All India Ex-Services Welfare Association

             ALL INDIA EX SERVICES WELFARE ASSOCIATION 

                  Our Mail IDs - aiewaorg@gmail.com aiewa81@hotmail.com 

 aiewa_association@rediffmail.com 
Web site : www.aiewa.org

(We Were THIRTY YEARS YOUNG On 21 Nov 2011)

Lt Col Inderjit Singh (Retd.)                                                                                                M 35 Palika Bhawan, 
CHAIRMAN                                                                                                                         RK Puram, Sector 13,
Member                                                                                                                                   New Delhi 110066.
Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies                                                                        Ph :011 26110710
Ministry of Personnel                                                                                                            Fax :011 241O6144

Public Grievances & Pensions,

Government of India

 

AIEWA/2001/117/Gen Corr                                                                                                 12 Apr 2016

 

 

To,

Sh. R.K. Arora

Under Secretary/D(Pension/Policy)

Room No. 220A, 'B'Wing

Sena Bhawan,

New Delhi-110011

Dear Sir,

The points for the consideration of the Hon'ble Judicial Commission are submitted to you for onward despatch to them as desired.

2.     We hope the Commission will take note of these points and correct the award to make it the true OROP.

                                                                        Yours Faithfully,

                                                                         

                                                                        (Inderjit Singh)

                                                                         Lt Col (Retd)

                                                                         Chairman

Copy to :-

 

The Hon 'ble

Sh Manohar Parikar

Raksha Mantri

Govt of India

New Delhi

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            ALL INDIA EX SERVICES WELFARE ASSOCIATION 

                  Our Mail IDs - aiewaorg@gmail.com, aiewa81@hotmail.com 

 aiewa_association@rediffmail.com 
Web site : www.aiewa.org

(We Were THIRTY YEARS YOUNG On 21 Nov 2011)

Lt Col Inderjit Singh (Retd.)                                                                                                M 35 Palika Bhawan, 
CHAIRMAN                                                                                                                         RK Puram, Sector 13,
Member                                                                                                                                   New Delhi 110066.
Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies                                                                        Ph :011 26110710
Ministry of Personnel                                                                                                            Fax :011 241O6144

Public Grievances & Pensions,

Government of India

 

AIEWA/2001/118/Gen Corr                                                                                                 12 Apr 2016

 

Hon’ble Justice L Narasimha Reddy,

Retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court

The Chairman,

OROP Judicial Commission,

 

C/O

 

Hon’ble  Raksha Mantri

Govt. of India, Min of Def

South Block,

New Delhi- 110011

 

Dear Sir,

 

Please refer to GoI, MoD, Deptt of Ex-Servicemen Welfare letter No.12(1)/2014/D(Pen/Pol)-Part-II dated 07th Nov, 2015.

2.         The Govt has constituted Judicial Commission to remove the anomalies which may be faced by Veterans while implementing OROP. The Cardinal Principle of OROP is that no two persons of the Armed Forces having same rank with equal length of service and from the same group should have different pension irrespective of their date of retirement. Unfortunately, the kind of OROP that is being palmed off, according to the Govt order, falls far short of this requirement.

3.         The major Anomalies of the Govt letter are discussed in the succeeding paras.

Anomalies of Govt Order

4.         Fixation of Pension on Calendar Year 2013. Fixation of pension as per Calendar year 2013 would result in past retirees getting less pension of one increment than the soldiers retiring today. This would mean the burial of OROP at the beginning itself. It should be calendar year 2014.

5.         Fixation of Pension as Mean of Minimum and Maximum. Fixing pension on mean of Min and Max would result in even more Anomalies where in soldiers with same rank and same length of service will draw more than two rates of pension. This also will never allow to equalize pensions. Besides our pensions have always been worked on the basis of maximum rates. Why for this little benevolence the complete system has been turned over? Please restore this.

6.         Payment wef 01 Jul 14. OROP has been approved by two Parliaments in the Budget in 2014/2015. As per the norms anything approved in the budget is applicable from 01 Apr 14.  In case of OROP the Govt had issued orders for its applicability wef 01 Jul 14. It should be given from 01 Apr 14. Besides this, the Veterans will be losing three months of enhanced pension.

7.         Pension Equalisation Every Five Years.  Pension equalisation every five years will ensure that pensions are never equal. Destroying the cardinal principle of OROP. Besides junior ranks will get more pension than the senior.

