IESM: Fast for Rally: seventy second day

Date: Friday, 27 February, 2009, 8:03 PM
Dear Colleagues,
The Jantar Mantar venue is under the charge of combined contingent from Sonipat and Gurgaon. (Haryana).
Medal Depositing
Punjab has taken the lead in sending 500 medals today to Delhi. Well done! I urge others to emulate their example.
President’s Address
I am grateful to the many friends who responded to my call and provided copy of the President’s address to the opening session of the Parliament on 7 June 2004. The President in Paragraph 57 of his speech only says this for the armed forces:
We are proud of our armed forces. They have risen to the occasion whenever called upon to defend the territorial integrity of our country and assist the civil authorities in maintaining law and order and organising relief and rescue measures. My government will eliminate all delays that hamper the modernisation of our armed forces and ensure that funds earmarked for modernisation are utilised fully for the purpose for which they are meant. The welfare of ex-servicemen will get priority and they will be involved in crucial nation-building tasks.
There is no mention of OROP, as has been the general impression. The government response to welfare of ex-servicemen will get priority is already known – they have raised an Ex Servicemen Welfare Department in the MOD. The fact that apart from giving some additional posts to the bureaucrats, they have achieved nothing does not bother anyone. The new department has taken the three institutions– DGR, ECHS and Kendriya Board– under them and have been quoting their outputs as the Department’s achievements. Such is reality.
Model Code of Conduct
The elections are to be announced any day and the model code of conduct is likely to come into force. There is general apprehension that after this happens, the govt cannot enhance the defence pensions. That may not be a correct inference. The code only debars the govt from initiating new schemes. Pension issue is an old one and there are no shackles on the govt to announce benefits any time.
Best regards,
Lt Gen (Emeritus) Raj Kadyan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Chairman IESM

Unfullfilled Dreams of ESM: Government nulls/ buries recommendations
Panel seeks one-rank-one-pension for ex-servicemen
19 Aug 2003, 1933 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: Despite the government's earlier refusal to grant one-rank-one-pension to all ex-servicemen, the parliamentary standing committee on defence has once again recommended this measure to remove the "disparity" in pensionary benefits among pensioners of the same rank.

The committee also urged the government to set up a national commission for ex-servicemen on the lines of similar commissions for minorities and Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

Declaring that the nation "must repay its debt to the defendants of the motherland", the committee said many old soldiers were now struggling to survive on a paltry pension and asked the government to re-examine the two schemes for the ex-servicemen which had earlier been rejected.

In its 20th report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the committee called for giving ex-servicemen insurance cover till death irrespective of their ranks and reservations for wards of servicemen in professional institutions.

The committee also urged the government to set up a special court of appeal, independent of Service HQ, where those charged by military courts could appeal within 90 days. Such a court should be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, whose judgement can be only reviewed by the apex court.
Panel seeks one-rank-one-pension for ex-servicemen