3.98 per cent hike in defence outlay :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

3.98 per cent hike in defence outlay.
The Union budget increased the outlay for the defencesector
by 3.98 per cent with a total allocation of Rs. 1,47,344 crore as
against the previous allocation of Rs. 1,41, 703 crore.However,
the outlay represents a 8.13 per cent growth over the revised
estimates of Rs.1,36,264crore for the current fiscal.Of the
total outlay for 2010-11, an allocation of Rs.87,344 crore has
been made for revenue expenditure, a growth of 0.54 per cent
over the revenue allocation in the budget estimates of the
current financial year.“Secure borders and security of life and
property fosters development…needless to say, any additional
requirement for the security of the nation will be provided for,”
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his budget speech.
The budget estimates for 2009-10 included the allocation for
defraying expenditure on payment of 60 per cent arrears of pay
and allowances, which had been increased on the basis of the
recommendations of the 6thPay Commission.
Of the three services, the manpower-intensive Army gets the
major share of the allocation at Rs.58,995.19 crore, the Navy
Rs.9,455.03 crore and the Indian Air Force Rs.15,803.65 crore.
Significantly, the government earmarked Rs.60,000 crore for
capital expenditure againstthe previous allocation of Rs.54,824
crore, of which Rs.7,000 crore was returned unspent.The capital
expenditure which includes funds spent for modernisation
represents a growth of 9.44 per cent over 2009-10 budget
allocation.An increased allocation of nearly 25 per cent from
revised estimates includes the big ticket deals in the pipeline.
These include the IAF’s 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft,
medium-lift helicopters, basic jet trainers, armed choppers, the
Navy’s aircraft carrier and other naval fleet acquisition
programme and the Army’s quest to procure the ultra light
howitzers.Of the major heads that could not be spent include
Rs.1,782 crore for construction, Rs. 1,969 crore for aircraft and
aero-engines and Rs.34,00 crore for other equipment.In line
with the government policy, the allocationfor the Defence
Research Development Organisation witnessed an increase of
Rs.881 crore from the revisedestimate of Rs.5,260.42 crore.

Dear Veterans,Given above is the detailed outlay for Defence
in the union budget 2010-2011 which shows a very normal
increase in the allotment which counts for modernisation of
defence equipments and rising prices of these requied items
only. No extra allocation seems to be made for giving any
additional benefit in pension to veterans.Whatever Govt.
proposes to give the veterans (JCOs and below ) is to be
met from the funds allocated for this purpose during the
last budge i.e. 2009-2010.And if the govt. skips issuing the
orders for Modified Parity in Pension for the veterans
(JCOs and below),allocated funds will lapse which the
Govt.should not (R) not resort to.
Veterans should patiently wait for the orders which are
likely to be issued any moment as per the statement of
Minister of State for Defence,Sh. Palam Raju. At the same
time ,we should be very clear that nothing like ONE RANK
ONE PENSION (as being promised to be achieved by certain
big brothers only to garner funds from the veterans ) is on
the anvil in Govt's planning.As such, Ex Soldiers, Sailors
and Airmen Association warns theveterans (JCOs and
below ) not to be caught in their net and stay away from
them

