20

STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE

(2003)

(THIRTEENTH LOK SABHA)

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

WELFARE OFSERVICEMEN AND EX-SERVICEMEN

TWENTIETH REPORT

Presented to Lok Sabha on 19.8.2003

Laid in Raiya Sabha on 19.8.2003

LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT

NEW DELHI

August, 2003/Sravana, 1925 (Saka)

CONTENTS

Sl. No.

1. Composition of the Committee 2. Introduction 3. Report - `Welfare of Servicemen’ 4. Restructuring of officers’ cadre 5. Insurance Benefits to Servicemen 6. Reservation System for the Wards of Servicemen 7. Grant of Leave to and Redressal of grievances of Servicemen 8. Special Court of Appeal 9.

`Welfare of Ex-Servicemen Resettlement and Welfare of Ex-Servicemen

10. Re-employment in Government jobs 11. Self Employment 12. Ex-Servicemen Financial Corporation 13. Other Welfare Schemes 14. Housing for Ex-Servicemen 15. Conditions of War Widows 16. Pensions 17. Disability Pension 18. Family Pensions 19. Welfare Associations 20. Medical facilities to Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen 21. Annexure-I 22. Annexure-II 23. Annexure-III 24. Annexure-IV 25. Minutes of the Sittings

COMPOSITION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (2003)

Shri Madan Lal Khurana - Chairman

MEMBERS LOK SABHA

2. Shri S. Bangarappa 3. Shri S.K. Bwiswmuthiary 4. Col. (Retd.) Sona Ram Choudhary 5. Shri K.P. Singh Deo 6. Shri Tribhuwan Dutt 7. Shri Raghuveer Singh Kaushal

8. Shri Chandrakant Khaire 9. Shri Akbor Ali Khandoker 10. Shri K.E. Krishnamurthy 11. Shri P.R. Kyndiah 12. Shri Hannan Mollah 13. Shri Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi 14. Shri Mudragada Padmanabham 15. Shri Ram Vilas Paswan 16. Shri Shivraj V. Patil 17. Shri Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi 18. Shri Rajendrasinh Rana 19. Smt. Vasundhara Raje 20. Prof. Rasa Singh Rawat 21. Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy 22. Shri Nikhilananda Sar 23. Dr. Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil

24. Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh 25. Shri Tejveer Singh

26. Shri Manoj Sinha 27. Shri C. Sreenivasan 28. Shri Vaiko 29. Dr. Jaswant Singh Yadav

RAJYA SABHA 30. Dr. Farooq Abdullah 31. Shri Parmeshwar Kumar Agarwalla 32. Shri R.K. Anand 33. Shri Nilotpal Basu 34. Shri Shankar Roy Chowdhury 35. Smt. N.P. Durga 36. Shri Eduardo Faleiro 37. Shri B.S. Gnandesikan 38. Shri Vedprakash P. Goyal 39. Shri Suresh Kalmadi 40. Dr. Vijay Mallya 41. Dr. Raja Ramanna 42. Dr. Akhtar Hasan Rizvi 43. Shri Birabhadra Singh 44. Shri Ekanath K. Thakur

SECRETARIAT 1. Shri P.D.T. Achary - Additional Secretary 2. Shri N.K. Sapra - Joint Secretary 3. Shri A.K. Singh - Deputy Secretary

4. Shri K.D. Muley - Under Secretary

INTRODUCTION I, the Chairman, Standing Committee on Defence (2003) having been authorised by the Committee to submit the Report on their behalf, present this Twentieth Report on the subject `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. 2. The subject was taken up for examination by the Standing Committee on Defence (1998-99) which also took the oral evidence of the representatives of the Ex-Servicemen Associations on the subject on 15 October 1998. The subject was reselected by the Standing Committee on Defence in 2002 and 2003. During the year 2003, the Committee took one more evidence of the representatives of Ex-Servicemen Associations on 28 April 2003 and two oral evidences of the representatives of the Ministry of Defence on 30 April 2003 and 4 July 2003. 3. The Committee wish to express their thanks to the Ministry of Defence and the Ex-Servicemen Associations for placing before them the material and information as desired by the Committee and sharing with the Committee their views, perceptions and constraints regarding the issues which came up for discussion during evidence on the subject. 4. The Report was considered and adopted by the Standing Committee on Defence (2003) at their sittings held on 13 and 14 August 2003. 5. For facility of reference and convenience, the observations/recommendations of the Committee have been printed in thick type in the body of the Report. New Delhi; MADAN LAL KHURANA, Chairman, 14 August 2003 Standing Committee on Defence 23 Sravana 1925 (Saka)

DRAFT REPORT Introductory

The welfare of Ex-Servicemen and serving defence personnel is of utmost importance and has a direct impact on the serving personnel in view of their dedicated services to the nation under most difficult and inhospitable environment and conditions vis-à-vis meagre incentives they get in return. In war and peace, on hostile frontiers and family stations, from Siachin to Indira Point and from Tawang to Bombay High, their arduous duties for national security requires comparable service benefits, if not more. In the wake of the continued backlog vacancies and bleak promotional prospects, an in-depth study of the problems and realistic action to improve the service conditions of the Servicemen has become crucial in order to keep them motivated to render dedicated services of highest order. 2. As regards the Ex-Servicemen, considering their problems and genuine grievances, the issue of their welfare also assumes great significance and concern of the entire country. As on 1 April 2003, the total number of Ex-Servicemen pensioners registered with various Zila Sainik Boards in the country was 20,51,262 with about 60,000 pensioners added every year. However, the actual number may be significantly higher, since it is a fact that all Ex-Servicemen pensioners do not always register themselves with the Zila Sainik Boards. A more comprehensive census of Ex-Servicemen is thus required to be carried out. Similarly, the number of widows of service personnel was 3,43,906 as on 31 December 2001. Most of the retiring personnel are in the age group of 35-40 years. This is such a stage of life when their financial and domestic responsibilities are maximum. Another dimension of the problem is the pathetic condition of the ever-increasing number of the widows and dependents of the personnel killed in wars/operations. Thus, the issue of their rehabilitation and welfare is of utmost importance and necessitate a great deal of initiative not only from the Government but from the entire society on various fronts to resolve the gigantic problems of Ex-Servicemen and dependents/widows of defence personnel killed in wars/operations.

WELFARE OF SERVICEMEN Restructuring of officers’ cadre 3. On the A.V. Singh Committee constituted by the Ministry of Defence for looking into the restructuring of officers’ cadre, the Ministry have stated:

“The Committee identified two inter-related issues at the core of the structural imbalances referred to by the Army Headquarters, i.e. high age profile and cadre stagnation. The need for a youthful profile especially at the junior and middle leadership levels has been highlighted by the Committee since these levels are closely involved in combat. Mention has also been made of diminishing risk-taking propensities, falling fitness standards for high altitude and glaciated terrain and night alertness as casualties of high age profile.

In order to achieve the objective of bringing down the age profile, a two pronged strategy has been recommended comprising a strong and viable exit policy on the one hand and upgradation of ranks on the other.

Certain short-term and long-term measures have been proposed by the Committee to achieve this objective. These are:-

Short-Term Measures

(i) Additional deputation vacancies and lateral absorption; (ii) Tenures outside the Army; (iii) Exit through the voluntary service severance scheme; and (iv) Creation of additional appointments.

Long-Term Measures

A lean regular cadre and an enhanced support cadre were identified as the ideal long-term solution to lower age profile in the Army. The necessary ratio between regular and support cadres and measures to make the support cadre more attractive were recommended to be worked out pragmatically.

The proposals of this Committee are under examination by the Ministry of Defence”.

4. During the oral evidence the Ministry of Defence further informed:

“Last year, a study was ordered by the Ministry of Defence with Shri A.V. Singh, the then Special Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, with members being the Adjutant General, Chief of Personnel of the Navy, AOP of the Air Force, DG MP&PS of the Army Headquaraters, a representative of the Defence Finance, and JS (G) being the Member-Secretary. This was the composition of the study that was ordered. Why was this study necessary? The existing Officers’ cadre of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force suffered from a very large base. One of the things is that it has got a very large base and there is a very steep pyramid at the top. The commanding officers in the rank of full Colonel have a high age bracket today, which is not desirable. The desirability is, have these Commanders young. The next problem is under-utilisation of the experience of officers in the higher ranks because by the time you get promoted to the rank of a Major-General, Lt.-General, you have a very little service left. Therefore, their contribution becomes very limited. Another reason is inadequate career progression leading to declining motivation”.

5. The Committee appreciate the need for a youthful profile of defence forces at the junior and middle levels as they are closely involved in direct combat but feel that non-upgradation of ranks, lack of adequate promotional avenues and the consequent problems of enlarged base with fewer posts at the top causing constricted career progression have thus resulted in an undesirable situation of not so young commanding officers. The Committee feel that this has inevitably led to decline in interest and motivation among youth/new entrants towards Defence services. 6. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the short-term as well as long-term measures as suggested by the A.V. Singh Committee constituted for the re-structuring of officers’ cadre should be examined expeditiously. The Committee desire the Ministry to take steps, in consultation with the Department of Personnel and Training and other departments, to explore transfer/deputation/lateral induction of defence personnel to other non-Defence Departments/Ministries as in the case of civilian officers being transferred/deputed to Defence Departments. 7. The Committee also desire the Ministry to formalise a Consultative Machinery to actively involve the retired high rank Defence personnel for consultations to obtain their suggestions on regular basis so as to derive full benefits of their vast experience in Defence arena.

Insurance Benefits to Servicemen

8. On Insurance Schemes for the Servicemen, the Ministry of Defence have stated:

“The Army Group Insurance (AGI) introduced a contributory Group Insurance Scheme with effect from 1.4.1991. The scheme provides an insurance cover of Rs.3.75 lakh for Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) and Rs.8 lakh for Officers. The insurance cover is extended after retirement with pension for a period of 15 years or till the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier, on payment of nominal one time lumpsum premium.

The scheme also provides loans to personnel for purchase of house, car and personal computer”.

9. On the Insurance issue, the Ministry of Defence further informed the Committee during the oral evidence:

“All the officers, junior commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers and sepoys make a monthly contribution which is deducted from their salary and remitted to an organisation here in Delhi. The officers contribute Rs.610 monthly from their salary and have an insurance cover of Rs. eight lakh. In case of disability the cover extends between Rs.80,000 and Rs. four lakh depending upon the degree of disability. Those below the officer rank contribute Rs.250 every month and are covered for an insurance of Rs.3.75 lakh. Similarly, for the other categories there is a coverage. Those cadets who are undergoing training at the Indian Military Academy and at the National Defence Academy are also covered by this scheme. They make a lumpsum contribution and their kith and kin are beneficiaries of Rs.8 lakh in case of a mishap happening. The Air Force Group Insurance Scheme also runs on the same lines. The Navy does not have an identical scheme”.

10. The Committee also note that there is a Contributory Group Insurance Scheme for the Army and the Air Force personnel to provide cover in case of disability or death of the personnel. This insurance cover is extended after retirement with pension for a period of 15 years or till the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier, on payment of nominal one time lumpsum premium. However, there is no similar scheme available for the personnel of Indian Navy. 11. The Committee are of the view that the insurance cover for only 15 years after the retirement of Defence personnel is discriminatory as most of the JCOs/ORs and Jawans retire at a young age and, therefore, recommend that the insurance cover should be available to all categories of Defence personnel till the death irrespective of their ranks. The Committee also recommend that a similar insurance scheme should be formulated and implemented for the personnel of Indian Navy as well at the earliest in a time-bound manner.

Reservation system for the wards of Servicemen 12. On being asked to furnish the details about the reservation system being followed for the wards/dependents of Defence personnel for admission into various professional courses, the Ministry of Defence in their written reply have stated:

“Reservation is provided to the wards of serving/retired Defence personnel for allotment of 28 seats in Medical Colleges, 1 seat in Dental College and 2 seats in Engineering in Annamalai University in accordance with the following priorities:

(i) Killed in action. (ii) Disabled in action and boarded out from service. (iii) Died while in service with death attributable to military service. (iv) Disabled in service and boarded out with disability attributable to military

service. (v) Gallantry award/other award winners. (vi) Wards of Ex-Servicemen. (vii) Wards of serving personnel. Applications received from wards of ESM and serving personnel exceed by more than

twice the number of applications in first five priorities. Since the number of seats for allotment through Kendriya Sainik Board is limited, only first 5 priorities are considered for allotment of seats. Kendriya Sainik Board has already requested Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for enhancement of seats.

Two seats in each of the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are reserved for children of the Defence/Para Military Force personnel killed or permanently disabled in action. Such candidates are, however, required to qualify in the joint entrance examination for admission in IITs. Some of the State Governments at their level also provide reservation in various streams in professional institutes for the wards/dependents of Defence personnel”.

13. The Ministry of Defence further informed the Committee during the oral evidence:

“The Kendriya Sainik Board has given 28 medical seats, one dental seat and two seats in the engineering colleges. The Director-General (Resettlement) invites applications from those who want to avail of this opportunity. Thereafter, the list is prioritised. Priority one is being given for those killed in action, where the father was killed in action. Second priority is given to those disabled in action and boarded out of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Third priority is given to those who died in service and death was attributable to military service, however, not in the face of the enemy. Fourth priority is given to those disabled in service and boarded out with disability to military service. Finally, the last priority is given to the gallantry award winners and other meritorious award winners. In addition, the IITs give two seats in each of the IIT for wards of Defence/paramilitary personnel of those who were killed or permanently disabled. However, the children here are required to qualify at the Entrance Examination. Then only, they become eligible. A merit list is drawn up and two children for each Institute are admitted this way”.

14. The Committee note that the benefits of reservation in professional institutions have practically not reached the wards/dependents of serving Defence personnel and that of Ex-Servicemen if they are not in the list of gallantry award winners for the reason that as per the criteria fixed by the Kendriya Sainik Board for allotment of reserved seats the requests for admissions received from them are put on the last priority. The Committee are also surprised to note that many of the State Governments have not still made any provision of reservation for wards/dependents of the Defence personnel. 15. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the Ministry should at once take up with such State Governments to make suitable provisions for reservation of seats in professional institutions for the wards of the Defence personnel. The Committee would also like the Ministry to thoroughly review the existing levels of reservations and explore the possibilities of increasing the same. Grant of Leave to and Redressal of Grievances of the Servicemen (a) Grant of Leave 16. The Ministry have, in a note, informed that the types of leave available to Officers, JCOs or ORs are as follows: Sl.No.

Type of Leave Officers JCOs/Ors Recruit Boys

1. Annual Leave 60 days 60 days 30 days 2. Casual Leave 20 days 30 days 30 days 3. Furlough Leave

(at half pay) 60 days in a cycle of three years

N.A. N.A.

4. Sick Leave Upto a maximum of 180 days at full pay to be extended on sanction

(a) Entire period spent in a Military Hospital or a recognised civil hospital is treated duty subjected to individaul falling sick whilst on duty.

(b) After discharge from hospital further sick leave may be granted if advised by medical authorities.

(c) There is no limit of sick leave.

Admissible as to other ranks

5. Maternity leave to women officers

Two months leave on full pay to be extended by one month without pay in exceptional cases.

17. The Ministry have also informed that the leave due to army personnel is very liberal and is curtailed only during emergencies. In most cases unavailed leave is carried forward so that domestic requirements are not affected. On receipt of request for assistance from Ex-Servicemen, widows or Servicemen, the concerned authorities specially at the Unit level request the concerned administration for necessary help. The matter has also been taken up by the Raksha Mantri with the Chief Ministers of the various States.

18. The Ministry have further informed that the implication involved in granting leave to all service personnel is that a strength of approximately 25 per cent of the authorised strength of the unit remains away for the duration of leave. There are no difficulties in sanctioning the leave due. However, during emergencies or operational requirements the leave is either curtailed or stopped. On improvement of the situation the unavailed/balance of leave is allowed to be carried forward to the subsequent years or accumulated for encashment at the time of retirement. Upto 30 days of Annual leave may be accumulated in a year subject to the maximum ceiling of 300 days during the entire service by Officers, JCOs and ORs who proceed on retirement/discharge on their own request. 19. The representatives of the Ministry of Defence further clarified during the oral evidence:

“Those who retire normally, i.e. after putting in their full service, colour service or whatever they are initially recruited for, are permitted to accumulate leave like other Government servants, up to a maximum period of 300 days. But, you need a minimum of 22 years of service to be able to accumulate and convert that 300 days leave into encashment. Between 17 and 22 years, it is 265 days and between 15 and 17 years, it is 240 days. Now the personnel who died while in service, what is permitted for them is, 22 years and above-300 days, 17 to 22 years-265 days, and less than 17 years –225 days. The next one-personnel who are invalidated out of service, that is on their medical condition. For them, 22 years and above-300 days, 17 to 22 years-265 days, and less than 17 years-225 days. The last one are the personnel who proceed on retirement or discharged at their own request. For them, 22 years and above-300 days, 20 to 22 years-265 days,17-20 years-132 days, and less than 17 years-113 days”.

(b) Special Court of Appeal 20. With regard to the redressal of grievances, the Defence Secretary informed the Committee that the redressal, in terms of subjective assessment, is a disciplinary matter and it also involves welfare aspect. He further informed that there is no Court of Appeal independent of Service Headquarters unlike in many countries, viz. France, Germany, Russia, Sweden and U.K. for redressal of grievances.

