Monday, December 26, 2011

one rank one pension-latest news

One rank, one pension gets panel's backing

Parliament of India
(Rajya Sabha Secretariat)

Press Release

Hundred and Forty-second Report on the petition praying for grant of one rank one pension to the armed forces personnel.

The Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha under the Chairmanship of Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, MP, presented its Hundred and Forty-second Report to the Rajya Sabha on 19th December, 2011 on the petition praying for grant of one rank one pension to the armed forces personnel.

2. The Petition was submitted by Shri Sanjay Prabhu and others, resident of Bangalore and countersigned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, Rajya Sabha.

3. The Committee during the course of its deliberations interacted with the petitioners, representatives of Departments of Ex-servicemen Welfare (M/o Defence), Expenditure (M/o Finance) and Pensions and Pensioner’s Welfare (M/o Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions) and some organizations/individuals.

4. Following are the important recommendations of the Committee:-

4.1 The Committee has taken note of the fact that a sum of Rs.1300 crores is the total financial liability for the year 2011-12 in case OROP is implemented fully for all the defence personnel in the country across the board. The Committee was informed that out of this, 1065 crores would go to retirees belonging to Post Below Officer Ranks (PBOR) while the Commissioned Officers would be getting the remaining i.e. 235 crores. The Committee felt that 1300 crores is not a very big amount for a country of our size and economy for meeting the long pending demand of the armed forces of the country. The Committee understand that this 1300 crores is the expenditure for one year which might increase at the rate of 10 percent annually. Even if it is so, the Committee does not consider this amount to be high, keeping in view the objective for which it would be spent.

(Para 11 of the Report)

4.2 The Committee was not convinced with the version of the Ministry of Finance that the grant of OROP to the defence personnel would eventually generate similar requests from the civilian work force of the country under the Central Government and the State Governments. The Committee feels so because of the quite different terms and conditions of service of the two different categories of employments. The terms and conditions of armed forces are tougher and harsher than the civilian
Government employee. On the issue of returning of service medals by the defence personnel of our country to the President of India in view of the Governments’ apathetic attitude towards their demand of grant of OROP, the Committee was of the view that our defence personnel should not feel alienated to this extent again and they are not forced to surrender their hard earned service medals in this manner to exhibit their discontent with the government policies.

(Para 11.2 of the Report)

4.3 The Committee also felt that the decision of the Government to bring our defence personnel on the pattern of the civilians with regard to their pay, pension, etc. (from Third Central Pay Commission onwards) is not a considered decision which has caused hardship to the defence personnel and has given birth to their demand for OROP. The Committee understand that before the Third Central Pay Commission, the defence personnel were getting their pay / pension on the basis of separate criteria unconnected with the criteria devised for the civilian work force. That criteria acknowledged and covered the concept of OROP which has been given up after the Third Central Pay Commission.

(Para 11.4 of the Report

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

DA FROM JANUARY 2012

EXPECTED DEARNESS ALLOWANCE FROM JANUARY 2012

Expected DA from Jan 2011

Perhaps it is very early to calculate the status of additional Dearness allowance from January, 2012 for Central Government employees and Pensioners, before releasing the AICPIN for the balance of three months i.e.October, November and December. Enquiries are being poured as comments and received emails to our inbox about the expected DA from Jan, 2012. We can assume that the AICPIN will certainly go up, because of the essential commodities prices are going high with non stop. Anyway we can assume the additional Dearness allowance from January 2012 will be minimum 7%. The existing Dearness allowance is 58%, it will become as 58% + 7% = 65%.

Monday, December 12, 2011

ONE RANK ONE PENSION

One Rank-One Pension

The gap between past pensioners and their youger equivalents retiring from the armed forces does not necessarily keeps widening with every successive pay commission. Over the years several improvements have been made in pension of past pensioners. The pension of past pensioners have revised in accordance with recommendation of each successive Pay Commission, as accepted by the Government. The Sixth Pay Commission had recommended fitment formula and modified parity for past pensioners, in order to reduce the gaps, which were accepted by the Government.