8.         These Anomalies have to be removed before we can say we have got OROP. Till such time that is achieved we have to contend with the Tables issued by the Govt on 04 Feb 16. These tables fall far short of the 3 Feb Notification award. The Anomalies of these Tables are submitted as Appendix A to this letter.

9.         Submitted for your kind consideration.

           

Yours faithfully,

(Inderjit Singh)

Lt Col (Retd)

Chairman

 

Copy to :-

 

Smt K. Damayanthi

Jt Secy, ESW

South Block

New Delhi-110011

                                                        

                                                                                                                        Appendix A

                                                                                                                       (Refer to Para 8)

 

LIST OF ANOMALIES, ARISING OUT OF IMPLEMENTATION 

OF OROP AS PER TABLES ISSUED ON 04 FEB 16

 

 

There are very serious anomalies in all types of pensions of Officers/ HCO’s/ JCO’s/ OR’s in the Tables for implementation of watered down version of One Rank One Pension (OROP). These anomalies of Officers/ HCO’s/ JCO’s/ OR’s must be removed while implementing the OROP otherwise the already fractured version that has been given will be further rendered meaningless.

Major's Pension

2.         According to new dispensation nobody will go on pension as Major. There are a handful of old Major pensioners of pre 01-01-1996 who are running from pillar to post for justice without reprieve. Their case is very simple. What needs to be done is to apply the same rules for them as applied to Major pensioners of post 1-1-1996 and you will get the right answer. They will all go on Lt Col (TS) pension. Under the OROP dispensation that is what he should be getting. So give him that. That is what he is entitled to.

Lt Col (SG) Pension

3.         There is no Lt Col (SG) rank in the new dispensation. Consequently they have all been downgraded to the only place they found Lt Col was in Lt Col (TS) and authorized  pensions of this rank. Least realising that Lt Col (TS) was earlier performing Majors duties and this action of theirs would tantamount to downgrading the rank of Lt Col (SG) rank to a Majors equivalent. The ground reality is that the jobs that a Lt Col (SG) was performing are now being performed by a full Colonel. He should,  therefore be equated to a full Colonel and given his pension to meet the ends of justice rather than downgraded to that of a Lt Col (TS).

Rounding of Qualifying Service.

4.         Refer Para 10 and 11 of PCDA (Pension) Circular No. 555 dated 4th Feb, 2016 regarding Rounding up of QS. Again QS service is not uniform due to Non- Rounding of Qualifying Service for Post 28-06-1983, Pre 28-06-1983 and Pre 22-04-1960. So there are 03 categories of pensioners of the same Rank, same length of Service and same Group. So it is not One Rank One Pension (OROP). The Fifth CPC award rationalised  the entire lot of pensioners into only pre and post 01 Jan 1996 and left only two rates of pensions. How these old rates have been dug up to deny the Armed Forces their rightful dues? Please have this rectified.  

           

Terms of Engagement.

5.        Please refer Para 7 & Appendix- X of PCDA (Pension) Circular No.555 dated 4th Feb, 2016 regarding Terms of Engagement. These in case of HCO’s/JCO’s /OR’s in the Army is different from Navy and Air Force. Term of Engagement implies” Maximum Qualifying Service for grant of Service Pension”. Term of Engagement keeps changing from time to time. It should be uniform across all the three forces.

Anomalies In The Service Pension Of Hony Lt/ Hony Sub Lieut/Hony Flying Officer From 28 To 32.5 Yrs Of QS

6.         Please refer Table No.7, Page 11-12, Column 20 for Hony LT of PCDA  (Pension) Circular No.555 dated 4th Feb, 2016. Term of Engagement of Army, Navy and Air Force are different from each other. Most sufferers are Army JCO’s, because a Subedar was able to serve only for 28 Years and tenure of a Subedar Major was only for 04 Years or 32 years of service whichever was earlier , Same way Maximum term of engagement for Hony Lt was varying from 21 to 32 years as per last Rank held. For Navy Maximum Term for engagement for  Hony Sub Lt was 21 to 30 Years. Air Force is having edge over both Army and Navy. Warrant Officers (WO) and Master Warrant Officers (MWO) are awarded Honorary Ranks one Year before Superannuation either on 26th January or 15^th August although their term of engagement as Hony Flying  Officer is 21 to 32 years.

            As three Sister Services had different terms of engagement  prior to implementation of OROP, Service Pension of all Honorary Commissioned Officers above 28 Years of Qualifying Service used to be same. For Hony Lts and equivalent was @ Rs. 15465/-pm and for Hony Capts and equivalent @ Rs.16145/-. But as per Circular No.555 now two groups have been created for Hony Lts/ Hony Sub Lts/ Hony Flying Officers from 28 to 32.5 yrs and another with QS 33 yrs and above.  The rates of pension are also different.