21. The Committee have been informed that there is liberal treatment with the serving Defence personnel as compared to civilian employees so far as the types and days of leave available to them are concerned. The Committee feel that this is rather desirable despite the depletion in available strength and other implications in sanctioning the leave, keeping in view the strenuous environment and stressful conditions under which they perform their duties.

22. The Committee note that a provision of annual leave of only 30 days has been made for Recruit Boys whereas Officers and JCOs avail 60 days of leave in a year and Furlough leave is available only for Officers. The Committee also note that on the one hand practical difficulties are being faced in sanctioning of leave due to exigencies of deployment of troops, leading to

accumulation of leave, on the other hand, the personnel are being denied benefit of encashment due to ceiling of 300 days on accumulated leave. 23. The Committee, therefore, recommend that suitable measures should be taken to minimise the difficulties being faced by the Defence personnel in getting their leave sanctioned. At the same time, the discrepancies in kinds of leave provisioned for Officers, JCOs and Recruit Boys should be rectified. The Committee further recommend that the ceiling of 300 days for leave encashment should be removed as part of compensatory measure so as to encourage service personnel to encash the accumulated leave to maintain availability of sufficient manpower for deployment. 24. The Committee observe that the Service Headquarters are the sole authority on the grievances reported by the Service personnel. In recent years many Defence personnel have been taking recourse to the judiciary after summary disposal of their cases by the Military Court. In many countries, viz. France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and United Kingdom, a Court of Appeal exists for redressal, if grievances persist after the judgement by Service Headquarters. 25. The Committee, therefore, recommend that a Special Court of Appeal, headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, independent of the Service Headquarters, should be constituted for the redressal of grievances of the Service personnel where the aggrieved personnel may appeal within 90 days against the judgement of the Military Courts. The judgement of the Special Court of Appeal can be reviewed only by the Supreme Court of India.

RESETTLEMENT AND WELFARE OF EX-SERVICEMEN 26. Every year about 60,000 Service Personnel are retired or released from Army, Navy and Air Force. Majority of these personnel are in the age group of 35-40 years. They are in the prime of their life at the time of their retirement and have maximum financial and domestic responsibilities. Besides, there are large number of widows and dependents of deceased Defence Service personnel. 27. The number of Ex-Servicemen is increasing with the passage of time. About 20,51,000 Ex-Servicemen and about 3,50,000 Widows of the Service Personnel are registered with various Zila Sainik Boards in the country at present. The number of Ex-Servicemen registered for employment with Zila Sainik Boards as on 31 December 2001 was about 5,00,000. Both the Central and the State Governments are jointly responsible for their rehabilitation and welfare. The organisational structure at the Central level and the State level, for the resettlement of Ex-Servicemen is as under:-.

Central Level 28. (a) Directorate-General of Resettlement - The Directorate-General of Resettlement (DGR) under the Ministry of Defence has been set up to look after all matters connected with Resettlement and Welfare of Ex-Servicemen (including officers), their widows and dependents. The schemes/activities of the DGR can be specifically categorised under the following needs :

(i) Resettlement (ii) Self Employment (iii) Training (iv) Welfare

(b). Zonal Resettlement Directorate - The DGR has a Zonal Resettlement Directorate co-located with each of the five Army Commands Headquarters. These Directorates are the Zonal representatives of the DGR. (c). Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) - Kendriya Sainik Board is the apex body at the Centre which provides policy guidelines on resettlement and welfare matters affecting Ex-Servicemen and families of serving and deceased personnel. The Board with the Raksha Mantri as President has 47 members including 13 Chief Ministers besides the Service Chiefs and other officials and non-officials. The Kendriya Sainik Board co-ordinates the work of Departments of Sainik Welfare in States/Union Territories and provides budgetary support to the extent of 50 per cent for their establishment and maintenance costs. State Level 29. At the State level, Rajya Sainik Boards have been set up in the 32 States/Union Territories in the country to provide policy guidelines to the Departments of Sainik Welfare and Zila Sainik Offices. District Level 30. The Zila Sainik Welfare Offices provide grassroots resettlement and welfare services to Ex-Servicemen, widows, dependents and families left behind by soldiers serving in field areas. These offices are created in Zilas where the population of Ex-Servicemen, their dependents and families of serving soldiers is over 7,500. 31. Funding Arrangement - The resources allocated to DGR and Kendriya Sainik Board are from Defence Service Estimates. The KSB meets 50 per cent of the establishment and maintenance cost of Sainik Welfare Departments/offices in States and Districts.

Resettlement of Ex-Servicemen 32. Resettlement programme for the Ex-Servicemen consists of the following activities : (a) Training programmes for retiring Service personnel as well as Ex-Servicemen. (b) Re-employment in the Central and the State Governments and Public Sector Organisations. (c) Assistance for self employment. Training 33. The officers and men of our Defence Services are rich in qualities like initiative, resourcefulness, perseverance and courage and know their respective jobs well, yet these qualities above are not enough for being successful in a civil career. Many Ex-Servicemen prefer to set up self-employment ventures or get re-employment through Ex-Servicemen Security Agencies or Ex-Servicemen Corporations as they are not required to pass any recruitment tests for such employment. DGR has been nominating Ex-Servicemen Security Agencies to various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and Private Sector Organisations. These Security Agencies provide employment opportunities for Officers and other Ranks. At present 11,00 Ex-Servicemen Security Agencies have been sponsored through Directorate-General Resettlement to provide security services at 1,500 locations employing more than 55,000 Security Guards. 34. Civilian life has its own nuances and needs and the retiring service personnel have to get acquainted with these. They also have to fill in the gaps, if any, in their knowledge regarding the job

or vocation they choose to take up. Training Directorate runs various training programmes to meet the individual Resettlement Training needs of the retiring personnel. There are number of training avenues open to Personnel Below Officers rank (PBOR) of the three services. Training for PBOR includes the following : (a) Vocational Training : Training schedule of upto one year is organised with various institutes in

diversified vocations. (b) ITI Training : Four thousand seats are reserved in 410 ITIs all over the country for servicemen. (c) OJT Training : 27 PSUs spread all over India where on-the-job training is provided to retiring

servicemen in 9 trades for a period of nine months. (d) ESM Training : Sometimes servicemen may not be able to avail of the opportunity of

resettlement training while in service. This is a scheme planned to provide similar training after retirement. All Rajya Sainik Boards are allowed to organise training for such retired servicemen on behalf of DGR.

(e) Officers Training : Similarly all officers are entitled to avail of the resettlement training

facility for a duration of three months. Specially designed courses are organised in diversified fields for officers of all the three services. The avenues covered by this training include IT, Security, Tourism, Materials Management, Entrepreneurship Development, Management of Agro Based Industries, etc.

The number of personnel imparted training during the last five years is as under :

Year 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 Number 9,752 9,979 9,495 10,352 8,386

35. DGR is arranging resettlement training for retiring Defence personnel to improve their employability. The training is aimed both for employment and self-employment and the programme of courses is updated every year based on the current requirements of the civil jobs opportunities. Besides, for exploring new avenues of re-employment of Ex-Servicemen, DGR arranges workshops with the representatives of corporate sector to appraise them of the vast potential of Ex-Servicemen which can be utilised by the private sector. Ex-Servicemen are also encouraged to set up security agencies and the number of Ex-Servicemen provided employment through Ex-Servicemen Security Agencies sponsored through DGR to various public sector undertakings/private sector during the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 were 17,737, 31,339 and 38,970 respectively.

36. Resettlement Courses are available to all retiring Defence personnel including those who do not have technical qualifications. Non-technical persons can apply for On-the-Job Training and ITI Training. Majority of Vocational Training Courses are applicable for Non-tech persons. Various fields in which non-technical persons are being trained include :

(a) IT related course (b) Security Services (c) Travel and Tourism (d) Management --- Material, Sales, Co-op, etc. (e) Office and Secretarial Staff

(f) Driving

37. The Committee note that the Directorate-General of Resettlement (DGR) was set up to deal with growing needs of the Ex-Servicemen for proper settlement and welfare. Since independence there has been phenomenal increase in the number of Ex-Servicemen who genuinely need assistance to lead a happy and healthy life. Unfortunately, the DGR has been unable to cope up with the increasing requirements of ever growing Ex-Servicemen population, since they do not have adequate financial and management expertise within the organisation. 38. The Committee feel that the rehabilitation of Ex-Servicemen with due dignity and honour necessarily require a National perspective and vision. The multifaceted plethora of problems of Ex-Servicemen needs to be addressed by the entire society including the Governmental agencies of Centre and States and not the existing set up in the Ministry of Defence alone. The Committee, therefore, recommend that a statutory National Commission on Ex-Servicemen on the lines of National Commission for SC/ST/Minorities should be set up urgently. The Commission shall submit its report to the Parliament every year. The Commission shall in addition to the other functions, also monitor DGR, Rajya Sainik Boards and Zila Sainik Boards. 39. The Committee also recommend that keeping the changing economic and social environment in view the DGR, Rajya Sainik Boards and Zila Sainik Boards should be thoroughly modernised and re-structured with statutory powers as the consultancy and management agencies for generating self-employment projects for Ex-Servicemen on a large scale. For this purpose, the required expertise in management, financial, banking, insurance and marketing consultancy should be inducted at all levels. DGR should also be entrusted with all responsibility for coordinating various training activities and programmes and should be re-designated as Directorate-General of Resettlement & Training.

40. The Committee note that the Personnel Below Officers Ranks (PBORs) are given many training options like vocational training at various training institutes at diversified places, i.e. 4,000 seats are reserved in ITI training institutes, On-the-Job Training (OJT) at 27 PSUs spread all over India, training for the servicemen who could not avail of the opportunity while in Service. Similarly, all Officers also have training avenues in the field of security, tourism, materials management, Entrepreneurship Development, Management of Agro Based Industries etc. The Committee note that the number of personnel imparted training during the past five years is hovering around 10,000 while the number of service persons retired/released every year is about 60,000. The Committee express its displeasure that hardly a fraction of retiring Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen are imparted training and therefore, strongly recommend that the Ministry of Defence to take immediate steps to substantially increase the training facilities at various centres in a time bound manner so that all interested Ex-Servicemen can avail of the training course of their preference for getting re-employment nearer their home.

Re-Employment in Government Jobs 41. Reservation in Government Jobs Central Government have reserved 10 per cent of Group `C’ posts and 20 per cent of Group `D’ posts for Ex-Servicemen. Central Public Sector Undertakings and Nationalised Banks provide 14.5 per cent reservation in Group `C’ and 24.5 per cent in Group `D’ posts to the Ex-Servicemen. Ten per cent posts of Assistant Commandants in Para Military Forces are also reserved for Ex-Servicemen. In Defence Security Corps, 100 per cent vacancies are reserved for Ex-Servicemen. In addition, most of the State Governments except the States of Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh, are providing reservations to Ex-Servicemen in the State Government jobs. The reservations in States varies from State to State. The percentage of reservations provided by various States/Union Territories in different categories of posts are given in Annexure-I. 42. Age Relaxation - Ex-Servicemen have been provided age relaxation to the extent of military service plus three years against reserved/unreserved vacancies in Group `C’ & `D’ posts and also in Group `A’ and `B’ posts which are filled otherwise than by way of competitive examinations. The age relaxation is restricted to five years in Group `A’ and `B’ posts which are filled by competitive examinations. 43. Relaxation in Educational Qualifications - Ex-Servicemen have been granted relaxation in prescribed educational qualifications. Army Class I, II and III certificates have been equated to 8th class, 6th class and 4th class respectively in civil. For reserved vacancies for which the minimum educational qualification is matriculation, an Ex-Servicemen who has put in at least 15 years of service and has passed Army Class I or equivalent is considered eligible. For the reserved jobs for which the minimum educational qualification is graduation, an Ex-Servicemen who has put in at least 15 years of service in the Army and has passed Matriculation or equivalent examination is considered eligible. 44. Concession in Examination Fee - Ex-Servicemen have been granted facility of exemption of prescribed fees for appearing in competitive examinations/Banking Service Recruitment Boards. 45. Utilisation of Ex-Servicemen Reservation - The Department of Personnel are responsible for compilation of data regarding utilisation of the quota reserved for Ex-Servicemen in Government jobs. In June 1998, Department of Personnel and Training had consulted the Ministry of Law (Department of Legal Affairs) which had expressed the opinion that the DGR does not seem to have any locus standi to ask for details regarding utilisation of vacancies reserved for Ex-Servicemen from the defaulting undertakings, and that as such the office of the DGR can not be delegated the powers to monitor the reservation policy of the Government on the subject. Besides, it has not been possible to provide statutory backing to the reservation policy for Ex-Servicemen because the subject of welfare and rehabilitation of Ex-Servicemen is not included in the Concurrent List of Constitution and the Supreme Court has imposed the ceiling of 50 per cent for the reservation in Government Jobs. The reservation provided to SC/ST/OBC, etc. take up 49.5 per cent of the quota of reservation. In this connection, DOP&T have clarified that Ex-Servicemen have been provided horizontal reservation as against the vertical reservation provided to SC/ST/OBC. In the case of horizontal reservation, candidates selected against the reserved posts are subsequently adjusted against SC/ST/OBC/General Category depending upon the category to which the candidates belong and there is no roaster system and carry forward of unutilised vacancies to subsequent years.

46. The prime responsibility of providing employment to the Ex-Servicemen nearer to their homes is that of the Zila Sainik Boards. Apart from this, DGR is also organising seminars in cities, which are industrial hubs to spread awareness of the technical and non-technical qualifications of Ex-Servicemen and to generate employment opportunities for the Ex-Servicemen. In addition, there are a number of self-employment schemes formulated by DGR which the Ex-Servicemen can make use of. 47. Some States like Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have established their State Ex-Servicemen Corporations through which they undertake various ventures to provide employment to Ex-Servicemen in various fields such as tailoring, security services and construction work. These Corporations liaise with State PSUs, Government and Private Organisations to secure contracts and execute them by employing Ex-Servicemen/widows. 48. As there are large number of recruitment agencies under Central and State Governments, it is not feasible to provide the exact percentage of utilisation and shortfall of the vacancies reserved for Ex-Servicemen. The DGR has, however, compiled information concerning placement of Ex-Servicemen against vacancies reserved for them in Central Ministries/Departments/PSUs/Banks/Para Military Forces. The requisite data for the years 1997-2001 is given in Annexure-II. The estimated percentage utilisation of vacancies for Ex-Servicemen in Central Government during these years is given below :

Year Percentage of utilisation of Group C Percentage of utilisation of Group D 1997 19.34 58.36 1998 34.77 50.80 1999 18.78 50.78 2000 12.25 48.40 2001 26.00 70.00

49. The re-employment of Ex-Servicemen in the Central and State Government Departments, Undertakings etc. does not have any significant effect on expenditure of Defence pension. According to the extant orders, Personnel Below Officer’s Rank are entitled to draw full pension in addition to their pay on re-employment. In the case of Commissioned Officers, an amount of Rs.1,500/- plus the pension equivalent of gratuity is ignored while fixing their pay on re-employment in Central Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings. Consequently, re-employment opportunities have no effect on the pension budget. 50. Reasons for Under-utilisation of Ex-Servicemen Reservations/shortfalls - Some important reasons for under-utilisation of vacancies reserved for Ex-Servicemen are as follows :

(i) Preference for getting jobs nearer to home towns Service Personnel having remained away from the mainstream of social life during the prime of their youth generally prefer to accept jobs after retirement, nearer to their home towns where they can live with their families and also discharge their social/family obligations. The number of Government jobs at the District level is, however, very limited. Most of the employment opportunities in Government and Public Sector are available in capitals/metropolitan cities far away from their native places.

(ii) Non preference for Para-Military Forces - Considering their training and experience in the Armed Forces, there is ample scope for absorption of Ex-Servicemen in Para-Military Forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), etc. However, the response of Ex-Servicemen for joining these forces has been generally poor.

(iii) Non-fulfillment of relaxed standards - Moreover, utilisation of the reserved vacancies

depends upon the number of vacancies becoming available in a year and the number of eligible Ex-Servicemen applying for such vacancies. Though there is a relaxation in age and educational qualifications for Ex-Servicemen, it is possible that Ex-Servicemen do not meet the recruitment standards in terms of cut off marks/percentages, etc.

(iv) Popularity of jobs in Security Agencies and other Self Employed Schemes - Many Ex-

Servicemen prefer to set up self-employment ventures or get re-employment through Ex-Servicemen Security Agencies or Ex-Servicemen Corporations, as they are not required to pass any recruitment test for such employment. DGR has been nominating Ex-Servicemen Security Agencies to various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and Private Sector organisations. These Security Agencies provide employment opportunities for Officers and other Ranks. At present 1100 Ex-Servicemen Security agencies have been sponsored through DGR to provide security services at 1500 locations employing more than 55,000 Security Guards.

51. In order to make the armed forces more attractive as a career to choose, the Committee in its report on `Manpower Planning and Management Policy in Defence’ (Twelfth Report of 13th Lok Sabha) had recommended that the Government should seriously consider the reduction of colour service to a period of seven to ten years from the present practice of having 17 years of colour service and thereafter, re-employ these officers and men in the country’s para military forces. Assured re-employment of Ex-Servicemen in para military forces, etc. would make the new recruitment in the armed forces more attractive as a career and would keep the army young. 52. In response to the above recommendation, the Ministry of Defence had stated in their report of `Reforming the National Security System’ that the Group of Ministers (GOM) recommended reduction in colour service of the Armed Forces and their lateral entry into other organisations with the primary aim of keeping a young profile of the Army in a peak combat effective state capable of meeting the challenges of a future conflict. Based on the recommendations of the GOM report an Apex Committee consisting of the Cabinet Secretary, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Defence Secretary, Home Secretary and Secretary Expenditure was constituted to look into the terms of engagement of soldier and lateral entry into other organisations. In addition, a Working Group under the Chairmanship of the Adjutant-General was constituted to carry out a detailed study of various issues and work out modalities for lateral transfer. The Working Group has recommended Long Term and Short Term lateral transfer of Army Personnel to Central Paramilitary Forces. The Study Report of the Working Group has since been submitted.