Pension Improvement is an ongoing process and considerable improvements have been made in the pensions of armed forces personnel. The Group of Ministers (GoM) had in 2005 improved the pensionary benefits of PBORs. On the recommendations of PMO, a Committee was set up under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary in June, 2009 to look into the issue of `One Rank One Pension and other related matters. After considering all aspects of the matter, the Committee keeping in mind the spirit of the demand, suggested several measures to substantially improve pensionary benefits of Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) and Commissioned Officers, which have been accepted by the Government and orders for implementation of all the recommendations have been issued. These are available at www.pcdapension.nic.in.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Shri MM PallamRaju in a written reply to Dr.RajanSushantand others in LokSabha today.

PK/NN
(Release ID :78436)

Monday, December 5, 2011

TURNOVER OF CSD CANTEENS

TURNOVER OF DEFENCE CANTEENS

Turnover, Profit and Profit distributed to beneficiaries after depositing 50% in Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) of Canteen Stores Department (CSD) during the last three years, year-wise, is as under:-

(Rupees in Crore)

Year	Turnover	Profit	Profit distributed to beneficiaries
2007-08	-	-	84.44
2008-09	6955.11	203.69	101.84
2009-10	8689.80	226.53	113.26
2010-11	9534.29	Annual accounts for this period are under finalization.

As per laid down policy, 50% of the total profits earned by CSD is being deposited into Consolidated Fund of India (CFI). The remaining 50% is distributed to various beneficiaries as determined by the Competent Authority. As per policy in vogue, after deduction of regular and adhoc allocations of 4.91 % of this amount, the balance is allocated to Army, Air Force and Navy in the ratio of 85:10:5.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in written reply to Shri Ram Krjpal Yadav and Shri Shadi Lal Batra in Rajya Sabha on 30 Nov 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Women in Defence Forces

Women are inducted in Armed Forces as Officers. The strength of women officers in the three Services of the Armed Forces during the last three years and the current year (Service-wise), is as under:

Year		Strength of Women Officers
	(Excluding Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps
		and Military Nursing Services)
	Army		Navy	Air Force
2008	1072		173	957
2009	1030		176	915
2010	999		191	889
2011	1055		288	936

There is no separate fixed sanctioned strength for recruitment of Women officers in the Armed Forces and they are recruited within the overallauthorised strength of officers in the respective Service. They are inducted as Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs) in various Services/Branches of the three Service as indicated below:-

Women officers are inducted as SSC officers in following Branches/Cadres of the three Services viz. Army, Navy and Air Force:

ARMY:Signals; Engineers; Army Aviation; Army Air Defence; Electronics & Mechanical Engineers; Army Service Corps; Army Ordnance Corps; Intelligence; Army Education Corps; Judge Advocate General.

NAVY:JAG; Logistics; Observer; Air Traffic Controller; Naval Constructor; Education.

AIR FORCE:In all branches and Streams except Fighter Stream of flying branch.

The Armed Forces have submitted a comprehensive policy paper on induction and employment of Women. The Ministry after considering the policy paper keeping in view the role and responsibility of the Armed Forces in defending the nation and protecting the territorial integrity of the country have issued a Government letter on 11th November 2011 inter-alia laying down policy on induction and employment of women in Armed Forces including grant of Permanent Commission to women SSCOs, as under:

(i) Women Officers may continue to be inducted as Short Service Commission officers(SSCOs) in Branches/Cadres where they are being inducted presently in the three Services;

(ii) Women SSCOs will be eligible for consideration for grant of permanent commission along with men SSCOs in specific Branches in the three Services viz. Judge Advocate General(JAG) and Army Education Corps (AEC) of Army and their corresponding branches in Navy and Air Force; Naval constructor in Navy and Accounts branch in Air Force, as specified in Ministry`s letter No. 12(1)/2004-D(AG) Pt-II dated 26th September, 2008;

(iii) In addition to the above, in the Air Force, women SSCOs will be eligible along with men SSCOs, for consideration for grant of permanent commission in Technical, Administration, Logistics and Meteorology Branches.