How Big Brothers are conducting themselves with VETERANS ( JCOs and below ) Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Dear Veterans,
To give a soothing touch to agitated feelings of
veterans, specially, JCOs and below, the govt. of India was
kind enough to constitute a committee of Secretaries which
gave its report emphasizing on the following seven points :
1. Inclusion of Classification Allowance for PBOR w.e.f.
Jan 01,2006.
2. Removal of linkage of full pension with 33 years w.e.f.
Jan 01,2006
3. Revision of Pension of Lt. Gen. after carving out a
separate pay scale for them.
4.Broadbanding of percentage of disability/war injury
pension for Pre-01-01-2006 disability/ war injury
pensioners.
5.Removal of cap on war injury element of pension in the
case of disabled pensioners belonging to Category ‘E’
6.Bringing parity between pension of Pre and Post
10-10-1997 PBORs.
7.Further improving the pension of PBORs based on
award of GOM,2006.
lAST TWO POINTS ARE NOT YET NOTIFIED AND THEY
ARE TOTALLY RELATED TO JCOs and below.
As on today, govt. has issued orders for the first five
points, out of which only first point relates, specifically,
to the PBOR and whereas remaining four points relate
to PBORs and Officers both. Because of pay scales and
allowances, offrs. stood to gain more than the PBORs as
a result of all these four points. Hence, there is no hue
and cry on implementation of CoS report from the officers
but when the Govt. announced the Modified parity in
pension for JCOs and below at the time of last budget and
there after, officers opposed it tooth and nail to compel
the govt. to delay the issuance of the orders of Modified
Parity in Pension for PBORs and started harping on
OROP which is a remote possibility. This modified parity
in pension has, already, been given to the officers way
back in year 1998. As such, why the PBORs should not
appeal to the govt. not to implement the latest orders
regarding the improved Pension for Lt. Gen., specially,
because they have been harping on OROP only . Let them
wait for OROP. On the other hand, the Govt. should
immediately issue the orders for Modified Parity in
pension for PBORs lest it may lead to catastrophic stage.
The govt. should have implemented this report in one go
and not in peace meal. This is causing much frustration
among the JCOs and below.

Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
President,
Ex Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Association. (Regd.)

Why the Annexures ? :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Why the Annexures ?

Maj. Navdeep.

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 govt 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 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.

AN APPEAL AND A REQUEST TO VETERANS

AN APPEAL AND A REQUEST TO
VETERANS
Dear veterans,
Regards. Ex Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Association (ESSAA),
is not an Association which has been formed under ordinary
circumstances. It has come up as a result of gross injustice
done to veterans of the rank of Sub. Maj. and below by 6th
Central Pay Commission and at the same time, most un-caring
attitude exhibited by the serving Chiefs as well as retired
Senior officers still holding their sway in the bureaucratic
set up of the govt. towards those who serve or served under
them.
1. Where as the Pay commission has dumped the soldiers,
up to the rank of Hav. and below, in Pay Band PB-1(along with
Class IV) and JCOs in Pay Band PB-II (along with certain
Class III employees of Centre Govt.) without paying slightest
attention to the fact that Hav. and Nk. are Senior and Junior
Non-Commissioned Officers and JCOs. are Junior
Commissioned Officers, no serving Chief as well as Senior
Retd. Officer came to their rescue when certain organizations
of veterans in Punjab raised the demand of placing soldiers of t
he rank of Hav. in Pay Band PB-II and Sub. Maj. in Pay Band
PB-III as if Pay Band PB-III is reserved for Commissioned
Officers only. At the same time when the demand of placing
Lt. Col. in Pay Band PB-IV surfaced, serving Chiefs as well
as the Senior Retd. Officers rallied around this demand and
supported it till the same was agreed to by the Govt.
2. ESSAA was born out of the frustration caused among the
veterans as a result of this discriminatory attitude of the
officers, both serving as well as retired, towards them.
3. An Appeal and a Request.
a. As per rules, money received by way of Life Membership
Fees, will be invested as ‘Fixed Deposit’ in the Bank. Only the
Annual Membership Fee and interest that will accrue on this
‘Fixed Deposit’ will be utilized for funding various expenditure
& activities of ESSAA, viz. organizing Meetings of members,
Press Conferences and veteran’s Rallies etc. Since the amount
that accrues as interest will be very less and will not suffice to
fund ESSAA activities, this appeal is being made to veterans to
join ESSAA in large no. and donate as much as your pocket
allows for this good cause. Though a few of our Veterans have
been very kind & gracious enough to to donate money to ESSAA
for its activitie, not much is available in our kitty to carry on
our work. Smoothly.
b. Money is always required to fund every movement & ESSAA
is no exception.. Money to sustain ESSAA will have to come from
Veterans (Hony. Offrs and below) themselves. Senior veterans
will spend the money and energy to hamper your efforts as one
Maj. has gone to Court with a plea that he gets less pension than
a Sub. Maj. is drawing more pension than him in his neighborhood.
c The ESSAA is committed to fight for the rights of Veterans
(HONY. OFFRs and below).Our foremost demand is that Govt.
should grant enough pension to enable us to live honorably and
grant the Modified Parity in Pension at the earliest and
subsequently change the Pay Band for Hav.and Sub. Major.
d. Our next demand is grant of two pensions to the widow whose
husband drew two pensions during his life time.
e. We further demand guaranteed employment up to the age 60
years like civilian employees.
To fight for such demands of veterans (Hony. Offrs. and below,
this organization has been formed under the able guidance of
one of the most experienced and able veteran, S. Prabhjot Singh
Chhatwal PLS Retd. which has now spread to whole of India
and many state units have come up. As such, we appeal to you
all to join the organization in large number to achieve your aim
Vet. B.S. Sohi Vet. S.C.Sharma Vet. Malkit Singh
IAF IND. NAVY IND. ARMY
Vice President Gen. Secy Asst Secy.
Vet. M.S.Anand
IAF
Finance Secy.