53. The Committee note that in the vacancies reserved for Ex-Servicemen there is no system of carry forward of unutilised vacancies to subsequent years. This coupled with other reasons, viz. preference for getting jobs nearer to home towns, non-preference for Para Military Forces, non fulfillment of relaxed standards, popularity of jobs in security agencies and other self employed schemes etc. has resulted in alarming under utilisation of vacancies reserved for Ex-Servicemen during the past several years. 54. The Committee also note that in the category of Group `C’, percentage of utilisation of vacancies has declined from 34 per cent in 1998 to 12 per cent in the year 2000. In other categories also utilisation of vacancies for Ex-Servicemen has been grossly unsatisfactory. 55. The Committee are dismayed to note the steep decline in overall employment provided to Ex-Servicemen which came down from 14,262 in 1997 to 6,975 in 2001. Considering the fact that nearly 60,000 servicemen are released every year, it is least expected that the Government provides employment to about 11 per cent of the Ex-Servicemen. The performance of Central Government and Ministries/Departments under it has been particularly pathetic, as only 4 Ex-Servicemen were provided employment in 2001. The Ordnance Factories which are directly under the Ministry of Defence have not filled up even a single vacancy of Ex-Servicemen in the last five years. Similarly, no employment has been provided to Ex-Servicemen in Central Para Military Forces in 2001. 56. The Committee are extremely constrained to observe the all round failure of the Government to provide employment to Ex-Servicemen and, therefore, recommend that the entire gamut of issues may be looked into in depth by constituting a study group as to ensure corrective measures in shortest possible time. The Committee also desire that the Ministry should immediately take steps to formulate a National Policy for resettlement of Ex-Servicemen on the basis of the report of the proposed study group.

57. The Committee note that the trained, motivated and disciplined manpower released from active service every year at a very young age can be a boon for industries in the public, private and cooperative sectors. As they have worked as a unit all these years, they can work in coordination with each other which can result in enhanced level of productivity. The Committee recommend that the Ministry should enter into a dialogue with public sector undertaking including banks, railways, airlines, insurance, private sector, cooperatives, autonomous bodies e.g. Sports Authority of India and the organisations like Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), etc. and chalk out the plan of action for re-employment of Ex-Servicemen befitting their rightful dues and dignity. 58. The technical trade and certificate acquired by the service personnel by virtue of their training and experience is not given due recognition and weightage in the civil side. The Committee, therefore, strongly recommend that the certificate of training/job experience should be recognised and considered equivalent in the similar trade in the civil sector if required in consultation with Ministry of Labour.

Self-Employment

59. With the shrinking job opportunities in the civil side, difficulty is being faced to provide re-employment to all the Ex-Servicemen seeking employment. The Ex-Servicemen are, therefore, encouraged to take up self-employment ventures. New avenues for providing re-employment to Ex-Servicemen are continuously being explored by DGR by holding workshops with Corporate Sector. 60. Most of the Ex-Servicemen after their release from service, seek jobs near their homes. Keeping this in view, Government have framed several schemes for encouraging Ex-Servicemen to undertake self-employment ventures and to provide them financial support by way of loans. The important self-employment schemes are as under : (a) SEMFEX-I Scheme

(i) The Scheme was launched in April 1987 in collaboration with Small Industrial

Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for establishing tiny Small Scale Industries, Small Scale Service and Business (Industry Related) Enterprises including Transport (Heavy Duty only), Travel and Tourism activities, Hotels and Restaurants, Nursing Homes/Clinics/Diagnostic Centres and other service activities.

(ii) Project cost limit under this scheme is Rs.15 lakh and Ex-Servicemen/Widows up to the

age of 60 years are eligible to take the benefit of the scheme. Soft Seed Capital Assistance (SSCA) to the extent of 15 per cent of the total project cost at 6 per cent per annum rate of interest is also available under the scheme. The financial assistance is available through State Financial Corporations.

The Ex-Servicemen/Widows are required to contact their respective RSBs/ZSBs or the branch offices of Small Industries Development Bank of India and respective State Financial Corporations etc. Under the scheme, Ex-Servicemen are to give 40-50 per cent collateral security for obtaining necessary financial assistance. Since inception of the Scheme in 1987, assistance has been provided to 4,865 persons to the tune of Rs.2,642 lakh.

(b) SEMFEX-II Scheme This scheme was launched in January 1988 in collaboration with National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD). The schemes envisages provision of comprehensive package of credit majors for encouraging Ex-Servicemen, widows of deceased defence personnel and disabled service personnel to undertake agriculture and allied activities and to set up non farm units in rural areas. There is no upper limit for financial assistance/loan in respect of projects under farm sector. The financial assistance upto SSI limit is provided for setting up agro, non-agro industries. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs.2,986.21 lakh was sanctioned to 4,851 beneficiaries upto 31 December 2001.

(c) SEMFEX-III Scheme

This scheme was launched in October 1991 in collaboration with the Khadi &

Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to provide gainful opportunities to Ex-Servicemen through promotion and development of Khadi and Village Industries in rural areas. The loan for Khadi Industries is provided by KVIC at a nominal interest of 4 per cent per annum. The loan for Village Industries is fixed as per RBI Guidelines depending on the amount of loan by the Bank. Maximum loan limit in case of Ex-Servicemen Cooperative Society/Institution is Rs.25 lakh whereas individual entrepreneurs can avail loan utp Rs.10

lakh. Margin money grant (subsidy) is available upto 30 per cent of the project cost. For projects above Rs.10 lakh and utpo Rs. 25 lakh, rate of margin money grant will be 30 per cent of Rs.10 lakh plus 10 per cent of the remaining cost of the project. Under the Scheme, loan assistance amount of Rs.650.32 lakh has been sanctioned to 739 beneficiaries upto 31 December 2001.

(d) National Equity Fund Scheme

To provide gainful self-employment opportunities to Ex-Servicemen, the DGR with the

cooperation of Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched National Equity Fund Scheme with effect from 21 December 2000. Under the scheme, Ex-Servicemen entrepreneurs will be provided equity type support for setting up new projects in tiny/small sectors provided project cost (including margin money for working capital) does not exceed Rs.50 lakh. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs.62.01 lakh was sanctioned to 19 beneficiaries upto 31 December 2001.

(e) National Defence Fund

The National Defence Fund (NDF) is a non-public fund and is constituted entirely with public contributions and not from any allocation out of the Consolidated Fund of India. The fund is administered by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It is used primarily for relief and rehabilitation of the widows, orphans of Army personnel who were killed/or made Prisoners of War (POWs). State Governments are also authorised to give financial assistance to the next of kin of those killed, missing or disabled on the approved scales. Further, grants are also given to State Governments for giving token assistance to civilian population affected by the war. Besides, purchase of Defence equipments construction of schools, hospitals, holiday homes, purchase of books/reading materials for the Defence personnel are some of the areas for which the fund is utilised. In addition, the fund is also utilised for the welfare of the personnel of the para-military forces like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF, etc.

(f) Ex-Servicemen Coal Transport Companies

DGR sponsors Ex-Servicemen coal transport companies for the execution of loading and transportation of coal in various coal subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL). On an average approximately 4-5 officers, 40-45 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs)/Other Ranks (Ors) and widows/disabled/dependents are associated with an Ex-Servicemen coal transport company and provided resettlement. Presently, 95 such companies are operating under the various coal subsidiaries of CIL. The age limit for registration under the scheme has been enhanced to 59 years from 57 years due to extension of age for service by Government of India.

(g) Scheme for Attachment of Tippers of widows with Ex-Servicemen Coal

Transport Companies DGR sponsored Ex-Servicemen Coal Transportation Companies

undertake coal transportation work in coal fields across the country. The widows of Defence Personnel can procure one Tipping Truck and attach it with Coal Transport Companies sponsored by DGR. The eligible widows have to deposit Rs.85,000/- with any one of the nominated companies towards margin money, loan processing, insurance, road tax, etc. for the tipper to be acquired. The coal transport company is responsible for processing, running and maintenance costs of the tipper. The widow is paid Rs.3,000/- per month for five years and thereafter, the initial deposit amount of Rs.85,000/- is repaid to the widow. 148 widows/disabled personnel have been given the benefit of the scheme since January 2001.

(h) Financing of one vehicle

MoU has been signed with Tata Finance Limited (TFL) for financing one vehicle for Ex-Servicemen. Under this scheme, TFL has agreed to charge 1 per cent less finance charges from Ex-Servicemen (ESM). TFL will provide loans upto 80 per cent of the invoice value of vehicle to ESM. The scheme is in operation in all branches of TFL and is applicable only for Tata company vehicles.

(i) Allotment of Oil Product Agencies under Defence Category

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas reserved 8 per cent of oil product agencies, i.e. petrol pumps, gas agency and kerosene dealership for widows/dependents of Defence Personnel died in war/died in service due to causes attributable to military service and disabled soldiers with 50 per cent disability or more and attributable to military service. Ex-Servicemen apply as and when such agencies are advertised. DGR sponsors eligible candidates and final selection is made by the Dealer Selection Board. 555 eligible Defence personnel/their dependents have been sponsored under 8 per cent `Defence Quota’ for allotment of oil product agency since January 2001.

(j) Special Scheme for Allotment of Oil Product Agencies to Widows/NOK of Kargil

Martyrs A special scheme for 500 direct allotment of Retail Outlets/LPG distributorships to widows/NOKs of the Defence Personnel killed in action in OP Vijay in Kargil has been formulated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Out of 527 eligible widows/dependents, 439 widows/dependents have already been allotted petrol pump/LPG distributorship under this scheme. (k) Allotment of Army Surplus Disposable Class V-B Vehicle

Besides the Ex-Servicemen, Widows are also eligible for allotment of one Army Surplus Class V-B vehicle. The applicant has to apply through the respective Rajya Sainik Boards/Zila Sainik Boards in the prescribed form indicating the choice of vehicle and the depot for collection of vehicle. The serving personnel can also register for allotment of class V-B vehicles during last six months of service before retirement through proper channel. The allotment is made by the Army Headquarters (OS 4H – MGO’s Branch) through the nine vehicle depots in the order of registration. 734 applications were forwarded by DGR to MGO’s Branch, Army Headquarters during 2000-2001 for allotment of Class V-B vehicles.

(l) Allotment of Mother Dairy Booths Mother Dairy provides ready built and fully equipped Booths to Ex-

Servicemen for selling milk on commission basis. A security deposit of Rs.40,000/- (refundable on termination) is required to be made on selection. Selected candidates are to undergo free training for four weeks with Mother Dairy prior to allotment of booths. 3969 eligible Ex-Servicemen were sponsored for Mother Dairy milk booth scheme since 1995 till date, out of which 1885 persons have been selected for Mother Dairy booths.

(m) Allotment of Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Booths at Delhi

Mother Dairy provides ready built and fully equipped Booths to Ex-Servicemen for selling fruits and vegetables on commission basis. Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Booths are allotted to ESM (Sepoy to JCO) and dependent sons between 18 to 25 years of age. A security deposit of Rs.35,000/- (refundable on termination) is required to be made on selection. Selected candidates are to undergo free training for one week with Safal prior to allotment of booths. Age relaxation upto 30 years has been granted as a special case to meet additional commitments for new booths for Safal (Mother Dairy F&V Project). 1102 eligible Defence personnel were sponsored and selected for Mother Dairy Vegetable Booths since 1995 till date.

(n) Allotment of PCO/STD Booths to War Widows/Dependents and War Disabled

War Widows/dependents and war disabled Ex-Servicemen are eligible for out-of-turn allotment of PCO/STD booths. The eligible persons are required to apply to the concerned Area Telecom Office in the prescribed form along with necessary documents. ESM are also allotted STD Booths on priority basis. Applicants are sponsored by DGR in Delhi Area and Rajya Sainik Board (RSB)/Zila Sainik Board (ZSB) in States.

Ex-Servicemen Financial Corporations 61. Ex-Servicemen Corporations are looking after the welfare and economic uplift of the Ex-Servicemen as well as helping them in finding re-employment. On the issue of establishing Ex-Servicemen Corporations in all the States, the Ministry have stated that it is at the discretion of the remaining State Governments to take the initiative to establish Ex-Servicemen Corporations in their States as has been done by States like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh etc. However, many States, like Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Chattisgarh, Sikkim etc. which are not having large population of Ex-Servicemen may not be needing such a Corporation.

62. The recommendations made by the High Level Committee concerning setting up of Financial Corporation and Industrial Development Corporation for Ex-Servicemen was considered by the Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance. The proposal was not accepted, keeping in view (i) the existing facilities for resettlement and welfare of Ex-Servicemen at the Central, State and District levels and (ii) the large financial outgo involved in subscribing to the initial capital.

63. The Committee note that most of the Ex-Servicemen after their release from service, seek jobs near their homes. Keeping this in view, Government have framed several schemes for encouraging Ex-Servicemen to undertake self-employment ventures and provided financial support to them by way of loans. 64. The Committee, however, note that the response to the schemes by the Ex-Servicemen is very poor because lack of facilitation and adequate support in marketing their produce and services. The Committee, therefore, feel that a support mechanism is required for the Ex-Servicemen opting for self-employment scheme to facilitate coordination among various agencies for setting up their ventures, ensuring availability of tax benefits and to help market their products particularly to Defence services. 65. The Committee are constrained to observe that though a high-power Committee had, in 1984 recommended for setting up of an Ex-Servicemen Financial Corporation as well as an Ex-Servicemen Industrial Corporation, there has been no progress in this area vital for Ex-Servicemen. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the Ministry should again examine the matter in consultation with State Governments and other agencies and ensure setting up of these Corporations. The Ex-Servicemen should also be provided loans by the banks at a lower rate of interest on par with other special sections of the society, and their projects should be treated as priority sector. 66. The Committee also recommend that Ex-Servicemen should be encouraged to set up Cooperative Societies and these should be provided all possible concessions from Central as well as State Governments on a priority basis so that Ex-Servicemen can be rehabilitated properly.

Other Welfare Schemes 67. Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) under the Chairmanship of Raksha Mantri is the

apex body responsible for laying down the general principles for resettlement and welfare of Ex-Servicemen and families of serving and deceased personnel. The Board, with the Raksha Mantri as President, has 47 members including 13 Chief Ministers besides the Service Chiefs and other officials and non officials. The KSB formulates and ensures implementation of the new Welfare policies at the Central/State level. It is also responsible for coordinating the work of Rajya/Zila Sainik Boards and administers the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF). Various welfare activities for the Ex-Servicemen and their dependents are financed from the AFFDF. Financial assistance is also provided from this fund to the Institutions such as Paraplegic Homes, Red Cross Society, Cheshire Homes, Military Hospitals, St. Dunstan’s After Care Organisation and the Homes for taking care of the old and Physically Handicapped Ex-Servicemen and their dependents. (a) Raksha Mantri’s Discretionary Fund A portion of the earnings of Armed Forces Flag Day Fund is termed as Raksha Mantri’s Discretionary Fund and is used to provide financial assistance to poor and needy Ex-Servicemen for various purposes, viz., medical treatment, marriage of daughters, repair of houses and education of children. Monthly financial assistance upto a period of two years is also provided to old and infirm Ex-Servicemen/widow of Ex-Servicemen living in penury. (b) Educational Concessions/reservation in educational institutions :

(i) Children of Defence personnel killed or permanently disabled in action who

are studying in institutions under the Department of Education, are granted complete exemption from tuition fee and other fee levied by the institution.

(ii) 28 seats in MBBS, one seat in BDS and two seats in engineering stream have

been reserved for the wards of Ex-Servicemen killed or disabled in action or during peace time due to attributable causes.

(iii) Two seats in each of the six IITs are reserved for children of the

Defence/Para Military Forces personnel killed or permanently disabled in action subject to their qualifying the Joint Entrance Examination.

(iv) 25 per cent seats are reserved for the wards of serving and retired Armed

Forces personnel in Sainik Schools.

(v) States/UTs have made reservation of seats in professional colleges/ITIs/polytechnics for wards of serving and retired defence personnel.

(vi) Educational grant of Rs.600/- and Rs.300/- p.m. per student is provided to wards of war bereaved/disabled soldiers in attributable and non attributable peace time casualties, respectively, housed in 35 War Memorial Hostels to enable them to pursue their studies.

(b) Travel Concessions

(i) 75 per cent concession is provided in air fare for travel in domestic flights of Indian Airlines to recipients of gallantry awards of Param Vir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra. The war widows of post independence era are provided with 50 per cent concession in fare.

(ii) The Ministry of Railways give free passes of 1st class/2nd AC to recipients

of PVC, Ashok Chakra, MVC, KC, VrC and SC and the widows of posthumous awardees, alongwith a companion.

(iii) 75 per cent concession in rail fare for travel in II Class is available to war

widows including those of IPKF casualties. (c) Canteen Facilities Ex-Servicemen can avail of Canteen Facilities from the nearest CSD Canteens. This facility is available to war-widows as well.

