SCPC: Anomalies Aggregated by Successive Pay Commissions to Dupe the Defence Forces

Ex-Servicemen Being Denied their Rightful Pensions

There are three glaring omissions by the Ministry of Defence which affect a vast majority of Ex-Servicemen and others, which the Ministry is not prepared to listen.. Since these are detrimental to defence personnel and our representations to the all in the channel including our Hon’ble President the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has not yielded any results, we have been compelled to air it through you to public so that they may know as to what treatment is being meted to the Defence Forces who give the best years of their life in service and security of the Nation and progressive development wherever called for and now even their genuine grievances are not being redressed.
The three points are as follows:
1. The 4th CPC granted Military Service Pay, called Rank Pay, over and above the normal Pay, for the peculiar Service conditions of Armed Forces and admitted in Govt. Resolution dated 13.3.87. To deny this extra payment to officers of defense forces, the financial experts of the Defense Ministry reduced the Basic Pay of all officers equivalent to the Rank Pay, and reflected Rank Pay separately in an additional column of the pay slips showing that the Rank Pay there as sanctioned by the Government and 4th CPC award was paid, though actually nothing extra was paid. The above discrepancy when raised by an officer with the MOD was not accepted by the authorities resulting in his filing a Writ in the Hon’ble Kerala High Court in 1995, who held the deduction as incorrect, which was later ratified by the full bench of the Court on appeal by the UOI vide their Judgment orders dated 05.10.1998 & 04.7.2003. The SLP filed was also rejected by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India vide their order of 12.7.2005. Accordingly the officer who filed the case was paid the amount deducted from his Basic Pay The Hon’ble High Court of Kerala had declared Para 6 of MOD Instructions dated 26.5.1987, as invalid which was introduced without any substance or support, and thus annulled. The said MOD Instruction of 26 May 1987 should have been amended accordingly immediately after the final Judgment and benefit given to all others affected due to the said clause. The MOD did not correct this anomaly in violation of the rulings of the Honorable Supreme Court (AIR 1975-SC 538) and Article 14 of the Constitution. Writs filed by individual officers are others are pending in Supreme Court for decision but if the MOD amends their earlier wrong instructions, as ordered by the Kerala High Court, the case gets automatically solved and they can pay to all as required.
2. In addition to the above facts the Vth Pay Commission granted certain concessions to Armed Forces in their recommendations while allowing those concessions to the Civilian Counter Parts, which have been accepted and implemented in civil but the corresponding benefits have not been given to the Defence Forces because our financial Pundits did not bother to read those recommendations or purposely ignored them. There were ten such anomalies- giving 30% Disability Pay for 100% disability, weightage of two to three years for service from 30 to 33 years, using only Rank instead of Rank/ Post reducing pension of those who were serving in higher posts etc., the benefit of which should have been given to defence forces during the period but was denied. The Rank Pay sanctioned by the 4th CPC got doubled in 5th CPC which resulted in double loss as the Basic Pay got further reduced.
3. This reduced Basic Pay was given to the 6th CPC without telling them as to how it had been deduced by the Ministry of Defence as Armed Forces had no access to the 6th Pay Commission. Lower Basic Pay resulted in their classification into lower scales of pay and lower Grade Pay and correspondingly lowering their status in comparison to their civilian counterparts in other departments where they always enjoyed an edge over other services. On protests the MOD tried to increase Grade Pay etc or give benefits here and there, but did not rectify the basic cause of not giving Rank Pay, which they deducted from Basic Pay. It is still hanging fire and the problem cannot be resolved unless basic data is changed. Secondly in implementing the 6th CPC awards, the MOD made the instructions so complicated that some of the Ex-Servicemen are yet to get their revised pension and 40% arrears which they were supposed to get in Jan 2009 and are finding difficult to pay income Tax without proper figures which some of the banks, especially the branches where instructions have not yet reached, are still working. Moreover the 6th CPC has nowhere said about the minimum of the new scale but while working out the pay of regular serving officers has talked about the minimum of the grade in the new scale. If we work out with minimum of the new scale and minimum of the new Grade there is difference of Rs.600/- for PBOR to about Rs. 4000/- for officers, which practically nullifies the effect of MSP, the same way as they nullified the effect of payment of Rank Pay earlier during 4th and 5th CPC.
The supreme Court of India passed their Judgment more than three months back on the Pay Fixation of officers of the Rank of Maj Generals but it has not been implemented so far which is a matter of concern as they did not implement the Kerala High Court Judgment earlier. In both the cases it is a matter of contempt of the courts.
Similarly, the Prime Minister, approved the up gradation of Lt Colonels from PB-III to PB-IV. It is more than two months now but no action has been taken. It should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet or put in cold storage, or the dust bin.
Same is the case of PBORs where their pension at the time of retirement used to be 50% of the Pay they drew at the maximum of the scale in which they were working at the time of retirement but 6th CPC reduced it to 50% of the mean of pay the individual was drawing at the time of retirement for the last ten months. It became much less that earlier on the basis of wrong data fed to the commission and the authorities, it is learnt, on protest, agreed to raise pension from 50% to 70%. Though considerable time has elapsed, no orders have been received on the subject. Since it financially affects all PBORs it needs to be implemented soon. ‘One Rank One Pension’ case is already boiling and needs immediate attention and we the ex-Servicemen of Dehradun fully support ESM at Delhi.
This has serious implications for the morale of both serving and retired Defence Personnel. The Nation cannot continue to treat the prime disciplined segment of society with contempt. What is the just due of the Armed Forces must be given immediately.
Brig K G Behl Veteran
President Dehradun Ex-Services League