SCPC: Lt Col left high and dry

I have often heard retired officers commenting that the fight for status and equivalence is a battle which is to be fought by the serving community and it is the One Rank One Pension (OROP) demand which really concerns retired personnel.

This is a misconception. The pension of retired personnel is directly linked to the status and pay of serving personnel. Some instances may be absolutely glaring and some may not, but the fact remains that the two issues are intertwined. I’ll explain how.

Whenever Pay Commission recommendations are implemented, it is provided that the pension of earlier retirees (for example, pre 1-1-2006 retirees) would not go below a value @ 50% of the starting rate of the new pay scale for every grade or rank. To take an example, after the 5th CPC, the minimum basic pension admissible to a Major could not be less than Rs 6,400/- (that is, 50% of starting of Rs 12,800 – the start of a Major’s scale). But now see below how things changed for retired personnel this time due to a change in the pay equation of serving officers - especially for the rank of Lt Col :-

Situation till now
Minimum Basic Pension admissible to a Non-Functional Selection Grade (NFSG) Officer of the Civil Services (Director to Govt of India) : Rs 7150/- (that is, 50% of start of scale – Rs 14,300/-)

Minimum Basic Pension admissible to a Lt Col : Rs 7550/- (that is, 50% of start of scale – Rs 15,100/-)

Situation after the 6th CPC
Minimum Basic Pension admissible to a Non-Functional Selection Grade (NFSG) Officer of the Civil Services : Rs 23,050/- (that is, 50% of start of scale – Rs 37400 + Rs 8700 Grade Pay)

Minimum Basic Pension admissible to a Lt Col : Rs 11,600/- (that is, 50% of start of scale – Rs 15,600 + Rs 7600 Grade Pay)

Or Let’s put it more simply :

Minimum possible basic pension of an NFSG Officer after the 5th CPC : Rs 7150/-
Minimum possible basic pension of a Lt Col after the 5th CPC : Rs 7550/-
Minimum possible basic pension of an NFSG Officer after the 6th CPC : Rs 23,050/-
Minimum possible basic pension of a Lt Col after the 6th CPC : Rs 11,600/-

Could you spot the difference? Oh really? Don't tell me!

Though practically speaking the pension of Lt Colonels who retired prior to 2006 after full pensionable service (33 years with or without weightage) would be around Rs 17,000, officers who retired pre-maturely in the rank of Lt Col prior to 1-1-2006 would be the worst hit. Another category facing the heat would be disability pensioners. The service pension part (service element) of disability pensioners invalided before completion of pensionable service would be fixed at Rs 11,600/- flat and this shall be applicable both to pre and post 1-1-2006 cases, while the service element of their erstwhile civilian counterparts (pre and post 1-1-2006) would now be fixed at Rs 23,050/-.

Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh at 10:32 PM
Status, equivalence and pay parity: does it affect pensioners and retirees? It damn well does!

How bureaucrats perceive Warrant of Precedence
Since the declaration of 6th CPC, a campaign is continuing in print and electronic media stating that CPMFs Officers are paid much more than what they deserve. It is also pointed out that status of Armed Forces Officers’ has been lowered. Status is directly linked with the role played. The warrant of precedence mentioned below and is being quoted by Armed Forces repeatedly, need amendment. During 1939 Lt was commanding a Company, in 1966 Captain were commanding Company and Lt Col were commanding Battalions. In 2008, Lt Col is commanding a company and Col is commanding a unit/ battalion. In CPMFs, Asstt Comdt performs the duty of a Company Commander. There has been dilution in the rank structure and role performed by a particular rank in Army, similarly there has to be dilution in the warrant of precedence.
The Armed Forces need to restore the original (pre 1962) rank and command structure if the warrant of precedence is to be preserved and not slide downhill at the behest of the successive pay commissions.