Eight Clues to happiness-Khushwant Singh : Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Clues to happiness - Khushwant Singh

One of the most convincing pieces on happiness.
Khushwant Singh at his best.
The rationale applied to each preference is absolutely
top class.

EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS
By- KHUSHWANT SINGH

Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over
what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I
drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for
the readers' appraisal.
1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy
good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however
trivial, will deduct from your happiness.
2. Second, a HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run
into crores(millions) but should be enough to provide for
creature comforts and something to spare for recreation,
like eating out, going to the pictures, traveling or going
on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money
can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is
demeaning and lowers one in one's own eyes.
3. Third, a HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can
never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for
keeps that a home provides: if it has a garden space, all
the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow
and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
4. Fourth, an UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your
spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings,
they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be
divorced than to bicker all the time.
5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better
than you in life; risen higher, made more money, or earned
more fame. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you
for gup-shup(Gossip). By the time you get rid of them, you
will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you
a sense of fulfillment, such as gardening, reading, writing,
painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or
parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal
waste of time.
8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes
to INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be
spent on stilling the mind and then five in listing things
you have to do that day. In the evening, five minutes to
still the mind again, and ten to go over what you had
undertaken to do.
Nathaniel Cotton (1721-1788) summed up my views on
the subject in one verse:

If solid happiness we prize
Within our breast this jewel lies

And they are fools who roam
The world has nothing to bestow

From our own selves our joys must flow
And that dear hut, our home.

" What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Regarding issuance of notification for modified Parity in Pension:Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Dear Veterans,
Regards. Find below the letter faxed today to the authorities
by this organisation.
Tel-fax 0175-5000896.
Dear veterans Mob. 098554-09128


Ex Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen
Association (Regd.)

3-Guru Ram Dass Nagar, Tripuri Road,
Patiala-147 004.,Punjab, India.




ESSAA/3/2010 Dt. 15 February,2010

To
Director (Pension/Policy),
Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare,
Ministry of Defence,
213-AWing,Sena Bhawan,
New Delhi.

Sub. Immediate issuance of notification regarding Modified
Parity in Pension for Pre-2006 JCOs. and below.