           

 In the Defence Forces Honorary Commission is always awarded in recognition of meritorious service to serving JCO’s (Subedar’s/ Subedar Major’s) in the Army and their equivalent ranks in other two services. 

            After becoming Hony Lieutenant some % of the Hony Lieutenants are promoted as Honorary Captains.  Hony Lieutenants  are promoted from Subedar/Subedar Majors. In view of the above it is suggested that Service Pension of all the Honorary Lieutenants be revised at the rate of Rs.16160/-pm instead of Rs.16090/- pm.  

                                                                                               

Reservist Pensioners.

7.         Please refer Para 4 of PCDA (Pension) Circular No.555 dated 04 Feb, 2016 regarding Non- Applicability of Pension to Reservist Pensioners. This time Service Pension tables are prepared from 0.5 years onwards for all the Ranks wef. 01-07-2014 except for Reservists. Qualifying Service of a Reservist is always 10 Years or more. There is no increase in the Pension of Reservists after OROP. It is suggested that Service Pension of reservists should  be increased to the QS of 10 years for Ý’group Sepoys i.e. Rs. 6188/- p.m. 

 

8.           When pension for Reservists was considered they were all equated to a Sepoy of Y group with 15 years service and pension worked. There is no change in the conditions. They should therefore  be given the increase in their pension accordingly. 

 ACP-I / II / III Benefit 

9.         Refer Para 11(b)& (C) of PCDA (Pension) Circular No. 555 dated 4th Feb, 2016 regarding grant of ACP I,II & III benefits. As per above Circular Hony Naik, Hony Havildar and Hony Naib Subedar have separate tables for all types of Pension, where as, it is not there for pre -2006 retirees. ACP- I / II / III benefit should be extended for Pre-2006 retirees also as applicable for Post 2006 retirees.

Seniority in the Ranks Not Maintained

10.         Refer any table of JCOs /ORs issued vide PCDA (Pension) Circular No. 555 dated 4th Feb, 2016. Seniority of the ranks is not at all maintained. In some ranks it is same from 15 Years to 28 Years of QS. Pension tables of all JCOs/ORs should  be again re-computed for arriving at correct pension.

 Subedar Major Granted ACP -I / ACP-II For The Rank of Hony LT and Hony Capt 

11.         Refer Para 3, S.No.9 of PCDA (Pension) Circular No.557 dated 17th Mar, 2016 regarding clarifications on Circular No.555 on ACP. A wrong clarification is given by PCDA (Pension) as per above Circular to all the PDA’s.  This needs to be amended immediately so that there is no confusion for the award of ACP to Subedar Major. ReferPara-15 for of SAI No.1/S/2008 dated 11th Oct,2008 for Army & Para-16 for ACP of SNI No.1/S/08 dated 18th Oct, 2008 for Navy. As per above SAI/ SNI there is no ACP to Subedar Major Ranks, it is only up to Naib Subedar. Definition of Assured Career Progression (ACP) is that at the time of each financial up gradation under ACP the PBOR would get an additional increment and next higher Grade Pay in hierarchy provided he does not get any further promotion. Direct entry Naib Subedar is entitled for either ACP- II or ACP- III.

12.          Honorary Commission is always awarded to a Subedars/ Subedar Majors before retirement on 15th August or 26th January in recognition of meritorious service, selfless service of the highest order to elevate their status and prestige. This promotion is always given on behalf of His Excellency The President of India. In view of above it is suggested that this clarification on ACP for Subedar Major should be withdrawn immediately

 

Points Included for Consideration By Judicial Commission

 

13.      Financial Benefit to  Sub/ Sub Majors. A Subedar Major getting Honorary Commission as Hony Lt after retiement has no financial benefits. Similarly a Sub getting Hony Sub Maj rank has no financial benefits. We have Sepoy and Havildar ranks who gets Honorary ranks  after retirement and they get monetary allowance or pension of  that rank. If they could be given benefits then why these Subs/ Sub Majs have been denied this privilege. This point has already been considered as valid and recommended by Pay Commission Cell to be included in proposals of VIIth Pay Commission vide Standing Army Pay Commission Sec, PS Dte. letter No. C/7086/SAPCS dated 27 Aug 13. 

 

14.       In view of above, it is requested that Hon’ble Chairman, OROP Judicial Commission may consider this point.