The grant of permanent commission will be subject to willingness of the candidate and service specific requirements, availability of vacancies, suitability, merit of the candidate as decided by each Service.

Further, a matter regarding grant of permanent commission to women officers in Army is sub-judice before the Hon`ble Supreme Court.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in written reply toShri Sanjay Bhoi and others in Lok Sabha on 28 Nov 2011

PK /NN

Thursday, November 24, 2011

ARMED FORCES PERMANENT COMMISSION TO WOMEN OFFICERS

PERMANENT COMMISSION TO WOMEN OFFICERS

Armed Forces were requested to prepare a comprehensive coherent policy paper on induction of Women, which has been submitted to the Ministry in August 2011. The policy paper has been considered by the Ministry keeping in view the role and responsibility of the Armed Forces in defending the nation and protecting the territorial integrity of the-country. Based thereon, a Government letter has been issued on 11th November, 2011 inter-alia laying down policy on induction and employment of women in Armed Forces as under:

(i) Women Officers may continue to be inducted as Short Service Commission Officers` (SSCOs) in Branches/Cadres where they are being inducted presently in the three Service`s;

(ii) Women SSCOs will be eligible for consideration for grant of permanent commission along with Men SSCOs in specific Branches in the three Services viz. Judge Advocate General (JAG) and Army Education Corps (AEC) of Army and their corresponding branches in Navy and Air Force; Naval constructor in Navy and Accounts branch in Air Force, as specified in Ministry`s letter No:12(i)/2004-D(AG)Pt.Il, dated 26th Septembet,2008;`

(iii) In addition to the above, in the Air Force, women SSCOs will be eligible alongwith men SSCOs, for consideration for grant of permanent commission in Technical, Administration, Logistics and Meteorology Branches.

The grant of permanent commission will be subject to willingness of the candidate and service specific requirements, availability of vacancies, suitability, merit of the candidate as decided by each Service.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in written reply to Shri Balwinder Singh Bhunder in Rajya Sabha on 23rd Nov 2011.

PK/NN
(Release ID :77410)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Ms Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra commissioned as Honorary Lt Colonel

Ms Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra and Dr Deepak Rao Granted Honorary Rank in Territorial Army

MS Dhoni, Abhinav Bindra and Dr Deepak Rao were pipped in by the Army Chief Gen VK Singh today, here. MS Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra have been commissioned as Honorary Lt Colonel and Dr Deepak Rao commissioned as a Honorary Major in the Territorial Army.

MS Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra have been bestowed the honour for their outstanding contribution in the field of sports and their commitment to the Army on various occasions. MS Dhoni has set an example by his unstinted hard work, discipline and supreme dedication. His leading the team from the front, remaining ultra cool in adversities, maintaining excellent physical standards, and giving all credit to his teammates, is very synonymous to the Army way of leadership.

Abhinav Bindra is youth icon and his qualities as a valiant fighter, dedication, hardwork, supreme concentration and perseverance are synonymous to an Army leader.

Deepak Rao is the first Indian to specialize in modern Close Quarter Battle Training (CQB) and has imparted his expertise for 17 years to train soldiers from various Indian forces. He has also been Instructor in Reflex Shooting and Deep Sea Diving. Despite his outstanding achievements he remains committed, selfless and has dedicated his life for Army as an organisation. For his yeomen service to the nation and specifically providing assistance to training of the Armed Forces in Close Quarter Battle, Advanced Commando Combat System and Combating Terrorism, Dr Rao has been bestowed with the honour.

All the three young honorary officers have always followed the ethos and culture of the Indian Army. By donning the Olive Greens, they will be an inspiration to many youngsters of our Nation. As Brand Ambassadors of the Indian Army, they will strengthen the citizen-soldier bonds. Col (Honorary) Anil Habbu, Lt Col (Honorary) Kapil Dev and Lt Col (Honorary) Mohanlal are the other Honorary officers of the Territorial Army.

Veerendra/ Dhup/Balwant
(Release ID :76949)