The government, headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is again trying to cut away soldiers' disability benefits.
Ironically, nobody knows better than Sitharaman -- having served as Defence Minister for several years -- how damaging this reduction will be for battle casualties, particularly for soldiers wounded in action.
But this is not the first time this government is trying to save money at the cost of its bravest and noblest.
In September 2016, THIS is what the government did, as I wrote for a newspaper that day. Read it and come back for an in-depth look at this story,
While “surgical strikes” were under way, govt slashed army’s disability pensions
By Ajai Shukla
New Delhi
As army para-commandos slipped silently across the Line of Control (LoC) on September 28 on a perilous mission to punish anti-India jihadis and their Pakistani army backers, the Government of India quietly put the finishing touches on a plan to slash disability pensions for injuries incurred in the line of duty.
On September 30, the day after India began celebrating the successful “surgical strikes”, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a letter that dramatically reduced pensions for soldiers invalided out from the army after being crippled by battle injuries, or by injuries directly attributable to hazardous military service.
It was just as well that the commandos returned without significant casualties. If a young soldier with severe injuries --- what cold medical jargon terms “100 per cent disability” --- from that operation had been invalided out from service, he would have found his monthly pension slashed from Rs 45,200 to just Rs 27,200 --- down by Rs 18,000 per month.
The team leaders in the “surgical strikes”, majors with ten years of service, have been hit even harder --- with pension for 100 per cent disability slashed by over Rs 70,000 per month. Junior commissioned officers, the spine of the army, are also badly affected. Naib subedars with 26 years of service will find their 100 per cent disability pensions slashed by Rs 40,000 per month.
As army para-commandos slipped silently across the Line of Control (LoC) on September 28 on a perilous mission to punish anti-India jihadis and their Pakistani army backers, the Government of India quietly put the finishing touches on a plan to slash disability pensions for injuries incurred in the line of duty.
On September 30, the day after India began celebrating the successful “surgical strikes”, the ministry of defence (MoD) issued a letter that dramatically reduced pensions for soldiers invalided out from the army after being crippled by battle injuries, or by injuries directly attributable to hazardous military service.
It was just as well that the commandos returned without significant casualties. If a young soldier with severe injuries --- what cold medical jargon terms “100 per cent disability” --- from that operation had been invalided out from service, he would have found his monthly pension slashed from Rs 45,200 to just Rs 27,200 --- down by Rs 18,000 per month.
The team leaders in the “surgical strikes”, majors with ten years of service, have been hit even harder --- with pension for 100 per cent disability slashed by over Rs 70,000 per month. Junior commissioned officers, the spine of the army, are also badly affected. Naib subedars with 26 years of service will find their 100 per cent disability pensions slashed by Rs 40,000 per month.
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There was outrage and anger at the BJP-led NDA government when this article appeared that September morning.
The government first tried to deflect the blame, but they realised that the article was not one that could be ignored. I was called in to the Prime Minister's Office to explain what needed to be done for limiting the damage.
After reading and understanding what the govt had gotten done, the PMO ordered damage limitation and THIS is what emerged as the next article:
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Government likely to restore disability benefits to veterans
By Ajai Shukla
New Delhi
983 words
Facing severe criticism from serving soldiers, veterans and civilians alike for slashing the military’s disability pensions, top government officials tell Business Standard they are reviewing the decision and could soon roll back at least some cuts.
As this newspaper reported (October 10, “While ‘surgical strikes’ were under way, govt cut Army’s disability pensions”) the government issued a notification on September 30 --- a day after announcing the army’s successful strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir --- that slashed allowances that soldiers receive for injuries/disabilities that are attributable to military service, or aggravated by it.
In that notification the government accepted the recommendation of the 7th Central Pay Commission (7th CPC) to calculate disability pension according to a “slab system”, based on rank. This significantly reduces disability pensions for the army, compared with the “percentage system” instituted by the 6th CPC.
The government first reacted by claiming (through “government sources” cited by several newspapers) that disability pensions had actually been increased, not cut.
Thereafter, the government backtracked on October 13, announcing that it had referred the decision on disability pensions to a committee for review.