Dear Sir,
It is in reference to the announcement made by you as well as by Lt. Gen V.K. Chaturvedi, Director General (MP&PS),General Branch, Army Hq. New Delhi regarding the grant of Modified Parity in Pension by the Govt. of India in lieu OROP being asked by some organizations.
It is not out of place to mention that Her Excellency, the President of India, Hon,ble Prime Minister of India, and Finance Minister of India were, at some stage, misinformed about the term ‘OROP’ and the announcement regarding the grant ‘OROP’ to Personnel Below the Officer Rank (PBOR) was, erroneously, made by each of them which created a lot of hue and cry among the Commissioned Officers. Finally Defence Minister had to announce in the Lok Sabha that same would, also, given to the officers which gave much solace to the,so called, aggrieved officers who have been hankering for ‘OROP’ for a long time.
Now when the Govt. has made it clear and agreed to grant Modified Parity in Pension to ‘PBOR’ and this, underprivileged, section of ex-services community has, willingly, accepted this, the delay in issuance of notification to this effect, is causing much frustration among them and also creating the feeling that, perhaps, this is being done, knowingly, by some one only to frustrate the ex-servicemen who have no shoulder to lean upon. This agony, among the veterans, will certainly lead to a catastrophic situation if no remedial measure is taken at the earliest.
As such, we, humbly, request you to issue the notification without further delay lest the allocation, made in this regard, in the last budget may lapse leading to much harassment to the recipients.
This also refers to our letter no.ESSAA/1/2010 dt. 19.1.2010.
Thinking you,
Yours Sincerely,

Sd/-
(Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.)
President.
Copy to. 1.Hon’ble Prime Minister of India…..
2.Hon’ble Defence Minister of India…
3.Hon’ble Finance Minister of India…
…all for information and, deemed, necessary
action, please.
Sd/-
(Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.)
President.

Darjeeling Land Scam :Veteran Prabhjot Singh PLS Retd.

Darjeeling Land Scam.
Have been singled out, alleges Lt Gen Rath
New Delhi, February 13. Lt Gen PK Rath, who is facing court
martial in the Sukna land scam case, has alleged in the
Delhi High Court that there was “mala fide” intention as the
Eastern Command hadinitiated action against him only
after he was designated the Deputy Chief of Army.
In his petition before the High Court here, Rath has contended
that he had been “singled out” in the case and the “offence”
against him had been “prejudged”.
The Eastern Command, headed by Army Chief-designate
Lt GenVK Singh, had initiated the Court of Inquiry against
him much after the Cabinet Committee of Appointments had
approved his elevation as Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Rath
said in his 24-page
petition filed on Thursday.He contended that the order to
attach him to the Kolkata-based headquarters, just before he
could take over as Deputy Chief of Army, was “highly
discriminatory, arbitrary and non-speaking order, hence bad
in law”. Casting aspersions on the role of Lt-Gen VK Singh, he
said, “The attachment order has been passed with a malafide
intention to stop the petitioner from joining the post as Deputy
Chief of Army Staff.”
Rath, along with former Military Secretary Lt-Gen Avadesh
Prakash, is facing court martial in the case that relates to
no-objection certificate given by the Army to a private
realtor to construct an educational institution over a
71-acre plot adjacent to Sukna military base in Darjeeling.
Rath said he had informed Lt Gen Singh within 15 days
about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed
in April lastyear with a private realtor and on the orders
of Lt-Gen Singh he also got the MOU cancelled.
“It is only after six months of cancellation of the MOU,
when the petitioner was transferred to post of Deputy
Chief of ArmyStaff, that the Eastern Command Headquarters
initiated the proceedings only to deny the petitioner from
being posted to the above post,” he said.— PTI