Housing for Ex-Servicemen 68. Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) and Air Force Naval Housing Board (AFNHB) are registered with the Registrar of Societies Delhi (Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860). The Organisation/board are constructing houses for serving and retired personnel on self finance no-profit no-loss basis. The Ministry of Defence have no administrative control over them. 69. Army Welfare Housing Organisation have constructed and allotted 1996 dwelling units to Ex-Servicemen in different parts of the country. Four Housing projects comprising 1,276 dwelling units are under construction in different States. 70. The Air Force Naval Housing Board has completed Housing Projects in different parts of the country. It has handed over 2,282 dwelling units to the officers and 606 dwelling units to other ranks during the last three years.

71. During the oral evidence Director General (C&W) has stated :

“The Army Welfare Housing Organisation is a private registered body of the Army to provide housing facilities to Service and ex-Service personnel on self-financing basis. In the period January 2000 to December 2002, this organisation has constructed 305 dwelling units at Manimajra, 90 at Ambala, 78 at Kochi, 20 at Ghaziabad, 22 at Belgaum, 534 at Navi Mumbai and 750 at Gurgaon. This organisation buys land available at prevalent market rates. thereafter carries out construction and allots flats to officers, JCOs, NCOs and sepoys. This organisation also undertakes works that are funded by our non-public funds, that is out of the welfare funds of the Army. For instance, we constructed the Arun Vihar Institute in Sector-37, NOIDA. They undertook this construction. Then, Arun Vihar Awas Samiti in NOIDA, a welfare centre, was constructed by them. They also constructed the Army Public School in NOIDA and the additional classrooms that were required there.

The projects that are presently being constructed by this organisation are 73 dwelling units at Bhubaneswar, 374 at Mohali, 556 at Panchkula and 272 at Gurgaon. They are also constructing for us the Army College of Dental Sciences at Secunderabad. This is an institute meant for the children of Army personnel……..”

72. In reply to a question, the Ministry of Defence have stated that majority of the State Governments have made reservation for serving/retired Armed Forces personnel/dependents in allotment of house sites/houses. 35 War Memorial Hostels have also been constructed to provide accommodation to the wards of war bereaved and disabled personnel to enable them to pursue their studies. Kendriya Sainik Board also provides education grant to the children staying in these hostels. Over 252 Sainik Bhawans/Rest Houses spread all over the country have been established for Ex-Servicemen.

73. Delhi Development Authority has announced a scheme `Vijay Vir Awas Yojana’ for the widows/NOK/dependents of the soldiers killed or permanently disabled and boarded out in OP Vijay (Kargil) or other operations on or after 1.5.1999. Under this scheme 414 houses are available for allotment.

74. The Committee note that only Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) and Air Force Naval Housing Board (AFNHB) are constructing houses for the serving and the retired personnel on self finance as no-profit-no-loss basis. The Committee further note that Delhi Development Authority have announced a scheme, `Vijay Vir Awas Yojana’ for the widows/NOK/dependents of the soldiers killed or permanently disabled and boarded out in OP Vijay (Kargil) or other operations on or after 1 May 1999 and under this scheme 414 houses were available for allotment. 75. The Committee desire the Ministry to take up with other State Governments to formulate residential schemes on the line of `Vijay Vir Awas Yojana’ of the Delhi Development Authority for Ex-Servicemen. The Committee recommend that Defence personnel should be treated as a special category and the Ministry should explore with financial and banking institutions to provide housing loans on a very low rate of interest with minimum documentation to the Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen. 76. The Committee would also like the Ministry to provide not only the necessary encouragement but also moral and material support to the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) and Air Force Naval Housing Board (AFNHB) and other housing organisations to construct houses for the serving and retiring personnel.

Conditions of War Widows 77. As per the existing policy all the benefits provided by the Central and State Governments on the death of married Ex-Servicemen are extended only to the widows or next of kin, as the case may be. They are also issued with widow I-Card by the District Sainik Welfare Offices and made aware of their rightful dues. They are also invited to attend various Ex-Servicemen rallies and functions whenever held. 78. The awareness campaigns are carried out by Rajya Sainik Board/Zila Sainik Board by means of various Ex-Servicemen rallies organised by them periodically. In addition, the DGR and Secretary KSB publishes various books and periodicals like Guide to Ex-Servicemen, Widows and Dependents, Sainik Punarwas and DGR Newsletter, which are sent upto Zila Sainik Board level. The Government are having various schemes for the welfare and resettlement of war widows and widows of Defence personnel killed in action/dying due to attributable causes. Since such widows need financial support immediately, importance has been given to the following schemes for providing them monetary benefits:- Liberalised Family Pension - In case of death of an Armed Forces Personnel during act of violence/attack by terrorist, enemy action in international war, border skirmishes, war like situation, etc. the widow of the soldier is entitled to liberalised family pension equal to reckonable emoluments last drawn.

Ex-gratia - An ex-gratia amount of Rs. 10 lakh is paid in respect of death occurring during enemy action in international war or war like engagements notified by the Government. In the case of other battle casualties, Rs. 7.5 lakh is paid to the widow/next of kin. Army Group Insurance Scheme Family of the Defence personnel dying in action are given Rs. 8.0 lakh in the case of officers and Rs.3.75 lakh in the case of JCOs/Ors. Army Central Welfare Fund Widow/Next of kin of each war/battle casualties is given Rs.30,000/-. Benefits for battle casualties from 15.8.1947 to 30.4.1999 79. The living next of kin post-Independence battle casualties have been paid an ex-gratia amount of Rs.1,00,000/- from Army Central Welfare Fund. Ex-gratia grant of Rs.50,000/- each is awarded from Army Central Welfare Fund to living next of kin of all battle casualties occurring during the above period. In addition, Rs.50,000/- is also given to each living next of kin out of National Defence Fund.

Widows in penury are given financial assistance of Rs.1,000/- per month for two years from Raksha Mantri Discretionary Fund. Benefits for Special Assistance for the Widows of Kargil Martyrs 80. Assistance from National Defence Fund (NDF) Housing Grant - A sum of Rs.5.00 lakh has been given to all the widows/next of kin for construction/acquisition of a dwelling unit or for renovation, modification/addition to the existing dwelling unit. Education Allowance - Rs. 1.00 lakh per child restricted to Rs. 2.00 lakh per family. Financial assistance to parents - Dependent parents of the deceased soldiers are paid monthly interest accruing from fixed deposit of Rs. 2.00 lakh.

81. Resettlement Schemes (a) Employment - Majority of the widows/wards of Defence Services Personnel dying in harness, war or military operations reside in States. Such personnel prefer to have jobs near their native place, which can be provided by respective State Governments.

The Department of Personnel and Training have also issued instructions for

providing compassionate appointments to the dependents of the Government servants dying in harness. Such appointments can be made up to 5 per cent of vacancies falling under direct recruitment quota in any Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ posts. Under the same provision, widows/dependents of Defence service personnel dying in harness are also considered for appointment on compassionate grounds against vacancies in civil Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ posts of Service Headquarters. However, with the shrinking job

opportunities on the civil side, appointments on compassionate grounds are provided only to those widows/dependents whose financial condition is not sound.

Two members of the family of a Defence Service Personnel, whose death is

attributable to military service, are eligible on priority II A for employment against Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ post, for which recruitment is made by the Directorate General of Employment and Training. Employment on compassionate grounds and under priority II A Scheme of the Ministry of Labour are made as and when vacancies are available. However, very few vacancies are becoming available for such appointments. (b) Oil Product Agencies As per the existing instructions issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, dependents of Defence services personnel killed in war or died due to attributable causes are eligible for allotment of oil product agency under Defence quota of 8 per cent.

Widows of Defence Service personnel, whose death is attributable to military

service, are also eligible for allotment of Oil Product Agencies Company. The additional deposit of Rs. 85,000/- is returned to the widow after five years

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas formulated a special scheme

earmarking 500 Retail outlets of Oil products for direct allotment to the dependents of Kargil martyrs.

State Governments are also having various schemes for the welfare and

resettlement of war widows.

82. The Committee note that the Ministry have programmes for the welfare of widows of Ex-Servicemen. However, there is a large number of widows in far flung areas who are not aware about their rights and welfare schemes available to them. The widows of soldiers who have given their lives fighting for their motherland should be honoured and the welfare schemes should be delivered at their doorstep. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the Ministry should again impress upon the State Governments to keep the widows and Ex-Servicemen well informed about various welfare measures through Rajya Sainik Boards, District Collectors, Zila Sainik Boards as well as NICNET, electronic and print media. 83. The Committee also recommend that the activities of the Zila Sainik Boards should be monitored on a regular basis and the Board should furnish periodical report to the Ministry regarding the benefits actually reaching Ex-Servicemen/widows/dependents. Pensions

Pensionary Benefits admissible to the Armed Forces Personnel and their families 84. The Armed Forces personnel are granted retiring/service pension on normal retirement/release from service on completion of the prescribed tenure. In cases of

disablement in non-battle casualty cases, disability pension is sanctioned on the recommendation of the appropriate medical authority. Personnel injured/wounded during war or war like operations are granted a special pension known as War Injury Pension. The rates, terms and conditions for grant of these pensions are detailed in the following paragraphs : Retiring/Service Pension Officers (i) Eligibility Minimum qualifying service required for earning

retiring pension is 20 years (without weightage)

(ii) Weightage 9 years for Captains to 3 years for Generals is added to the qualifying service for the purpose of pension.

(iii) Pension Formula It is calculated at 50 per cent of the average emoluments

drawn during the last 10 months for 33 years qualifying service. For service less than 33 years, pension is proportionately reduced. The maximum limit of Retiring Pension is 50 per cent of the highest pay applicable to the Armed Forces personnel.

(iv) Commutation of Pension 43 per cent of the pension sanctioned is allowed to be

commuted. (v) Dearness Relief As admissible time to time. (vi) Retiring Gratuity The minimum period of qualifying service required

for earning retiring gratuity is 10 years (without weightage). It is calculated at the rate of ½ a month’s reckonable emoluments for each completed six months’ period of qualifying service subject to a maximum of Rs. 3.5 lakh. For calculating gratuity, a uniform weightage of 5 years of added service is given to all ranks.

(viii) Leave encashment Upto 300 days.

PBORs 85. (i) Eligibility Minimum qualifying service required for earning

Service pension is 15 years (without weightage) (20 years in the case of NCs (E).

(ii) Weightage Weightage of 5 added years of service is given for

calculation of pension. (iii) Pension Formula It is calculated at 50 per cent of the reckonable

emoluments for 33 years of qualifying service to be reduced proportionately for lesser period of qualifying service. Pension is calculated with reference to the

maximum of scale of pay held for 10 months preceding retirement. The minimum amount of service pension admissible w.e.f. 1.1.1996 is Rs. 1,275 per month.

(iv) Commutation 45 per cent of the pension sanctioned is allowed to be commuted. (v) Dearness Relief As admissible from time to time. (vi) Service Gratuity The minimum period of qualifying service required

for earning service gratuity is 5 years (without weightage). Admissible at a uniform rate of half month’s reckonable emoluments for each completed six months’ period of qualifying service subject to a maximum of Rs. 3.5 lakh.

(viii) Leave encashment Upto 300 days.

86. Pension to armed forces personnel is paid @50 per cent of the average emoluments drawn during the last 10 months for officers and @50 per cent of maximum of the scale of pay of the rank and group held during the last 10 month for PBORs. 87. The prevailing Pension provisions available to Ex-Servicemen includes enhancement of fitment weightage from 20 per cent to 40 per cent in the pension calculation formula, revision of rates of disability/war injury pension/special family pension/liberalised family pension, broad banding of disability percentage resulting in higher rate of disability pension, modified parity, additional pension to Commissioned Officer equivalent to half the rank pay and admissible Dearness Relief, double family pension for pensioners who were re-employed in organisations covered by EPF scheme, entitlement of Dearness Allowance for re-employed pensioners, medical allowance for pensioners, etc. 88. As stated by Ministry of Defence, presently Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR) are entitled to full service pension in a particular rank provided they have held that rank for at least 10 months and have 33 years qualifying service. For length of service less than 33 years, the pension is proportionately reduced. PBORs are given a weightage of five years to arrive at the qualifying service. The conditionality of 33 years of qualifying service for grant of full pension is a cardinal principle for grant of pensionary award and, therefore, cannot be removed. The 5th Central Pay Commission has, therefore, held that the existing conditionality of 33 years which is uniformly applicable to all civilian pensioners as well as Armed Forces pensioners should not be changed. Further, pension of PBOR is calculated at the maximum of the pay scale and not on the basis of average of last 10 months pay drawn applicable in the case of civilians. In case the demand for grant of full pension admissible for 33 years qualifying service irrespective of actual length of qualifying service is agreed to, the total financial implications would be of the order more than Rs.3,000 crore. If the qualifying service concept of 33 years to earn full pension is abolished, it will have extensive repercussions on the civil side also.

89. In response to a written reply, the Ministry of Defence have further stated that the total financial implication on account of acceptance of demand of `one rank one pension’ is estimated at Rs.3500.00 crore. The annual additional liabilities would be approximately Rs.613.78 crore (for the year 2002). The total financial implication has been worked out for payment of arrears with effect from 1.1.1996, i.e. the date from which the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission as accepted by the Government are made effective till 31.3.2003. The methodology used as advised by CGDA in arriving at the figure is : (a) Approximate number of PBOR pensioners taken – 10 lakh. (b) Additional financial implications have been calculated taking into account the

difference in per capita pension on weighted average in respect of post-1996 and pre-1996 pensioners.

(c) Additional financial effect per month on the revised pay scales introduced w.e.f.

1.1.1996 works out to Rs.7.08 crore and w.e.f. 10.10.1997 it works out to Rs.25.99 crore.

(d) Total financial effect includes 20 per cent expenditure in respect of commissioned

officers and 9 per cent in respect of Navy/Air Force pensioners and also dearness relief sanctioned by the Government w.e.f. 1.1.1996 to 31.3.2003. To the best of our knowledge no country in the world has provided the benefit of

`one rank one pension’ to Ex-Servicemen. 90. The 33 years conditionality for grant of full pension is a cardinal principle of pension which is uniformly applicable to all the categories of civil and Armed Forces pensioners. The same is justifiable for the Armed Forces in view of the fact that they are granted the benefit of weightage (3 to 9 years in the Commissioned Officers and 5 years in the case of PBORs). Besides, in the case of PBOR the pension is calculated taking into account the maximum of the scale of pay of the rank and group held at the time of retirement and in the case of Commissioned Officers rank pay plus Dearness Allowance thereon is also taken into account for computation of pension. These benefits are not available to their civilian counterparts. The Ex-Servicemen are also entitled to some other benefits like subsidized canteen facilities, reservation for their children in educational institutions, etc. which are not available to civilians. 91. Liberalisation of pensionary benefits is a continuous process. The pensionary awards of Ex-Servicemen have considerably improved with the implementation of recommendations of successive Pay Commissions as accepted by the Government, notably after implementation of the Fifth Central Pay Commission’s reports. They have been provided improved pay scales consequent upon implementation of trade rationalisation with effect from 10.10.1997 resulting in determining higher pension for those retiring after that date.

92. However, it may be mentioned here that the policy issues relating to pensionary terms are considered by Expert Bodies like Pay Commission as and when constituted by the Government.

93. It has been represented to the Committee by several Ex-Servicemen associations/organistions, with the Demand that the pensioners of the Armed Forces, i.e. Army, Navy and Air Force be granted the pension on the principle of `One Rank One Pension’. The principle implies that the past pensioners be granted the same pension which is granted to the new pensioners with the same rank and length of service. The Fourth and Fifth Pay Commissions did not recommend acceptance of the demand.

94. The Ministry of Defence have stated before the Committee in a written reply that no country of the world has provided the benefit of `One Rank One Pension’ to the Ex-Servicemen. However, when the Committee took the view of experts, it was pointed out that :

“Besides all this, the leaderships of the greatest nation that we have today on Earth, the United States of America, and the tiniest nation we have on Earth, Singapore, proudly announce that they would give the best to the people who do the most difficult task for the country. The Armed Forces are doing the most difficult task and so they would get the best from the Government. The soldiers’ pension is fully paid by the Government whereas for civilians the pension is contributory. Fifty per cent of the last day’s pay is given to the soldiers as pension after 20 years of service. The civilians contribute 4.7 per cent of their salary throughout their service to get 33.75 per cent of not the last pay drawn but average of last three years pay drawn after thirty years service”.

95. Another important demand of the Ex-Servicemen is the removal of 33 years conditionality for grant of 50 per cent of last pay drawn as pension. The Jawan has the maximum loss due to this principle since he serves only for 17 years. He is given five years weightage for pension. Therefore, he is given pension for 22 years service and for 11 years he loses that pension. For example, if a Jawan’s salary today is Rs.3,950/-, he should get a pension of Rs. 1,975, if the conditionality of 33 years is not there. He, however, gets only Rs.1,275 as explained by an expert before the Committee. A loss of Rs.700.00 per month assuming that his rates of emoluments remained the same for next 16 years, his losses are as follows:-

(a) Truncated Career Loss

(i) Total Salary for 16 years - Rs.7,58,400.00 less service (ii) Pension Drawn for 16 years - Rs.2,44,800.00

______________ Total Loss Rs.5,13,600.00 ---------------------

(b) 33 Years Conditionality Loss

(i) Total 50% pension - Rs.3,79,200.00

for 16 years – (Rs.1,975.00) (ii) Total Pension at Rs.1,275.00 - Rs.2,44,800.00 per month ---------------------

Total Loss Rs.1,34,400.00 -------------------

Therefore, lower ranks of service personnel who retire early on suffer the most on account of this 33 years conditionality.