Said a government statement: “Service Headquarters have represented that the percentage-based system should be continued under the 7th CPC for calculating disability pension for defence services at par with their civilian counterparts. The Ministry has referred the representation of the Service Headquarters to the Anomaly Committee of the 7th CPC for consideration”.
A senior government official told Business Standard: “We are not wedded to any position. We want to ensure that disabled soldiers do not suffer. If our review finds that the earlier ‘percentage based’ system was more beneficial than the ‘slab system’ that has now been implemented, we will revert to the earlier system.”
A partial or complete revocation of the “slab system” by the Anomalies Committee would have to be also cleared by the cabinet.
With the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) itself spearheading this re-evaluation, the Director General of Defence Accounts (DGDA) has been asked for detailed figures to justify its earlier contention that the “slab based” system would benefit a larger number of disabled veterans --- something the army flatly denies.
Earlier, the DGDA had incorrectly stated that more than 85 per cent of soldiers drawing disability pensions would benefit from the new “slab system”. Now it is telling the government that about half of all disabled pensioners would benefit.
The army strongly rebuts those figures. Its detailed calculations suggest that 90-95 per cent of all disabled pensioners stand to lose by the new system (see chart).
Army’s calculations
Until the September 30 notification, any officer or soldier who suffered 100 per cent disability that was “attributable to military service, or aggravated by military service” would get 30 per cent of his/her last pay drawn as disability pension. In addition, they would draw a “service component” of pension, which amounted to 50 per cent of their last pay drawn.
Under the new rules, which come into effect retrospectively from January 1, 2016, the “service component” remains unchanged, but a “slab system” has been introduced for disability pension --- Rs 27,000 per month for officers, 17,000 for junior commissioned officers (JCOs), and Rs 12,000 for other ranks (ORs).
The army calculates that only those soldiers would benefit who are invalided out in the early stages of their careers --- a small minority. Those who have served a few years, and all those who have earned pensions, would lose financially.
As evident from the chart, the new system would only benefit those jawans whose pay at the time of release from service is less than Rs 40,000 [Rs 34,800 (basic pay) + Rs 5,200 (military service pay, or MSP)] under the 7th CPC. At higher pay grades, 30 per cent disability pension would amount to more than Rs 12,000.
Very few jawans retire before serving 15 years, when they become eligible for pension. Most retire after at least 17-19 years, which they have signed up for. By that time, they have been automatically promoted to Naik (two stripes), and their emoluments are Rs 41,100 (Rs 35,900 + Rs 5,200 MSP).
Most jawans actually attain the rank of Havildar (three stripes), which means they are eligible for 26 years of service, and a pay grade of Rs 50,100 (Rs 44,900 + Rs 5,200).
Hence most retirees at the jawan level (except those rare cases who are invalided out early in their careers) earn well above the level below which the slab system yields greater benefits. They, therefore, stand to benefit from the percentage system.
Similarly, JCOs would only benefit from the slab system if their pay grade at retirement is below Rs 56,200 [Rs 51,000 + Rs 5,200 (MSP)]. Above that grade, the disability pension of 30 per cent would be greater than the slab rate of Rs 17,000. In fact, most JCOs start retiring as Subedars, with 28 years of service, when their pay grade is Rs 57,200 (Rs 52,000 + Rs 5,200).
Calculating similarly, commissioned officers only benefit from the slab system if their pay at release is less than Rs 90,000 [Rs 74,500 + Rs 15,500 (MSP)]. That is because 30 per cent of any pay grade above this would be greater than the slab rate of Rs 27,000. At seven years of service, officers pay grade rises above that level. Most officers retire after 20 years of service, when they become eligible for pension.
The army askes: if the “slab system” was indeed beneficial for lower ranks, why hasn’t it been made applicable to other services like the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)? In fact, there is no demand from CAPFs for extending the slab system to them.
With the military strongly arguing for a reversion to the “percentage system” of calculation, all eyes are now on the Anomalies Committee.
[ENDS] ====================
The policy changes that were the most jarring were withdrawn within that month.
But, as we can see, they are back! The most thinking (actually unthinking) of them are alive and well and damaging the most delicate interests of the common jawan.
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