Avalanche turns grave for 17 Army men in J&K :Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Avalanche turns grave for 17 Army
menin J&K.17 others hurt as tragedy strikes training
campin Gulmarg.Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 8.At least 17 Army personnel, including an
officer, were killed and 17 others injured in an avalanche at
Khilanmarg in the upper reaches of Gulmarg, about 50 km from
here, today. Fortysix others were rescued in a joint operation
launched by the Army, police and the State Tourism Department.
A defence spokesman said the avalanche struck the training area
at Khelan Marg, where 400 Army personnel were undergoing
training. Around 80 members of High Altitude Warfare School
(HAWS) were trapped under the avalanche. Prompt action by
the Army, duly assisted by the state administration, including
civilian doctors and the police, resulted in the rescue of Army
personnel. A Brigadier from the formation was overseeing the
rescue operations, the spokesman said.
The tragedy has happened when the entire Kashmir valley and
its upper reaches have been witnessing heavy rain and snowfall
for the past four days, disrupting traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu
National Highway.
Various areas of the valley, particularly in north Kashmir, have
been cut off from the rest of the state due to heavy accumulation
of snow in the upper reaches and high mountain areas. Gulmarg
and Khilanmarg areas are under three to five feet snow
accumulated during the past four days.
The Disaster Management, Kashmir, had only yesterday issued
avalanche warning for various areas across the Kashmir valley
in view of continued bad weather conditions. It warned of high
danger avalanches in areas around Sonmarg on the Srinagar-
Ladakh axis, and the medium danger avalanche warning in
Khilanmarg, Uri, Baaz, Razdan Top, Keran, Machchil, Sadhna
Top, Gurez and Chowkibal areas of north Kashmir. Aamir Ali,
OSD with the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, in charge of
the disaster management, here yesterday, quoting the SASE,
also warned of low danger avalanches on the two sides of the
Jawahar Tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
According to officials of the Tourism Department, which
conducts snow skiing events in the area, a team of skiing and
rescue experts headed by Tourist Officer GM Dar, equipped with
snow scooters and piston bullies, have joined the rescue operations.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.098554-09128,Tele-fax 0175-5000896.

Directory of Ex-Servicemen : Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Directory of Ex-Servicemen
Ludhiana, February6.In order to extend best services to
ex-servicemen, the District Sainik Welfare Office has
decided to compile a directory of all ex-servicemen residing
in the district to keep a record that will help the department.
Giving details, newly-joined District Sainik Welfare Officer
Col Harvinder Pal Singh said, “We expect that around
40,000 ex-servicemen are residing in Ludhiana alone. If we
have all record pertaining to these former defence servicemen,
we will be able to help them.”Urging all former defence officials
to give their present address and contact numbers to Office,
Ludhiana, Col Harvinder saidthe District Sainik Welfare ,
“The directory will be helpful in forming a network that could
beused at the time of crisis and whenever their experiences and
services are required.”The information could be conveyed at
94178-22874, 98769-71230 and 0161-2741066.The project will
also be available in a digital format and will help the department
have better interaction with ex-servicemen and their families.


Please Note: A good effort,indeed,being made by an officer who
left an everlasting impression in every veteran's mind during his
short stay a Patiala.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

After 55 years, WW-II veteran gets pension-Tribune News:Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

After 55 years, WW-II veteran gets pension.
Vijay Mohan-Tribune News Service.
Chandigarh- February 4.After struggling for 28 years, a veteran
of World War-II has been finally awarded pension for the
service he rendered over 55 years ago. Had it not been for
miscalculation by the Army authorities, he might have got his
pension years ago.Allowing a petition filed by Harbans Singh,
a resident of Kharar, the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed
Forces Tribunalalso directed that he should be paid three-year
arrears, commencing from the date of filing of petition till now.
Harbans Singh had served with the Rashtriya Indian ASCfrom
September 1940 to March 1946. He again enrolled onto the Army
in August 1951 and was discharged in March1955.In 1982, the
Central Government introduced a new policy under which break
in service was to be condoned and the period was to be counted
towards the qualifying period for fixing pension.Soon after, he
received a letter from ASC Records stating that he was eligible
for pension and should apply for thesame. He took up the
matter with the authoritiesconcerned, but in 1993, received a
communiqué fromthe Directorate General Supplies and
Transport that hisservice amounted to 14 years and two months.
The minimum qualifying period for pension is 15 years, but a
shortfall of six months can be condoned under law.As per the
letter, his service was short of over four months even after
condoning the grace period.Later perusal of records showed
that the date of his service period was wrongly mentioned. His
actual service periodwas over 14 years and six months, which
made him eligiblefor pension.As the matter lingered, he filed a
writ petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1998.
The matter wasadmitted and was later transferred to the
tribunal for further consideration.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.098554-09128,Tele-Fax 0175-5000896.