96. An expert stated before the Committee :

“Now, we come to 33 years conditionality. This point was removal of 33 years conditionality for grant of 50 per cent of last pay drawn as pension. The reply of the Ministry of Defence was : “This was examined in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, Department of Pensions, but the same has not been accepted on the premise that 33 years conditionality is a cardinal principle governing the pension structure and modifications of it will have huge financial and administrative repercussions on civil side too”. This the explanation given by the Ministry of Defence rejecting my point. Now the reasons they say is that 33 years is a cardinal principle of the pension structure. Hon. Members, this is not part of pension regulation. The pension regulation says, the last pay drawn; its 50 per cent will be pension. This so-called cardinal principle is a subsequent separate notification attaching conditions for getting 50 per cent of last pay drawn as pension. So, that is one point.”

97. The Committee observe that there are two major Demands of the Armed Forces personnel with regard to pensions :

(a) pension may be granted on the principle of `One Rank One Pension’; and

(b) the condition of 33 years of service for the drawing full pension be

removed. 98. The Committee note that the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension had constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee to examine the demand of `One Rank One Pension’. The Committee would like the Inter-Ministerial Committee to complete its task speedily. 99. The Committee have been recommending for grant of `One Rank One Pension’ to the armed forces personnel time and again. The Committee observe that successive Governments and Pay Commissions have made improvements in the pension structure keeping in view the cost of living index. This has accentuated the disparity of pensionary benefits between pensioners of the same rank. The older pensioners who have become infirm in ability and capability and burdened with a larger social obligation receive pension calculated at the rate of pay at the time of their retirement in 1950s or 1960s or 1970s, which is quite paltry and the Dearness Relief quite inconsequential in today’s context of inflation and shrinking purchasing

value of money. The nation must repay its debt to those defendents of the motherland with gratitude and humility. We should, instead of, looking for precedents in this regard, create precedents for the others to emulate. Any amount paid in this regard would be small token of our gratitude to them. The Committee, therefore, once again reiterate their earlier recommendation for providing `One Rank One Pension’ to the armed forces personnel.

100. The Committee note that the 33 years conditionality for grant of full pension is a cardinal principle of pension which is uniformly applicable to all the categories of civil and armed forces pensioners. The armed forces personnel are granted the benefit of weightage of 3-9 years (3 years in the case of Generals and 9 years for Captains) for the Commissioned Officers and 5 years in the case of Personnel Below Officers Ranks (PBORs) for calculation of their pensions. The Committee are dismayed to learn that the discrepancies exist as regards weightage given to the different categories of service personnel as more weightage is given to Commissioned Officers who already have a longer length of service than the Jawans who serve for only about 17 years but are given only 5 years weightage. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the weightage given to various categories of retired Defence service personnel should be reviewed so as to give full benefit to the lower ranks of service personnel who retire early and suffer the most on account of this 33 years conditionality.

101. The Committee feel that uniform conditions for grant of pensions to civilians and Armed Forces personnel does not appear to be logical as only a very small percentage of Defence service personnel retire after 33 years service whereas the civilians complete generally 33 years service before retirement. For example, if a Jawan’s salary today is Rs.3,950/-, he should get a pension of Rs. 1,975, if the conditionality of 33 years is not there. He, however, gets only Rs.1,275 as explained by an expert before the Committee. 102. The Committee, therefore, also recommend that the condition of 33 years of qualifying service to get full pension at 50 per cent of the last pay drawn for the last 10 months should be reviewed in respect of armed forces personnel who serve in adverse conditions and in-hospitable environment for almost their entire career and, for no fault of theirs, they retire comparably at a young age in the interest of the Nation.

Disability Pension 103. The Ministry of Defence have stated that the disability pension comprises two parts, the service element and the disability element. The minimum disability pension paid to the individual is, therefore, Rs.1,275/- per month (the minimum service element) plus the disability element governed by the table below :

Rank Amount per month

1. Commissioned Officers and Hony. Commissioned Officers of Rs. 2,600/- the three services, MNS. TA and DSC 2. Junior Commissioned Officers and equivalent ranks of the three Rs.1,900/- services, TA and DSC 3. Other ranks of the three services, TA and DSC Rs.1,550/-

-37- 104. The actual disability element is determined on the basis of the percentage of disability assessed. For example a person with 50 per cent disability shall be paid 50 per cent of the amount specified in col. 2 above. In addition, Dearness relief currently @ 55 per cent is also paid on the disability and service elements. In contrast to having separate pension for each rank/group separately for Commissioned Officers and other ranks of the three services, there are only three slabs for disability pension. 105. The ratio of the lowest and highest disability element of pension is significantly compressed when compared to the corresponding ratio of service element can be seen from table below :

HIGHEST LOWEST Disability element 2,600 1,550 (Ratio) 1.677 1 Service element 15,000 1,275 (Ratio) 11.76 1

106. Benefits admissible in cases of invalidment/retirement on account of injuries sustained in war or war like situations

Eligibility Personnel who sustain injuries in war or war-like operations counter-insurgency operations etc. are entitled to War Injury Pensions. In cases of disablement on account of war injuries, the Armed Forces personnel are eligible to receive the pensionary benefits as under :

(a) Invalidment on account of war injury

(i) War Injury Pension consisting of service element and war injury element as

under :

Service element - equal to retiring/serving pension to which the individual would have been entitled on the basis of his/her pay on the date of invalidment but counting service upto the date on which he/she would have retired in that rank in the normal course including weightage as admissible. There is no condition of minimum qualifying service for earning this element. War Injuries element – equal to reckonable emoluments last drawn for 100 per cent disablement. However, in no case the aggregate of service element

and war injury element is to exceed last pay drawn. For lower percentage, war injury element is proportionately reduced.

(b) Streamlining the procedure to be followed by Medical Boards The 5th Central Pay Commission vide para 164.10 had recommended that the system of periodical review by the Resurvey Medical Board be abolished and the recommendation of the Medical Board be treated as final unless the individual himself asks for a review. The recommendation has been accepted in respect of injury cases. In respect of disease cases where disabilities are not of permanent nature there will be only one review of the percentage of disability by a Reassessment Board whose assessment will be final and for life unless the individual asks for a review. The review will be carried out by a Review Medical Board constituted by DGAFMS. The percentage of disability assessed by the Review Medical Board will be final. Necessary orders have been issued in this regard.

The extent of disability or functional incapacity is determined as

under for the purpose of computing war injury element in the cases of invalidment :

Disability less than 50% - 50%

Disability between 50% and 75% - 75%

Disability between 76% and 100% - 100%

(i) Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) - Rs.600 per month for 100

per cent disablement on the recommendation of the Medical Board. (ii) Retirement Gratuity - subject to a maximum of Rs.3.5 lakh.

It is calculated on the basis of reckonable emoluments on the date of invalidment but counting service upto the date on which the individual would have normally retired in that rank plus weightage as applicable (total not exceeding 33 years).

(c) In cases of retention in service despite war injury and subsequent retirement

Armed Forces personnel who are retained in service despite disability have an option either to (a) draw lumpsum compensation in lieu of war injury element foregoing war injury element at the time of subsequent retirement/discharge or (b) to draw war injury element at the time of retirement in addition to retiring/serving pension admissible on retirement/discharge.

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Those who opt for lumpsum compensation are eligible to pensionary benefits as under : (i) Service/Retiring pension

(ii) Lump sum compensation in lieu of war injury element for

disablement of 20% or more for life, at the following rates (in cases arising on or after 1.1.1996):

Category Rates for 100 per cent disability to be

reduced proportionately for lower percentage

Commissioned Officers Rs. 5,200/- per month

JCOs & equivalents Rs. 3,800 per month Other Ranks Rs. 3,100 per month

Once the compensation for war injury element has been paid,

there is no further entitlement on account of such a disability at the time of retirement/discharge.

Those who opt for war injury element on subsequent

retirement are eligible to receive war injury element on monthly basis at the rates mentioned above. No war injury element is payable for disability less than 20 per cent. (iii) Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) Rs.600/- per month for 100 per cent disablement on the recommendations of the Medical Boards. (iv) Retirement Gratuity Subject to a maximum of Rs.3.5 lakh. It is calculated on the basis of reckonable emoluments on the date of invalidment but counting service upto the date on which the individual would have retired in the normal course in that rank plus weightage of 5 years (but not exceeding 33 years).

W.e.f.. 1.1.1996, Armed Forces personnel sustaining

disability due to acts of violence/attack by terrorists, anti-social elements, bomb blasts in public places or transport, indiscriminate shooting incidents etc. are entitled to the same pensionary benefits (i.e., service element and retirement gratuity) as admissible to war injury cases on invalidment/retirement/discharge including lumpsum compensation in lieu of disability, as mentioned above, except that on invalidment they would be entitled to disability element instead of war injury element.

For lower percentage of disablement, this amount is

proportionately reduced. However, in no case aggregate of service

element and disability element shall be less than 80 per cent of reckonable emoluments last drawn.

107. II. Benefits in cases of retirement/invalidment with disability attributable

to/aggravated by Military Service (Non-battle casualty cases) Eligibility conditions The disability pension is admissible subject to the condition that the disability on account of which are armed forces personnel is invalided out is accepted as having occurred/aggravated by conditions of military conditions. A. In case of invalidment on account of disability attributable to or aggravated by

military service, the individual is entitled to the pensionary benefits as under :

(i) Normal Retiring/Service Pension - for the length of service actually rendered plus the full weightage appropriate to the rank held at the time of invalidment. There is no condition of minimum qualifying service having been rendered for earning this element of pension, if otherwise due. (ii) Disability element at the following rates for 100 per cent disability to be reduced proportionately for lower percentage

Commissioned Officers Rs. 2,600/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs. 1,900 per month

Other Ranks Rs. 1,550 per month

Where permanent disability is not less than 60 per cent the disability pension (total of service element plus disability element) is not to be less than 60 per cent of reckonable emoluments last drawn.

(iii) The extent of disability or functional incapacity is determinable as under for the purpose of computing the disability element in cases of invalidment :

Disability less than 50% - 50% Disability between 50% and 75% - 75% Disability between 76% and 100% - 100%

(iv) Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) - Rs.600 p.m. on the recommendations of the medical board. (v) Leave encashment - Upto 300 days.

108. III. Where an Armed Forces personnel is retained in service despite disability and retires/discharged on attaining the age of retirement or on completion of tenure, w.e.f. 1.1.96, he/she is entitled to receive the following pensionary benefits

(i) Retiring/Service pension to be calculated at 50 per cent of the last 10 month’s

average reckonable emoluments in the case of officers and 50 per cent of the maximum of scale of pay of the rank and group held for 10 months before

retirement in the case of PBORs. The benefit of added years of service (weightage) which ranges between 9 years for Captain and below to 3 years for General is also given for calculating qualifying service. PBORs are given the benefit of 5 added years of service for determining qualifying service.

(ii) Retirement/Service Gratuity depending on the length of service subject to the

maximum of Rs.3.5 lakh. For calculating gratuity a uniform weightage of 5 years is given to all ranks (total not exceeding 33 years).

(iii) Other benefits leave encashment upto 300 days. (iv) Disability element at the following rates effective from 1.1.1996 (for 100 per

cent disability to be reduced proportionately for lesser degree of disability upto 20 per cent) :

Commissioned Officers Rs. 2,600/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs. 1,900 per month

Other Ranks Rs. 1,550 per month Disability element is payable for disability actually assessed/accepted. No

disablility is payable for disability less than 20 per cent. For example, a person with 50 per cent disability shall be paid 50 per cent

of the amount specified in col. 2 above. In addition, Dearness Relief currently @ 55 per cent is also paid on the disability and service elements.

Lumpsum compensation in lieu of disability element 109. Where an individual is found to have a disability which is accepted at 20 per cent or more for life but the individual is retained in service despite disability, he is paid a lumpsum compensation in lieu of disability element equal to the capitalised value of disability element on the basis of disability actually assessed (and not the disability computable in cases of invalidment). The rates of disability element for calculating capitalised value in cases arising on or after 1.1.1996 are as under :

Commissioned Officers Rs. 2,600/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs. 1,900 per month

Other Ranks Rs. 1,550 per month Once such compensation has been paid in lieu of disability element, there is no

further entitlement on this count at the time of retirement.

110. IV. Benefits in the event of invalidment on account of disability neither attributable to nor aggravated by Military Services (Invalid Pension)

(i) Eligibility conditions - Invalid Pension is admissible where an individual is invalidated out of Military Service with a disability neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service, if the service actually rendered is 10 years or more. Invalid gratuity is paid when the service rendered is less than 10 years.

(ii) Rates Invalid Pension - Amount equal to the service element of disability pension that would have been admissible in case the causes were attributable to or aggravated by military service. Invalid Gratuity – Half a month’s reckonable emoluments for each six monthly period of qualifying service. 111. Another important Demand of Ex-Servicemen vide their representations have been regarding the grant of disability pension to the Ex-Servicemen. The Ex-Servicemen claim that the disability pension is lower for the armed forces personnel than civilians. The details of disability pension of civilians vis-à-vis armed force personnel are given in Annexures III and IV as specified by the Ministry of Defence.

112. The information as inferred from the Annexure-III regarding pensions for civilians under the two categories, Categories B & C shows that in case of category B, i.e. death or disability due to causes which are accepted as attributable to or aggravated by Government service. Diseases contracted because of continued exposure or occupational hazards resulting in death or disability would be examples and category C i.e. death or disability due to accidents in the performance of duties. Some examples are accidents while travelling on duty in Government vehicles or public transport, a journey on duty is performed by service aircraft, mishaps at sea, electrocution while on duty, etc., the Ministry have stated that in the above two cases normal pension and gratuity admissible under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 plus disability pension equal to 30 per cent of basic pay, for 100 per cent disability is to be granted. For lower percentage of disability, the monthly disability pension shall be proportionately lower as at present, provided that where permanent disability is not less than 60 per cent, the total pension (i.e. pension or service gratuity admissible under the ordinary pension rules plus disability pension as indicated at (a) above shall not be less than 60 per cent of basic pay, subject to a minimum of Rs.2,500/-). 113. An expert stated before the Committee during evidence :

“In the disability orders, firstly, about the current pensioners, they have fixed the amounts for the Armed Forces personnel. In case of jawans and, NCOs, it is Rs.1,550 for hundred per cent disability. For JCOs, it is Rs.1,900; for officers, it is Rs. 2,600. This is for the Armed Forces. In case of civilian counterparts, the orders are that they would get 30 per cent of last pay drawn as hundred per cent disability pension. It means that if an Army Chief gets disabled tomorrow, he will get only Rs.2,600 maximum as disability pension, whereas his counterpart, the Cabinet Secretary, if he gets disabled, he will get Rs.9,000 to Rs. 10,000 as disability pension, which is three to four times more than what the Army Chief would get.

114. The Committee note that the armed forces personnel many a time get disabled in the process of conflict with other nations and also during national security duties as also during peace time while on training or performing day to day activities. 115. The Committee note that disability pension for the servicemen which is about Rs.2,600 per month for the commissioned officer and Rs. 1,550 for the Jawan, who are disabled in the line of duty is very less to sustain the livelihood of the injured Jawan/Officer and his family. In cases where there is 100% disability the poor Jawan’s standard of living slumps towards the meagre sustenance level. Had he remained in service he would have been eligible for accommodation, rations and other facilities available to the serving personnel. In absence of these benefits inability to take up any job due to disability, the Jawan becomes a burden on his own family. The Committee feel that the disability pension, especially in cases of 100 per cent disability, needs to be revised in the case of Armed Forces personnel. The Committee, therefore, recommend that some formulae in the case of disability pension should be worked out so as to provide pension-cum-disability pension equal to last pay drawn to the 100 per cent disabled service personnel as in the case of family pensioners where the widow is granted liberalised family pension equal to the reckonable emoluments last drawn by the deceased. The same should also be worked out suitably in the cases where disability is above 50 per cent.

Family Pensions 116. The families of the Armed Forces personnel are granted family pension on the death of a Service personnel/pensioner. Family pensions are of three kinds, namely Liberalised Family Pension, Special Family Pension and Ordinary Family Pension. The eligibility and conditions under which these pensions are granted are mentioned below : Liberalised Family Pension (LFP)

Eligibility The family of the Armed Forces personnel killed in war or war like operations, counter insurgency operations or encounter with or in incidents involving armed hostiles, terrorists extremists, anti-social element etc., are entitled to the Liberalised Family Pension. Presently, it is admissible as under:

Widow: Liberalised Family Pension equal to the reckonable emoluments last drawn by the deceased is payable to the widow in the case of officers and to the nominated heir in the case of PBOR until death or disqualification w.e.f. 1.1.1996 in case of remarriage or the widow, full liberalized family pension continues to be admissible to her if she continues to support the children or has no children or she does not support children after remarriage, ordinary family pension at 30 per cent to widow and special family pension at 60% to eligible children are admissible.

Children: If the personnel is not survived by widow but is survived by child/children only, all children together are eligible to liberalized family pension at the rate equal to 60 per cent of reckonable emoluments last drawn by the deceased. LFP is paid to the senior most eligible child till he/she attains the age of 25 years or upto the date of his/her marriage whichever is earlier and thereafter the LFP is passed on to the next eligible child.

