Bureaucracy working in reverse gear for Veterans: Crazy style!

This seems crazy.
Every time the govt comes up with pensionary benefits for veterans, instead of directing suo-moto revision by the Pension Sanctioning Authorities or Pension Disbursing Authorities in terms of the relevant orders, the retired service-members are asked to apply to the concerned authorities for revision of pension on complicated prescribed formats. But what about the millions of former military members who do not get a whiff of such revision orders and hence do not apply for such upward revision? Can the government be allowed to retain what rightfully belongs to such pensioners?

This issue needs to be taken up with the govt at the earliest. A recent example would be the improvement in disability / war injury pensionary awards for which the affected personnel have been asked to apply on a prescribed format. What to talk of circulating such circulars all over, these documents are not even placed for public viewing on any website by the Central Govt’s Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare. This is in sharp contrast to the Department of Pensions on the civil side which proactively ensures that the information of beneficial provisions reaches all concerned.

But this is what takes the pie : In the year 1998, the Govt of India had decided to provide the benefit of 17 years of service for calculating pension of Naiks (also Corporals and Leading Seamen) who had retired between 01-01-1986 and 31-12-1995 with less than 17 years of qualifying service. This benefit was also extended to Hony Naiks and Time Scale Naiks. But keeping in view the red-tapist tradition of our State machinery, instead of revising the pension suo-moto on the basis of the data available with Record Offices or PCDA(P), such affected personnel were asked to apply on a prescribed application form for the said revision. Now don’t ask how these poor guys were expected to learn about these orders or the application forms, I have no answer !. Now in the year 2010, our people have decided to dispense with the application forms for these old pensioners and have directed suo-moto revision without requirement of a request from the pensioners’ side. Very prompt indeed, 1998 the orders were issued, and we have woken up in 2010. These layers and layers of procedures is what we need to shed at the earliest.
Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh at 5:01 AM

Links:
Revision of Disability/ war injury pension element
Service Pension of Naiks, Corporals, Leading Seamans retiring post 01 Jan 1986