Hindustantimes

War-injured to get maximum pension?
HT Correspondent.
NEW DELHI: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has come to the help of war-injured soldiers and directed the government to consider a maximum of the pay scale for an officer while fixing his war injury pension.
The tribunal headed by Justice A.K. Mathur also advised the government not to differentiate between a short service commissioned officer and a permanent officer while granting death-cum-retirement gratuity (DCRG).
The tribunal accepted the plea of the petitioner Disabled War Veterans and held: "We strongly feel that it is a matter which requires a serious consideration of the Government that a person whose career has been sacrificed for safeguarding the Indian border and he is to be treated in such a poor way that he is being paid war pension on the basis of minimum of the scale of that rank. Therefore, looking yeoman service rendered by incumbent, he should be given a fair treatment."
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Aiswarya Bhatti criticised the present government practice and said a war injury cut short an officer's service, forcing him to retire permanently. Therefore, she said, it would be harsh and unfair to the soldier if his maximum pay scale were not considered for determining the amount of war injury pension.
Observing that the discrimination on the basis of an officer's service violated Article 14 of the Constitution, the tribunal added: "Once the Short Service Commission officers and the Permanent Service Commission officers fight on the border shoulder to shoulder, they form same class and no further distinction can be made... and if unfortunately both of them receive an injury and they are disabled then no distinction can be made in payment of DCRG."
---------------

Tribunal puts army in dock- says different benefits for similar injuries is disremation:Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Tribunal puts army in dock- says different benefits for
similar injuries is discrimination
NEW DELHI: When a bullet coming from the other side of
the border does not distinguish between a commissioned
and non-commissioned officer in the Army, how can the
government do so when it comes to grant of death-cum-
retirement gratuity (DCRG), wondered the newly-constituted
Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) headed by a retired Supreme
Court judge. In a major order that would assuage the long-
standing grievance of the officers, both commissioned and
non-commissioned, AFT principal Bench comprising
chairperson Justice A K Mathur and member Lt Gen M L
Naidu said this discrimination in payment of DCRG was
violative of Article 14 (right to equality) guaranteed under
the Constitution. A petitionfiled by the Disabled War Veterans
(India) through counsel Aishwarya Bhati had made two major
grievances — one relating to the difference in payment of DCRG
and the other regarding computation of pension for a disabled
soldier. Bhati had alleged that the government takes into
account the minimum payscale in the rank of the disabled
soldier to compute the war injury pension to him and had
requested AFT to direct the Centre to consider taking into
account the highest pay in the rank for the purpose. AFT agreed
on both counts with the counsel. On DCRG, it said once the
short service commission officers and the permanent service
commission officers fight on the border shoulder-to-shoulder
, they formed the same class and no further distinction can be
made. "Once they form the same class and they are fighting
shoulder-to-shoulder against the enemy and if unfortunately
both of them receive an injury and they are disabled then no
distinction can be made in the payment of DCRG," the AFT
said asking the government to take serious note of the anomaly
and review the policy forthwith. "We cannot give them benefit,
but we can only request the government that this payment of
DCRG on the basis of distinction between short service
commissionand regular service commission is highly
discriminatory. We hope and trust that the government will
remove thisdiscrimination which is apparent on the face of it,
" it said. Coming to computation of war injury pension, the
AFT said the cause of injury which disabled a soldier and cut
shorthis career was beyond the control of the personnel and
such persons should be treated fairly by being given war injury
pension on the basis of the highest pay in the rank. "We feel
strongly that it is a matter which requires serious consideration
of the government that a person whose career has been sacrificed
for safeguarding the Indian border and he is to be treated in such
a poor way that he is being paid war disabled pension on the
basisof minimum of the scale of that rank," the AFT Bench
said. "The maximum scale of that rank should be considered
for determining the amount of war injury pension," the AFT
said disposing of the petition by the Disabled War Veterans.
Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.09554-09128,Tele-Fax 0175-5000896.