W.e.f. 1.1.1996, in the case of eligible child is physically or mentally handicapped and unable to earn livelihood. LFP is admissible for life. Widowed/divorced daughters upto the age of 25 years or marriage whichever is earlier has been included in the definition of family for the purpose of Liberalised Family Pension. Parents: Where an officer dies as a bachelor or as a widower without children, dependent pension is admissible to parents without reference to their pecuniary circumstances at the rate of 75 per cent of the LFP for both parents and @ 60 per cent for a single parent. 117. Special Family Pension (SFP) (i) Eligibility Admissible in case of death of a personnel on account of causes attributable to or aggravated by military service. (ii) Special Family Pension is admissible at the uniform rate of 60 per cent of reckonable emoluments last drawn by the deceased subject to a minimum of Rs.2,550/- irrespective of the fact whether the widow has children or not (in cases arising on or after 1.1.1996). W.e.f. 1.1.1996, in case the eligible child is physically or mentally handicapped and unable to earn livelihood, SFP is admissible for life. Widowed/divorced daughters upto the age of 25 years or marriage whichever is earlier has been included in the definition of family for the purpose of Special Family Pension.

(iii) Families of SSCOs and ECOs who die under circumstances attributable to military service shall also be entitled to special family pension.

Special Family Pension on Remarriage of Widows Special Family Pension on remarriage of widow, is regulated as follows :

(a) Commissioned officers

(i) If she has child(ren) : (aa) If she continues to support children Full Special Family Pension after remarriage to continue to widow. (ab) If she does not support children Ordinary Family Pension

after remarriage (OFP) equal to 30 per cent of emoluments last drawn to the re-married widow : 50 per cent of the Special Family Pension to the eligible children.

(ii) If widow has no children Full Special Family Pension

to continue to widow.

(b) PBOR

(i) If special Family Pension is sanctioned to the Widow : Same provisions as applicable to officers

(ii) Where first life award is sanctioned to parents :

(aa) If widow continues to support child(ren) 50 per cent of SFP to after remarriage or has not issues parents

50 per cent of SFP to widow

(ab) If widow does not support children after Full SFP to parents re-marriage but the children are supported Ordinary Family by the parents Pension to widow (ac) If children are not supported either by 50 per cent of SFP to

the re-married widow or the parents parents 50 per cent of SFP to eligible children. Ordinary Family Pension to Widow.

(ad) On death or disqualification of parents Full SFP to widow and the widow supports the children or has not issues. (ae) On death or disqualification of parents Full SFP to eligible and the widow does not support the children. Ordinary

children. Family Pension to Widow.

(iii) Death Gratuity Subject to a maximum of Rs.3.5 lakh. (iv) Ex-gratia payment Rs.5 lakh in case of death due to accidents including

accidents to the service aircraft occurring on or after 1.8.1997. (v) Other Benefits Leave encashment upto a maximum of 300 days.

118. Ordinary Family Pension (OFP) (i) Eligibility Families of personnel who die during service for causes neither attributable to nor aggravated by service, or after retirement with pension, are eligible to ordinary family pension. (ii) Rate of pension: With effect from 1.1.1996, OFP is admissible at a uniform rate of 30% of reckonable emoluments last drawn subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the highest pay applicable to Armed Forces Personnel. The minimum amount of Family Pension is Rs.1,275/- per month.

Past family pensioners are entitled to get at least 30 per cent of the minimum of the revised pay scale introduced w.e.f. 1.1.1996 for the rank in the case of officers and rank and group in the case of PBORs. 119. If the deceased personnel had rendered 7 years or more service the family is given OFP at double the rate for the first 7 years or upto the time when the deceased would have reached the age of 67 years whichever is earlier. The amount of enhanced family pension is not to exceed 50 per cent of the emoluments or the Retiring pension if the death takes place after retirement but before 67 years of age. 120. With effect from 1.1.1998, OFP is admissible also to (i) parents who were wholly dependant on the Armed Forces personnel provided the deceased had left behind neither a widow nor a child and (ii) widowed/divorced daughter till she attains the age of 25 years or up to the date of her re-marriage whichever is earlier. The income criteria is that their earning should not be more than Rs.2,550/- per month. This benefit is admissible w.e.f. 1.1.1998 also in cases where death of Armed Forces personnel occurred prior to 1.1.1996. 121. During evidence it was stated by an expert before the Committee :

“The next point is family pension on re-marriage. It was allowed by the Pay Commission and it was applied to all kinds of family pensioners. But the orders that have come have left out the ordinary family pensioners from this awards; that is, if she marries her pension is stopped, It is unfair because ordinary family pensioner is the poorest of all the family pensioners and she certainly needs sustenance by marrying a person after her first husband dies. It is one point which you need to kindly look into.”

122. The Committee appreciate the efforts made by the Government in the past for giving pensions to the widows/families of Servicemen killed in action/in service.

123. The Committee desire that further efforts should be made by the Government to look into the grievances of the widows who may remarry due to personal security and various other social reasons and ensure that they get some amount to support themselves, earn respect and adjust themselves in the new families. There should not be any discrimination/anomaly in respect of grant of pensionary benefits to the widows who got married prior to or after 1.1.1996. The Committee also desire the Ministry to make provision for suitable financial assistance, from out of the pensionary benefits, to the parents of the deceased Defence personnel. Welfare Associations Indian Ex-Services Leagues (IESL) 124. The IESL is an Ex-Servicemen Association recognised by the Government. Its main objective is to take up the problems of Ex-Servicemen and their dependents concerning their rehabilitation and welfare with the Central Government/State

Governments. The Association is also providing financial assistance to Ex-Servicemen/Widows and their children as distress grant, stipend, etc. The Association is publishing a priced monthly magazine containing information about Government Orders and events concerning Ex-Servicemen. The IESL is functioning from its Headquarters in New Delhi with affiliated units in various States/UTs. Air Force Association 125. This Association is also recognised by the Government and is working for the welfare of retired IAF personnel and their families. Its main objective is to take up the problems of retired IAF personnel and their families concerning their rehabilitation and welfare with the Government.

Army Wives Welfare Association 126. On the Army Wives Welfare Association, the Ministry of Defence have stated that the aims of this Association are – to support and enhance the official welfare efforts within the Army, focus on wives, children and widows in particular, improve the living conditions of the rural poor, protect human rights violations taking place against the families, etc. Some of their activities are – they attempt to reach out to the widow and help her to establish herself again in life. They run, across the country, special schools called ASHA Schools for the handicapped children. For this they also get a grant from the Ministry of Welfare. They carry out vocational training for the wives so that when these wives go back to their villages they can lend a helping hand to the husbands. They give scholarships to the meritorious children; ensure mother and child care and family health and hygiene programmes; assist in settlement of pension cases particularly family pension cases. 127. The sources of income for this organisation are – voluntary contribution form within the various formations and units of the Indian Army, financial aid from the Government of India, donations received from anywhere etc. They hold occasional film premiers and entertainment programmes. They sell items which are made during vocational training carried out for the wives of the serving personnel and finally the corpus that they have and the interest that they get from that. The Air Force Wives’ Welfare Association and the Naval Wives’ Welfare Association also run on the same lines.

128. The Committee note that organizations such as Indian Ex-Services League (IESL), Air Force Association, Air Force Wives Welfare Association, Army Wives Welfare Association, Naval Wives Welfare Association have been working for the welfare of Ex-Servicemen, widows and their families. Those organisations also give scholarships to the meritorious children, take care of mother and children through family health and hygiene programmes, assist in settlement of family cases, especially family pension cases. The Committee hope that the Government will continue to give financial aid to these organisations and help them to serve Ex-Servicemen and their families in a better way and also see the proper utilisation of the grants/aids provided to these organisations for the purpose for which the same are given.

MEDICAL FACILITIES TO SERVICEMEN AND EX-SERVICEMEN 129. Regarding functioning and performance of the Service Medical Hospitals, the Ministry of Defence have informed the Committee: Military Hospitals: All the Military Hospitals attend to day-to-day medical requirements of Servicemen and their families. Specialised Medical Treatment:

(a) Research and Referral Hospital: For serving soldiers requiring specialised medical treatment, a super specialist hospital is available at New Delhi,

(b) Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centres (PRCs): Two PRCs, at Kirkee (Queen

Mary’s Technical Institute) and Mohali are available for rehabilitation of disabled soldiers.

(c) St. Dunstan’s After Care Organisation: This organisation provides

training to the visually handicapped servicemen at the National Institute for Visually Handicapped at Dehradun.

(d) Artificial Limb Centres (ALC): One ALC is available at Pune for

providing artificial limbs to disabled soldiers.

(e) Small Family Norms Centre: In the Air Force a centre for Small Family Norms has been attached with all station sick quarters to advise young married couples on Small Family Norms and related precautions.

Financial Assistance for Specialised Medical Treatment : Financial assistance is also provided, in tune with Central Government provisions, to service personnel, in case of specialised medical treatment not available at Service Medical Hospitals. The serving soldiers or their wards avail of this facility to get treatment from Specialised Medical Facilities available outside the Government facilities.

130. The Ministry of Defence have further informed the Committee in their written reply:

“Medical treatment of almost all types of diseases, including those requiring specialised treatment, is available in Service Hospitals. However, cases can also be referred to Govt./Civil Private Hospitals when no service facilities exist for treatment of a particular disease. At present there are 127 (Army, Air and Naval) Service Hospitals.

100 per cent re-imbursement of treatment taken from Govt./Civil Private Hospitals is reimbursed as per the prevailing CGHS package approved rates for emergency/elective specialised treatment for which the

facility is not available in Service Hospitals. Apart from it, there are 22 private hospitals recognised for treatment of Armed Forces Personnel and their families for advance Cardio-vascular treatment and Renal transplant”.

131. During the oral evidence, the representatives of the Ministry of Defence clarified:

“We have all types of facilities existing in our Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals. However, the Ex-Servicemen, their spouses and their children were an entitled category but not an authorised category. I shall just explain what is an entitled category and what is an authorised category. Hospital or any other medical facility that is provided by the Government at the cost of the Government is based on the strength of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and in that is taken into account the strength only of serving personnel and their dependents, that is, wife and children only. The structuring of the hospital, number of beds and other resources that are given are given only for serving personnel. So even though the Ex-Servicemen are entitled, the treatment that they were getting was very superficial. However, with the sanctioning of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme, which was sanctioned by the Government on 30.12.2002 and has come into effect from 1.4.2003, this disparity or shortcoming that was there has been removed. However, it will take us five years to put this scheme totally in place”.

132. Regarding medical facilities available to the Ex-Servicemen and their families, the Ministry of Defence has, in a written reply, stated :

“Ex-Servicemen and the families of deceased service personnel drawing pension of any kind are entitled to free out-patient treatment at Military Hospitals. These personnel can also be provided in-patient treatment in such hospitals subject to availability of beds. 24 MI rooms and 12 Dental Centres have been created from the funds provided by the Service Headquarters and Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) for providing medical facilities to Ex-Servicemen and their dependents. All Ex-Servicemen suffering from certain specified serious diseases are given financial assistance from Armed Force Flag Day Fund for treatment in civil hospitals in case they can not be treated in Military Hospitals and have not availed similar assistance from other sources. The Army Group Insurance Scheme (AGI) have introduced a medical insurance scheme w.e.f. 1.4.1991 to provide cover for treatment for certain specified diseases and disabilities. The rate of premium and the insurance cover provided differs depending upon the year of retirement of the service personnel. Those Ex-Servicemen who have been members of AGI/AFGI Medical Benefit Scheme and have already availed financial benefits from them are considered for financial assistance from KSB if they go in for subsequent treatment of serious disease and are not eligible for availing AGI/AFGI benefits for any further financial assistance. Ex-Servicemen who are not availing medical facilities from Military Hospitals may choose to draw Rs. 100/- P.M. for medical treatment as per recommendations of 5th Central Pay Commission”.

133. In order to provide better medical facilities to Ex-Servicemen and their dependents, the Government have introduced a new medical scheme, i.e. Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme for providing medical facilities to Ex-Servicemen, war widows and their dependents on the pattern of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS). The salient features of the Scheme are as under:

(i) The medical facilities existing at 104 military stations will be

augmented at a capital cost of Rs. 49 crores and annual recurring expenditure of Rs. 52 crores.

(ii) Fresh medical facilities in the nature of Armed Force

polyclinics/medical inspection rooms will be set up at 123 non-military stations where the population of Ex-Servicemen is more than 2,500. This will involve a capital cost of Rs. 69 crores and annual recurring cost of Rs. 98 crores.

(iii) The Ex-Servicemen, war widows and their dependents at other

stations where Ex-Servicemen population is less than 2,500 will be attached to the existing augmented armed forces clinics/medical inspection room as mentioned in (i) above or with armed forces polyclinics/medical inspection rooms to be created at 123 stations vide (ii) above.

(iv) The Ex-Servicemen, war widows and their dependents will also be

reimbursed the cost of medicines not provided by the armed forces polyclinics/medical inspection rooms, fee of the specialists to whom they are referred to, the charge of laboratories for pathological or other diagnostic tests and also the cost of hospitalization.

(v) The Ex-Servicemen and war widows will be required to make a

contribution at the same rate at which the Central Government pensioners are required to make contribution for availing medical facilities under the CGHS after retirement.

(vi) The scheme will be implemented in a phased manner in five years.

134. In another written reply, the Ministry of Defence have further stated that the Army and Air Force introduced a Medical Benefit Scheme for their Ex-Servicemen under the aegis of their respective Group Insurance Schemes. One time lump-sum term premium was charged from members to provide specified financial assistance to cover cost of specialised treatment of the member and the spouse in authorised hospitals. The Group Insurance Scheme is also applicable to personnel who are medically boarded out for any disability which is attributable to service and for which they are eligible for disability pension. However, the Navy has not launched a Medical Benefit Scheme under the aegis of Naval Group Insurance Fund (NGIF) due to its small data base. To meet the emergent requirement, the Navy provided ex gratia grant to Indian Naval Benevolent Association (INBA) for specialised medical treatment to Ex-Naval pensioners and their

dependents over and above 75 per cent and 90 per cent cost of medical expenses provided by Kendriya Sainik Board to the officers and sailors respectively.

135. Regarding the procedures of availing treatment by Ex-Servicemen the representative of the Ministry informed :

‘There are 277 points across the country, the first point of contact for this, pensioner is to go to a clinic where he will get treated either with the diagnostic facilities that are available in that clinic, and the doctors who are available there, you will be treated, medicine will be given to you and if you need to be referred for more diagnostic tests, you will be referred to an empanelled facility. If you need to be seen by a specialist or by a super-specialist, who is not available there, you will be referred. If you need to be hospitalised, first, you will be hospitalised in a military facility. If the military facility does not have space, then you will be referred to an empanelled civil hospital. Outpatient care facilities are being provided in these clinics. They would be able to take on all medical and pathological treatment in specialised hospitals, whenever required, reimbursement of laid down rates on emergency treatment, that is, if an individual meets with an accident, has a heart attack or any other trauma and life is at stake, he can go to any of the nearest medical facilities, if it is not empanelled. However, only in this condition, he will have to make the payment himself and, thereafter, he will have to claim payment. That payment will only be cleared from the headquarters in Delhi. It also covers dental treatment’.

136. Placing a proposal for augmenting existing medical facilities before the Committee they further stated :

“We are going to create or augment 104 existing military facilities. In 123 non-military stations which are district headquarters, we are going to construct new polyclinics, equip them and man them. Depending upon the population, the registered Ex-Servicemen population that is there in that district, we have decided what size of that polyclinic will be ranging, that is, from a,b, c to d types. * * * * The Government have sanctioned Rs.122 crore on account of capital expenditure for construction and equipping 227 clinics. These Rs.122 crore will be spent over the next five years. The annual outflow that would take place is Rs.354.50 crore. However, we started the scheme at `zero’, we are still to get the first rupee. * * * * In the first year, out of 104, we have identified 61 polyclinics where augmentation will take place from the capital funds allotted from the CHS schemes. In non-military stations we have identified 34 locations where we

would initially hire accommodations and start the clinics. During the year, we will acquire land and commence construction. * * * * The entire manpower for administering this scheme centrally from Delhi and regionally, we had to find from within our own establishment. The Government sanctioned nothing for this purpose. We have done this exercise. We have positioned the necessary manpower. We have prepared detailed forms which include affidavits, Military Receivable Orders and a lot of other things, which have to be put in place because we do not want a non-entitled person to enter this scheme. We have finalised the designs of the polyclinics. There will be identical polyclinics constructed across the country.”

137. When the Committee enquired about the floor area and unit costs of these polyclinics in each type, the Committee was informed that Type-A would be made on 1200 sq. yards of land and will cover 5,000 sq.ft. of floor area. The unit cost is worked at Rs. 600 a sq. ft. These are MES rates. 138. Enquired about the arrangements made by the Government for those Ex-Servicemen where the number is less than 2,500 in a district, DG (DC &W) further informed the Committee that:-

‘Where the registered population of the Ex-servicemen was less than 2,500, those districts are not covered directly. Those Ex-Servicemen who are not covered in the first phase they will be covered in second phase. They have a linkage to the adjoining district or to the nearest military facility. So, it would happen that the Ex-Servicemen may have to walk through his entire district and reach the adjoining district to be able to avail these facilities. The Government have only sanctioned the scheme for places where the registered strength of Ex-Servicemen was more than 2500 in a district’.

