CPC or the government of India had any desire to really know the truth they should have asked for a response from Services Headquarters.
(d) Need to Discount Statistical Error. Out of a total military strength of 1300000 the officers are 70000 or 5.4 percent. As per 7th CPC during the period 2007-2014 a total of 37537 All Rank retired with disability from three services and out of them 2151 or 5.73 percent were the officers. This marginal difference of .3 percent can even be due to statistical error.
(e) Mass Punishment is Illegal. Coming to Brigadier and Major Generals. As per figures available in public domain around 2300 officers retire from three services every year, of which approximately 180 are Brigadier/ Major General equivalent. As per 7th CPC their disability percentage has jumped from 7.6 in 2007-08 to 17 percent in 2013-14. Even if we discount the increase in absolute numbers on account of AVSC and for argument sake accept that entire increase is malafide, total number of such manipulator comes to 10 per year or 70 for the period 2007-14. Which means that for fault of 70 the 7th CPC has recommended and government of India has punished 18.7 million military pensioners in general and 43000 officer rank pensioners in particular!
Recommendations for Defence Minister and COSC. It is apparent that 7th CPC, with malicious intent, has made biased recommendation for reversion to Slab System of Disability Pension for the military. By accepting these illogical and biased recommendations the government of India in general and MoD in particular have adopted an openly discriminatory approach towards the military in general and Military Officer Corps in particular. This is a matter which goes much beyond pension and shows adversarial attitude of politico-bureaucratic combine. Hence I recommend:-
(a) Need to apply same yardstick to all disabled government employees. The 7th CPC is wrong in claiming that military disability pension was skewed in favour of officers by the 6th CPC. Fact is that 6th CPC merely brought disability rates for defence personnel at par with civilians who were always on 'percentage of pay' system for calculating disability pension. Thus if `equilibrium has been disturbed in case of military than same is the case of civilian employees. The Modi government having accepted the recommendations of 7th CPC has a duty to explain why slab system of the disability pension has not been extended to the civilian employees? The Defence Minister should apply similar System of Disability Pension to all employees of MoD including Defence Civilians and Military.
(b) Demand Higher Starting Threshold for Jawans. Defence Minister be asked to immediately reverse the notification regarding Disability Penison for Military and bring back Percentage Based Disability Pension with a proviso that minimum disability Pension for military will be Rs. 20000/-.
(c) Order Inquiry. COSC may please ask three services to order in-depth time-bound inquiry into the allegation of 7th CPC that some Brigadier and higher rank officers have manipulated the system to claim disability pension. Those found guilty be stripped off their disability pension and prosecuted for fraud.
(d) Approach the People. In a democracy military belongs to the people and because of their willingness to give ultimate sacrifice both officers as also soldiers are held in great esteem by the society. These societies ensure that their militaries get higher pay and allowances while serving and also grant liberal pensionary and disability benefits to their disabled soldiers. But sadly unholy nexus of politico-bureaucratic combine has denied fair compensation to Indian military and the Military Officer Corps is being subjected to innuendo and deprivation too. This point needs to be driven hope to Indian Parliament through a sustained campaign by Services Hqs through official channels like Parliamentary Committees and by veterans through media.
posted by Yogi at 5:37 AM
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