139. The Committee pointed out that when many States are not covered by CGHS, the Ministry of Health has issued a directive that all hospitals in every district of India will be a referral for CGHS cardholder. That means every CGHS cardholder can go there, and the cost of the treatment will be reimbursed from Nirman Bhawan. In this context the Committee asked whether the Ministry of Defence have any tie up with CGHS or the Ministry of Health. 140. To further clarify the aforesaid point, DG (DC & W) replied that :-

‘They will have to come on their own up to the clinic. Once they reach the clinic, from there, the scheme will take care. Initially, one has to reach a point of reference. If one reaches the closest point of reference, thereafter, he will be totally taken care of by the Scheme’.

141. When the Committee further enquired whether the Government will continue the present insurance scheme of the Army and the Air Force along with the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), DG (DC & W) replied that:-

‘As is being prompted by the Defence Secretary, the present insurance scheme of the Army and the Air Force will be closed down on 31st March 2005. We are going to run the insurance scheme along with the ECHS for a period of 2 years and thereafter, we are going to close down the internal scheme of the Indian Army and the Air Force’

142. The Committee note that despite vast number of personnel of defence services as well as Ex-Servicemen settled in and hailing from different parts of the country there are only 127 Service Hospitals to provide treatment to them and only 22 private hospitals are recognised to provide specialised medical facilities. 143. The Committee feel that medical requirements of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen are massive but very poorly addressed and their grievances get compounded considering the fact that there are only 127 service hospitals and 22 recognised private hospitals for specialised treatment for more than 20 lakh Ex-Servicemen and their dependents and about 11 lakh serving personnel excluding their family members. The Committee, therefore, desire that the Ministry of Defence should ensure immediate improvement and balanced expansion in the services/facilities being provided by the Service Medical Hospitals located in different parts of the country and also prepare suitable plans for increasing the number of such hospitals in a time-bound manner. The Ministry as an interim measure may consider other options, viz. mobile clinics, polyclinics and attachment with other Government hospitals, increasing the number of private recognised hospitals to ensure that Ex-Servicemen and their families/dependents are not deprived of even basic and emergent medical facilities. 144. The Committee note that the Government had introduced a Group Insurance Medical Benefit Scheme on 1 April 1991 for Army and Air Force Ex-Servicemen. One time lump-sum term premium is charged from them to provide specified financial assistance to cover the cost of specialised treatment of the Ex-Servicemen and their spouses in the authorised hospitals. Navy has not launched any such scheme for their Ex-Servicemen. 145. The Committee further note that the Ministry have approved an Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) on 30 December 2002 and this scheme has been introduced from 1 April 2003 on the pattern of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and the Ex-Servicemen will have to pay the charges to avail of the benefits of the new scheme (ECHS) at par with the CGHS rates.

146. The Committee note that the benefits of the new scheme will be available only in those districts where registered Ex-Servicemen population is more than 2,500. The Committee feel that most of the Ex-Servicemen may hesitate in joining this scheme because Ex-Servicemen of Army and Air Force who had opted for Group Insurance Medical Benefit Scheme and had already paid charges for availing of the

medical facilities, would have to pay the charges again to avail the medical facility under the ECHS. The Committee feel that it would hardly reduce the patient-load in the Military Hospitals.

147. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the Government should not charge again for getting benefits under the ECHS from those Ex-Servicemen who have already paid the premium for their respective Group Insurance Medical Benefit Schemes for availing medical facilities. Similarly, the widows of Ex-Servicemen should also be covered under ECHS and as a gesture of our gratitude to the martyrs they should be exempted from the payment of the premium. 148. The Committee note that the Government have proposed to create or augment medical facilities at 104 existing Military Hospitals out of 127 Hospitals and 123 Polyclinics/Medical Inspection Rooms will be constructed over a period of next five years for providing fresh medical facilities at non-military stations in the district headquarters. The Committee express their concern about the construction cost of Polyclinics/Medical Inspection Centres, i.e Rs.600 per sq.ft. on the basis of MES rates. These rates are almost double as compared to the PWD rates prevailing in various States. 149. The Committee recommend that the construction of these Polyclinics/MI Centres should be expedited and their cost be kept at the minimum. 150. The Committee strongly recommend that the Government should recognise all civil hospitals in every district of India as a referral hospital for Ex-Servicemen under the ECHS card holders and adopt the same pattern at par with the CGHS for the benefit of those Ex-Servicemen who are residing in far flung areas of the country so that they can also avail this facility at the nearest block/district level not as yet covered by ECHS. 151. The Committee also recommend that the Ministry should immediately take necessary measures to enable the Ex-Servicemen to claim their medical bills from the concerned MI Centres/Military Hospitals and not from the Headquarters at Delhi involving a cumbersome procedure. NEW DELHI; MADAN LAL KHURANA 14 August 2003 Chairman, 23 Sravana 1925 (Saka) Standing Committee on Defence

ANNEXURE-I

RE-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS – RESERVATIONS

Sl.No. Name of the States/UTs Reservation in States Govt. Jobs (in percentage)

Carry forward reserved vacancies

Induction at levels in State Police Force

Name of the States/UTs GP.A GP.B GP.C GP.D 1. ANDHRA PRADESH 0 0 2 2 No Yes-2% 2. ARUNACHAL PRADESH 0 5 10 20 No No 3. ASSAM 0 0 2 2 Yes Yes 4. BIHAR 0 0 0 0 No Yes 5. CHHATTISGARH* - - - - - - 6. DELHI 0 0 10 20 No Yes 7. GOA 0 0 2 2 Yes Yes-2% 8. GUJARAT 0 0 10 20 No Yes 9. HARYANA 5 5 15 15 Yes Yes 10. HIMACHAL PRADESH 15 15 15 15 Yes Yes-15% 11. JAMMU & KASHMIR 0 0 0 0 No Yes 12. JHARKHAND* - - - - - - 13. KARNATAKA 10 10 10 10 No Yes 14. KERALA 0 0 0 0 No No 15. MADHYA PRADESH 0 0 10 20 No Yes 16. MAHARASHTRA 0 0 15 15 Yes Yes 17. MANIPUR 0 2 3 5 Yes Yes 18. MEGHALAYA 0 0 0 0 No No 19. MIZORAM 0 0 10 20 No Yes 20. NAGALAND 0 0 5 5 Yes No 21. ORISSA 0 0 3 3 No No 22. PUNJAB 13 13 13 13 Yes Yes 23. RAJASTHAN 0 0 12.5 15 Yes Yes 24. SIKKIM 0 0 3 3 No Yes 25. TAMIL NADU 0 0 0 1 No Yes 26. TRIPURA 2 2 2 2 No Yes 27. UTTAR PRADESH 0 0 0 0 No No 28. UTTARANCHAL* - - - - - - 29. WEST BENGAL 0 0 5 10 No No 30. ANDAMAN & NICOBAR 0 0 10 20 No No 31. CHANDIGARH UT 0 0 10 10 No Yes 32. PONDICHERRY UT 0 0 10 20 Yes No

* The Kendriya Sainik Board has taken up the matter with these newly formed States. However, no decision has been communicated by any of these States as yet.

ANNEXURE-II

NUMBER OF EX-SERVICEMEN PLACED IN EMPLOYMENT (1997-2001) SECTOR 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

(A) Ministries/Departments 85 88 80 47 4 (B) Public Sector Undertaking 254 101 58 75 58 (C) Nationalised Bank 522 479 359 334 157 (D) Para Military Force 238 279 28 2 0 (E) Ordnance Factories 0 0 0 0 0 (F) Defence Security Corps 2924 4241 3467 3577 2569 Total 4023 5188 3992 4035 2788 STATE GOVERNMENT

(A) State Government Department 3329 1903 1398 1297 820 (B) State Government Undertaking 880 705 755 355 337 (C) Local Bodies 606 217 387 567 353 Total 4815 2825 2540 2219 1510 Private Sector 5424 3304 3068 2766 2677 Grand Total (Central Government + State Government + Private Sector

14262 11317 9600 9020 6975

Note: Figures for the year 2001 are provisional.

ANNEXURE-III Statement A

Disability Pension Rules of civilians issued by Department of

Pension and Pensioner’s Welfare In accordance with the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission, for determining the compensation for death/disability on the different circumstances the cases have been broadly categorized into five distinct categories as indicated below:- Category `A’ Death or disability due to natural causes not attributable to Government service. Examples would be chronic ailments like heart and renal diseases, prolonged illness, accidents while not on duty, etc. Category `B’ Death or disability due to causes which are accepted as attributable to or aggravated by Government service. Diseases contracted because of continued exposure to a hostile work environment, subjected to extreme weather conditions or occupational hazards resulting in death or disability would be examples. Category `C’ Death or disability due to accidents in the performance of duties. Some examples are accidents while traveling on duty in Government vehicles or public transport, a journey on duty is performed by service aircraft, mishaps at sea, electrocution while on duty, etc. Category `D’ Death or disability attributable to acts of violence by terrorists, anti social elements, etc. whether in their performance of duties or otherwise. Apart from cases of death or injury sustained by personnel of the Central Police Organizations while employed in aid of the civil administration in quelling agitation, riots or revolt by demonstrators, other public servants including police personnel, etc. bomb blasts in public places or transport, indiscriminate shooting incidents in public, etc. Would be covered under this category. Category `E’ Death or disability arising as a result of (a) attack by or during action against extremists, anti-social element, etc., and (b) enemy action in international war or border skirmishes and warlike situations, including cases which are attributable to (I) extremists acts, exploding mines etc. while on way to an operational area; (ii) kidnapping by extremists; and (iii) battle inoculation as part of training exercises with live ammunition.

Disability Pension – for cases covered under categories B and C (a) Normal pension and gratuity admissible under the GCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 plus

disability pension equal to 30% of basic pay, for 100% disability. (b) For lower percentage of disability, the monthly disability pension shall be

proportionately lower as at present, provided that where permanent disability is not less than 60%, the total pension (i.e., pension or service gratuity admissible under the ordinary pension rules plus disability pension as indicated at (a) above shall not be less than 60% of basic pay, subject to a minimum of Rs.2,500.

Disability Pension – for cases covered under categories D (a) Disability pension comprising a service element equal to the retiring pension and

gratuity to which the employee would have been entitled to on the basis of his pay on the date of invalidation but counting service upto the date on which he would have retired in the normal course and disability element equal in amount to normal family pension subject to the condition that the aggregate of the service and disability element shall not be less than 80% of the pay last drawn, for 100% disability.

(b) For lower percentage of disability , the disability element shall be proportionately

lower as at present. Benefits admissible in cases covered under Category E (a) Disability pension, comprising a service element equalt on the retiring pension and

gratuity to which the employee would have been entitled to on the basis of his pay on the date of invalidation but counting service upto the date on which he would have retired in normal course and disability element equal in amount to the pay last drawn subject to the condition that the aggregate of the service and disability elements shall not exceed the pay last drawn, for 100% disability.

(b) For lower percentage of disability, the disability element shall be proportionately

lower as at present. (c) Other terms and conditions in the Central Civil Services (Extra-Ordinary Pension)

Rules and Liberalised Pensionary Awards Scheme which are not specifically modified by the revised orders continue to be operative.

(d) Certain procedural changes suggested by the Fifth Central Pay Commission have

been accepted by the Government. These are as follows:-

The extent of disability or functional incapacity shall be determined in the following manner for purposes of computing the disability element forming part of benefits:- ____________________________________________________________________ Percentage of disability Percentage of be reckoned for Assessed by Medical Board computation of disability element ____________________________________________________________________ Less than 50 50 Between 50 and 75 75 Between 76 and 100 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The findings of the Medical Board on the extent of disability would be treated as final and binding unless the employee himself seeks a review by preferring an appeal to an Authority immediately superior to the one who had constituted the Board. In case the appeal is accepted and a review Medical Board is constituted, the findings of the Board would be binding on all parties. The extent of disability as determined and accepted would be treated as final and the employee would not be required to appear before Medical Board of periodically for the purpose of obtaining a certificate that the disability continues to persist. Different department and offices shall have the powers to grant disability/family pension covered under the Government orders and instructions issue on the subject. They shall exercise these powers, wherever necessary, in consultation with the Financial Advisers. Only in cases not covered strictly in terms of the Government guidelines and instructions, reference to Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare shall be made.

ANNEXURE-IV

Statement B

Details of disability pension rules for Armed Forces personnel In accordance with the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission, for determining the compensation for death/disability on the different circumstances the cases have been broadly categorised into five distinct categories as indicated below : Category `A’ Death or disability due to natural causes neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service as determined by he competent medical authorities. Examples would be ailments of nature of constitutional disease as assessed by medical authorities, chronic ailments like heart and renal diseases, prolonged illness, accidents while not on duty. Category `B’ Death or disability due to causes which are accepted as attributable to or aggravated by military service as determined by the competent medical authorities. Disease contracted because of continued exposure to a hostile work environment, subject to extreme weather conditions or occupational hazards resulting in death or disability would be examples. Category `C’ Death or disability due to accidents in the performance of duties such as : (i) accidents while travelling on duty in government vehicles or public/private

transport (ii) accidents during air journeys (iii) mishaps at sea while on duty (iv) electrocution while on duty etc. (v) accidents during participation in organised sports events/adventure

activities/expeditions/training. Category `D’ Death or disability due to acts of violence/attack by terrorists, anti-social elements, etc. whether on duty other than operational duty or even when not on duty. Bomb blasts in public places or transport, indiscriminate shooting incidents in public, etc. would be covered under this category, besides death/disability occurring while employed in the aid of civil power in dealing with natural calamities.

Category `E’ Death or disability arising as a result of (a) enemy action in International war, (b) action during deployment with a peace keeping mission abroad, (c) border skirmishes, (d) during laying or clearance of mines including enemy mines as also minesweeping operations, (e) on account of accidental explosions of mines while laying operationally oriented mine-field or lifting negotiating mine-field laid by enemy or own forces in operational areas near international border or the line of control, (f) war like situations including cases which are attributable to/aggravated by : (I) extremists acts, exploding mines etc. while on way to an operational area, (ii) battle inoculation training exercises or demonstration with live ammunition, (iii) kidnapping by extremist while on operational duty, (g) an act of violence/attack by extremist, anti-social elements etc. while on operational duty, (h) action against extremists, anti-social elements, etc. Death/disability while employed in the aid of civil power in quelling agitation, riots or revolt by demonstrators will be covered under this category, (i) operations specially notified by the government from time to time. Pensionary Benefits admissible in cases of invalidment retirement on accounts of injuries sustained in war or war like situations : Eligibility: Personnel who sustain injuries in war or war like operations/counter/insurgency operations, etc. are entitled to War Injury Pension. In cases of disablement on account of war injuries, the Armed Forces personnel are eligible to receive the pensionary benefits as under :- (A) Invalidment on account of war injury : (i) War Injury Pension consisting of service element and war injury element as under :- Service Element - Equal to retiring/service pension to which the individual would have been entitled on the basis of his/her pay on the date of invalidment but counting service upto the date on which he/she would have retired in that rank in the normal course including weightage as admissible. There is no condition of minimum qualifying service for earning this element. War Injury Element - Equal to reckonable emoluments last drawn for 100% disablement. However, in no case the aggregate of service element and war injury element is to exceed last pay drawn. For lower percentage, war injury element is proportionately reduced.

With effect from 1.1.1996 the extent of disability or functional incapacity is determined as under the for the purpose of computing war injury element in the case of invalidment : Disability less than 50% 50% Disability between 50% and 75% 75% Disability between 76% and 100% 100% Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) - Rs.600/- per month for 100% disablement on the recommendations of the Medical Board. (B) In cases of retention in service despite war injury and subsequent retirement Armed Forces personnel who are retained in service despite disability have an option either to (a) draw lumpsum compensation in lieu of war injury element foregoing war injury element at the time of subsequent retirement/discharge or (b) to draw war injury element at the time of retirement in addition to retiring/service pension admissible on retirement/discharge. Those who opt for lumpsum compensation are eligible to pensionary benefits as under : (i) Service/Retiring Pension (ii) Lumpsum compensation in lieu of war injury element for disablement of 20% or more for life, at the following rates (in cases arising on or after 1.1.96) :- Category Rates for 100% disability to be reduced

proportionately for lower percentage Commissioned Officers Rs.5200/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs.3800/- per month Other Ranks Rs.3100/- per month Once the compensation for war injury element has been paid, there is no further entitlement on account of such a disability at the time of retirement/discharge. Those who opt for war injury element on subsequent retirement are eligible to receive war injury element on monthly basis at the rates mentioned above. No war injury element is payable for disability less than 20%.

(iii) Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) - Rs.600/- per month for 100% disablement on the recommendations of the Medical Board. W.e.f. 1.1.96, Armed Forces personnel sustaining disability due to acts of violence/attack by terrorists, anti-social elements, bomb blasts in public places or transport, indiscriminate shooting incidents etc. are entitled to the same pensionary benefits (i.e. service element and retirement gratuity) as admissible to war injury cases on invalidment/retirement/discharge including lumpsum compensation in lieu of disability, as mentioned above except that on invalidment they would be entitled to disability instead of war injury element. Benefits in cases of retirement/invalidment with disability attributable to/aggravated by military service (Non-battle casualty cases) Eligibility conditions : The disability pension is admissible subject to the condition that the disability on account of which the Armed Forces Personnel is invalided out is accepted as having occurred/aggravated by conditions of military service. A. In case of invalidment on account of disability attributable to or aggravated by

military service, the individual is entitled to the pensionary benefits as under : (i) Normal Retiring/Service Pension - For the length of service actually rendered plus the full weightage appropriate to the rank held at the time of invalidment. There is no condition of minimum qualifying service having been rendered for earning this element of pension, if otherwise due. (ii) Disability element - at the following rates (for 100% disability to be reduced proportionately for lower percentage) :- Commissioned Officers Rs.2600/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs.1900/- per month Other Ranks Rs.1550/- per month Where permanent disability is not less than 60%, the disability pension (total of service element plus disability element) is not to be less than 60% of reckonable emoluments last drawn. (ii) With effect from 1.1.1996 the extent of disability or functional incapacity is determinable as under for the purpose of computing the disability element in cases of invalidment : Disability less than 50% 50% Disability between 50% and 75% 75% Disability between 76% and 100% 100%

(iv) Constant Attendance Allowance - Rs.600/- p.m. on the recommendations of the medical board. B Where an Armed Forces personnel is retained in service despite disability and retires/discharged on attaining the age of retirement or on completion of tenure, w.e.f. 1.1.96, he/she is entitled to receive the following pensionary benefits : (i) Retiring/service pension - to be calculated at 50% of the average reckonable emoluments. The benefits of added years of service (weightage) which ranges from 9 years for Captain and below to 3 years for General is also given for calculating qualifying service. PBORs are given the benefit of 5 added years of service for determining qualifying service. (ii) Disability element - At the following rates effective from 1.1.96 (for 100% disability to be reduced proportionately for lesser degree of disability upto 20%) : Commissioned Officers Rs.2600/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs.1900/- per month Other Ranks Rs.1550/- per month Disability element is payable for disability actually assessed/accepted. No disability element is payable for disability less than 20%. (C) Lumpsum compensation in lieu of disability element Where an individual is found to have a disability which is accepted at 20% or more for life but the individual is retained in service despite disability, he is paid a lumpsum compensation in lieu of disability element equal to the capitalised value of disability element on the basis of disability actually assessed (and not the disability computable in cases of invalidment). The rates of disability element for calculating capitalised value in cases arising on or after 1.1.96 are as under : Commissioned Officers Rs.2600/- per month JCOs & equivalents Rs.1900/- per month Other Ranks Rs.1550/- per month

Once such compensation has been paid in lieu of disability element, there is no further entitlement on this count at the time of retirement.

Benefits in the event of invalidment of on account of disability neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service (Invalid Pension)

(i) Eligibility conditions - Invalid Pension is admissible where an individual is invalided out of Military service with a disability neither attributable to nor aggravated by Military service, if the service actually rendered is 10 years or more. Invalid gratuity is paid when the service rendered is less than 10 years. (ii) Rates Invalid Pension - Amount equal to the service element of disability pension that would have been admissible in case the causes were attributable to or aggravated by military service. Invalid Gratuity - Half a month’s reckonable emoluments for each six monthly period of qualifying service.

MINUTES OF THE TENTH SITTING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (1998-99)

The Committee sat on Thursday, the 15th October 1998 from 1100 hrs. to 1415 hrs. for examination of the subject `Welfare of Ex-Servicemen’. PRESENT

Sqn. Ldr. Kamal Chaudhry - Chairman MEMBERS LOK SABHA 2. Shri Shanta Kumar 3. Shri Suresh Chandel 4. Shri Dada Baburao Paranjpe 5. Shri Sohanveer Singh 6. Shri Arvind Tulshiram Kamble 7. Col. Sona Ram Choudhary 8. Shri A. Venkatesh Naik 9. Shri Hannan Mollah 10. Shri S. Ajayakumar 11. Shri Pradeep Kumar Yadav 12. Smt. Reena Chaudhary 13. Shri V. Sathiamoorthy 14. Shri Ramachandran N. Gingee 15. Dr. Subramanian Swamy RAJYA SABHA 16. Shri V. Kishore Chandra S. Deo 17. Shri K.R. Malkani 18. Shri A. Vijaya Raghavan 19. Shri Ish Dutt Yadav 20. Dr. Raja Ramanna 21. Shri S. Sivasubramanian SECRETARIAT

1. Shri Joginder Singh - Joint Secretary 2. Shri R. Kothandaraman - Deputy Secretary 3. Shri K.D. Muley - Assistant Director

Representatives of Confederation of Ex-Servicemen Associations 1. Air Chief Marshal S.K. Kaul, PVSM, MVC (Retd.) - President 2. Air Marshal D.S. Sabhikhi, AVSM (Retd.) - Member 3. Air Marshal Kuldip Rai, AVSM (Retd.) - Member 4. Air Vice Marshal S.S. Malhotra, AVSM, VM (Retd.) - Member 5. Gp. Capt. O.P. Sharma - Member Secy. 6. Lt. Gen.M.M. Lakhera (Retd.) - Member 7. Maj. Gen. M.P.S. Mann (Retd.) - Member 8. Maj. Gen. Bikram Singh (Retd.) - Member 9. Maj. Gen. S.C. Suri (Retd.) - Member 10. Brigadier S.P. Sibal (Retd.) - Member 11. Major Vijay Kumar (Retd.) - Member 12. Major V.B. Bahl (Retd.) - Member 13. Vice Adm. S. Chand (Retd.) - Member 14. Vice Adm. R.B. Suri (Retd.) - Member 15. Mrs. Prem Dewan W/o Late Lt. Col. R.K. Dewan - Member 16. Mr. H.C. Gandhi - Member Representatives of National Ex-Servicemen Co-ordination Committee

17. Shri H.S. Issar - Secretary General Representatives of All India Ex-Services Welfare Association 18. Lt. Col. Indrajit Singh (Retd.) - Chairman 2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the representatives of the Confederation of Ex-Services Association, National Ex-Servicemen Co-ordination Committee and All India Ex-Services Welfare Association to the sitting of the Committee and invited their attention to the provisions contained in Directions 55 and 58 of the Directions by the Speaker, Lok Sabha. 3. The representatives of the above Associations briefed the Committee on the various problems being faced by the Ex-Servicemen with the help of visual aids.

4. As a decision on the matter relating to the calling of Vice-Chiefs of the three Services for evidence on the subject matter was pending with the Hon’ble Speaker, the Committee decided to postpone the sitting fixed at 1500 hrs. on that day for hearing the Vice-Chiefs of three Services. The Committee also decided to postpone the sitting fixed on 16th October, 1998. 5. A verbatim record of the evidence was kept.

(The witnesses then withdrew.)

The Committee then adjourned.

MINUTES OF THE SIXTH SITTING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (2003) The Committee sat on Monday, the 28 April 2003 from 1500 hrs. to 1615 hrs. in Committee Room `D’, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.

PRESENT Shri Madan Lal Khurana - Chairman

MEMBERS LOK SABHA

2. Shri S. Bangarappa 3. Col. (Retd.) Sona Ram Choudhary 4. Shri K.P. Singh Deo 5. Shri Chandrakant Khaire 6. Shri Shivraj V. Patil 7. Shri E. Ponnuswamy 8. Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy 9. Dr. Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil 10. Shri Tejveer Singh 11. Dr. Jaswant Singh Yadav RAJYA SABHA 12. Shri Parmeshwar Kumar Agarwalla 13. Gen. (Retd.) Shankar Roy Chowdhury 14. Shri B.S. Gnandesikan 15. Shri Vedprakash P. Goyal 16. Shri Suresh Kalmadi 17. Dr. Vijay Mallya 18. Dr. Akhtar Hasan Rizvi

SECRETARIAT 1. Shri P.D.T. Achary - Additional Secretary 2. Shri Krishan Lal - Director 3. Shri A.K. Singh - Deputy Secretary 4. Shri K.D. Muley - Under Secretary

REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL INDIA EX-SERVICES WELFARE ASSOCIATION

1. Lt.Col. (Retd.) Inderjit Singh - Chairman 2. Capt. Samey Singh - Vice Chairman 3. Sub Daya Nand - Secretary General 4. Brig. Bhagwan Singh - General Secretary 5. Capt. Udai Ji Rao Nikam - General Secretary 6. Hav. Om Prakash - Office Secretary

2. At the outset, the Chairman welcomed Lt.Col.(Retd.) Inderjit Singh, Chairman of All India Ex-Services Welfare Association and his colleagues to the sitting of the Committee and invited them to give their considered views on the `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’ which has been specifically chosen as a subject for detailed discussion by the Committee and give a report thereon.

The representatives of the Association presented their views on the subject. 3. A verbatim record of the proceedings was kept.

The Committee then adjourned.

…….

MINUTES OF THE SEVENTH SITTING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (2003) The Committee sat on Wednesday, the 30 April 2003 from 1500 hrs. to 1740 hrs. in Committee Room `D’, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.

PRESENT Shri Madan Lal Khurana - Chairman

MEMBERS LOK SABHA

2. Shri S. K. Bwiswmuthiary 3. Col. (Retd.) Sona Ram Choudhary 4. Shri K.P. Singh Deo 5. Shri Chandrakant Khaire 6. Shri P.R. Kyndiah 7. Prof. Rasa Singh Rawat 8. Dr. Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil 9. Dr. Jaswant Singh Yadav

RAJYA SABHA 10. Shri R.K. Anand 11. Shri Nilotpal Basu 12. Gen.(Retd.) Shankar Roy Chowdhury 13. Smt. N.P. Durga 14. Shri Vedprakash P. Goyal 15. Shri Suresh Kalmadi 16. Dr. Vijay Mallya 17. Dr. Raja Ramanna 18. Shri Birabhadra Singh

SECRETARIAT 1. Shri P.D.T. Achary - Additional Secretary 2. Shri N.K. Sapra - Joint Secretary 3. Shri Krishan Lal - Director 4. Shri A.K. Singh - Deputy Secretary 5. Shri K.D. Muley - Under Secretary

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE 1. Shri Subir Dutta - Defence Secretary 2. Shri Biswajit Banerjee - Secretary (Defence Finance) 3. Lt.Gen. S. Choudhry - AVSM, VSM - VCOAS 4. Ms. Somi Tandon - Additional Secretary (T) 5. Shri Pratyush Sinha - Additional Secretary (S) 6. Shri G.C. Bhandari - CGDA 7. Lt.Gen. B.S. Takhar - VSM - DGMO 8. Lt. Gen. B.N. Shahi - DGAFMS 9. Lt.Gen. V.K. Dua - DG (C&W) 10. Vice Adm. V. Bharathan - AVSM, VSM, CPS 11. Shri Arvind Joshi - Joint Secretary (G/Air) 12. Shri Alok Ranjan - Joint Secretary (O/N) 13. Shri Gautam Chatterjee - Joint Secretary (E) 14. Maj.Gen. V.S. Budhwar - DG (Resettlement) 15. Maj.Gen. Man Mohan Singh - ADG (PS) 16. Cmde. Baldev Bhasin - CMDE 2. The Chairman welcomed the Defence Secretary and his colleagues to the sitting of the Committee and invited their attention to the Directions 55 and 58 of the Directions by the Speaker, Lok Sabha.

3. At the outset, Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) made a presentation on some disputed peaks in Kargil region of Jammu and Kashmir for the information of the members of the Committee. The Representatives of the Ministry of Defence thereafter briefed the Committee on the subject `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. 4. Some members of the Committee put forth certain questions to the representatives of the Ministry of Defence, who in turn responded to them. 5. The acting Chairman (Shri K.P. Singh Deo) directed the Defence Secretary to furnish in writing n replies to the points which are not readily available raised by the Hon’ble Members to the Secretariat within a month. 6. A verbatim record of the proceedings was kept.

(The witnesses then withdrew). The Committee then adjourned.

……

MINUTES OF THE EIGHTH SITTING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (2003) The Committee sat on Friday, the 4 July 2003 from 1500 hrs. to 1700 hrs. in Committee Room `B’, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.

PRESENT Shri Madan Lal Khurana - Chairman

MEMBERS LOK SABHA

2. Col. (Retd.) Sona Ram Choudhary 3. Shri K.P. Singh Deo 4. Shri Raghuveer Singh Kaushal 5. Shri Akbor Ali Khandoker 6. Shri P.R. Kyndiah 7. Shri Shivraj V. Patil 8. Shri Nikhilananda Sar 9. Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh 10. Shri Manoj Sinha 11. Dr. Jaswant Singh Yadav

RAJYA SABHA 12. Dr. Farooq Abdullah 13. Gen.(Retd.) Shankar Roy Chowdhury 14. Shri Eduardo Faleiro 15. Shri Vedprakash P. Goyal 16. Shri Suresh Kalmadi 17. Shri Birabhadra Singh

SECRETARIAT 1. Shri P.D.T. Achary - Additional Secretary 2. Shri N.K. Sapra - Joint Secretary 3. Shri Krishan Lal - Director 4. Shri A.K. Singh - Deputy Secretary 5. Shri K.D. Muley - Under Secretary

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

1. Shri Biswajit Banerjee - Secretary (Defence Finance) 2. Ms. Somi Tandon - Addl. Secretary (T) 3. Shri Alok Ranjan - JS (O/N) 4. Shri P.K. Rastogi - JS (T) & CAO 5. Shri Gautam Chatterjee - JS(E) 6. Shri P.K. Anand - JS(ESW) 7. Lt.Gen. V.K. Dua - DG DC&W 8. Lt. Gen. B.N. Shahi - DGAFMS 9. Vice Adml. Venkat Bharathan - CPS 10. Air Mshl. R.C. Mahadik - AOA/ Air HQ 11. Shri G. C. Bhandari - CGDA 12. Maj. Gen. V. S. Budhwar - DG (Resettlement) 2. The Chairman welcomed the Secretary (Defence Finance), Additional Secretary (T) and their colleagues to the sitting of the Committee and invited their attention to the Directions 55 and 58 of the Directions by the Speaker, Lok Sabha.

3. The representatives of the Ministry of Defence thereafter briefed the Committee on the subject, `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. 4. Some members of the Committee raised certain questions which were replied to by the representatives of the Ministry of Defence. 5. A verbatim record of the proceedings was kept.

(The witnesses then withdrew). The Committee then adjourned.

……

MINUTES OF THE NINTH SITTING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (2003) The Committee sat on Wednesday, the 13 August 2003 from 1330 hrs. to 1510 hrs. in Committee Room No. 139, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.

PRESENT Shri Madan Lal Khurana - Chairman

MEMBERS LOK SABHA

2. Shri S.K. Bwiswmuthiary 3. Col. (Retd.) Sona Ram Choudhary 4. Shri K.P. Singh Deo 5. Shri Raghuveer Singh Kaushal 6. Shri Chandrakant Khaire 7. Shri Akbor Ali Khandoker 8. Shri Hannan Mollah 9. Shri Shivraj V. Patil 10. Shri Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi 11. Prof. Rasa Singh Rawat 12. Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy 13. Dr. Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil 14. Shri Manoj Sinha 15. Dr. Jaswant Singh Yadav RAJYA SABHA 16. Shri R.K. Anand 17. Gen. (Retd.) Shankar Roy Chowdhury 18. Shri Eduardo Faleiro 19. Shri B.S. Gnandesikan 20. Shri Vedprakash P. Goyal 21. Shri Suresh Kalmadi 22. Shri Birabhadra Singh 23. Shri Ekanath K. Thakur

SECRETARIAT

1. Shri N.K. Sapra - Joint Secretary 2. Shri A.K. Singh - Deputy Secretary 3. Shri K.D. Muley - Under Secretary

* * * At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the Members to the sitting of the Standing

Committee on Defence for considering the draft twentieth Report on the subject titled, `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. . The Committee considered the draft twentieth Report on the subject titled, `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. The Chairman invited Members to offer their suggestions for incorporation in the Draft Report. The Members suggested certain additions/modifications/amendments and desired that those be suitably incorporated in the body of the Report. The consideration of the draft report, however, remained inconclusive and another sitting was fixed for 14 August 2003 to finalise the report. ** ** ** ** ** **

The Committee then adjourned. ………

MINUTES OF THE TENTH SITTING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DEFENCE (2003) The Committee sat on Thursday, the 14 August 2003 from 1430 hrs. to 1620 hrs. in Committee Room `D’, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi.

PRESENT Shri Madan Lal Khurana - Chairman

MEMBERS LOK SABHA

2. Col. (Retd.) Sona Ram Choudhary 3. Shri K.P. Singh Deo 4. Shri Akbor Ali Khandoker 5. Shri Hannan Mollah 6. Shri Shivraj V. Patil 7. Prof. Rasa Singh Rawat 8. Shri A.P. Jithender Reddy 9. Dr. Col. (Retd.) Dhani Ram Shandil 10. Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh 11. Shri Tejveer Singh 12. Shri Manoj Sinha 13. Dr. Jaswant Singh Yadav RAJYA SABHA 14. Gen.(Retd.) Shankar Roy Chowdhury 15. Shri B.S. Gnandesikan 16. Shri Vedprakash P. Goyal 17. Shri Ekanath K. Thakur

SECRETARIAT

1. Shri N.K. Sapra - Joint Secretary 2. Shri A.K. Singh - Deputy Secretary 3. Shri K.D. Muley - Under Secretary

At the outset, the Chairman welcomed the Members to the sitting of the Standing

Committee on Defence to further consider the draft twentieth Report on the subject titled, `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. . The Committee then took up for consideration the remaining the part of the draft twentieth Report on the subject titled, `Welfare of Servicemen and Ex-Servicemen’. The Chairman invited Members to offer their suggestions for incorporation in the Draft Report. The Members suggested certain additions/modifications/amendments and desired that those be suitably incorporated in the body of the Report. The draft Report with some modifications was then adopted. The Committee authorised the Chairman to finalise the Report in the light of verbal and consequential changes for presentation of the Report to Parliament.

The Committee then adjourned. ………