Sunday, January 20, 2013

(H)armed Forces taken for a Ride Again?


Taken For A Ride Again

The much heralded announcement from the Ramparts of the Red Fort has crystallized into a ‘throwing of crumb’ to the already besieged officers of the armed forces. The latest letter issued on 17 Jan 2013 by the MoD on revision of pension and family pension is far from what it should have been.

1.       The anomaly which was created by the babudom on 6 CPC recommendations has been corrected to read as ‘Minimum of the pay in the pay band’ rather than minimum of pay band. This has stretched out the pension of officers from the rank of Lt Col to Maj Gen which had got clubbed in a narrow band. Sure relief for the tattooed rank based structure.

2.       It has resulted in a loss of pension arrears from 01/01/2006 as the revision has been made applicable from 24 Sept 2012. It ‘Defeats’ all logic. An anomaly created by the MoD and rectified by them deserves to be made applicable from 01/01/2006. Sure shot case in the making for the courts for an arbritary cut off date.

3.       Issue of letter displays short sightedness at the highest levels of the Govt machinery. Refixation of pay on account of deduction of Rank pay from the IV CPC through V and VI CPC should have been taken into account as the minimum of pay for each rank from Captain to Brigadier is set to change upon restoration of deducted rank pay. Corresponding Grade pay would also change for Lt Col / Col/Brig. So therefore the pension and family pension would also change based on the increased minimum of pay in the pay band.

4.       No cognizance has been taken of the anomaly created by AVS I report. A Lt Col (Select/TS) who was in service as on 16 Dec 2004 and had put in 26 yrs of service got upgraded to Col TS with pay and pension benefits but an officer who retired prior to that date was denied the pay and pension of Col TS. Again beats all logic. Rightfully the benefit of pension of Col TS should have been extended to all Lt Cols (Select/TS) who retired with 26 yrs of service. A Supreme Court Judgment reads as ‘ What is discriminatory is introduction of a benefit retrospectively or prospectively by fixing a cut off date arbitrarily thereby dividing a single homogeneous class of pensioners into two groups and subjecting them to different treatment’

5.       The worst sufferers have been officers in the rank of Major. An officer became a Major in 13 yrs at III CPC which got reduced to 11 yrs at IV CPC and 10 yrs at V CPC. AVS I report further reduced the qualifying service to 6 yrs for Major and made 13 yrs for substantive Lt Col wef Dec 2004. 6 CPC put Major in pay band 3 and Lt Col in pay band 4, thereby drastically reducing the pay and pension of Major to Rs 18205/- for 25 yrs service as per letter of 17 Jan 2013.

This BIG ANOMALY of pension of Major needs to be corrected. As a one time measure all pre 2006 Majors who have put in 20 yrs of service should be given the benefit of pension of Lt Col ie Rs 26265/- plus DA thereon.

Alternately on refixation of pay of Major due to IV CPC rank pay; as Major then in 1986 was equated with NFSG civilian officer; Major should be fixed in pay band IV with Grade pay of Rs7600/- at 6 CPC so that correct Pensionary benefit is given.

6.       It is not intended to secure anything extra for the (h)armed forces officers but what has become legitimately due as a result of self created anomalies. Corridors of power must take appropriate actions to resolve the anomalies earliest rather than issuing letters in haste to show achievement rather than attaining satisfaction levels of the pensioners.   

 

 

 

29 comments:

Col MS Raju said...

Dear All,

It is all manipulations with cleverness and smartness. Whatever the Govt is done today it is all manipulations with cleverness. Let our AF officers also function in the same way with cleverness and smartness then what happens. Just ask babudom if we AF officers also function like you, then what will be the repercussions. We know the repercussions but not the babudom. Just ask babudom if it happens what will happen. While keeping ourselves alive let us ask them why cant we function in the way they are functioning. Hope you understood my mind what I said here. In all circumstances we do our duty, give our lives, but we are still able to set right our own home. Let us keep doing our duty with our intelligence, diligence, honesty and let us not get into manipulations the way the others are doing in our administration.

sl said...

Now that the Govt letter and the PCDA circular have been issued, it ought to be simpler for all affected to quantify the disparities and list the anomalies so that some clear ideas can emerge, with the guidance of the RDOA team, as to what manner of remedies are feasible.

I had also mentioned this on the Harmed Forces Blog.

WG.CDR.V.SUNDARESAN(RETD) said...

Dear all,
seasons greetings.
Now it is becoming increasingly clear that THERE IS A OLYMPIC TYPE OF RACE BETWEEN TWO SETS OF BABUDOM ie ONE THE MOD/CDA GROUP ANOTHER ONE BY THE MOST POWERFUL GROUP ie PMO/COS .
THE RACE IS
"WHO WILL INSULT/CONFUSE/HUMILIATE AFs MAXIMUM?
now i think the babus in the COS/PMO are leading the race.

However, in their hurry to win this race, they have utterly disregarded all the norms, ie, SC's orders, fixation @1986,1996,2006 etc and also the other important and urgently required factors. HOW THE FIGS ARRIVED AT ALSO REMAIN A deep MYSTERY
To be one up, they even sent this letter to all banks also for disbursement of NEW PENSION!!!!!!!! BY THIS MONTH ITSELF.
You never know, by the time you read this letter, your bank might have credited this amount also????
V.Sundaresan

Vijeesh said...

I fail to understand why RDOA is trying for 20 years service limit for Majors to get lt col pension instead of fighting for A V Singh committee time limit for all Majors.This is with ref to para 5 above.
Major Rajagopalan

Anonymous said...

Extracts of Addl Affidavit filed by UoI/MoD as part of IA 9 to TP (C) 56 of 2007

Paragraph 30. In these circumstances it is most respectfully submitted that Government of India is fully concerned with the grievances of the armed forces personnel however the order dated 8-3-2010 passed by this Hon’ble Court if implemented would lead to the following practical difficulties:

(a) In the present matter, implementing the Hon’ble Court order dated 8-3-2010 would mean re-fixation of pay of not only the officers entitled to Rank Pay, but pay scales of other personnel above and below such officers would have to be revised w.e.f. 1.1.1986 firstly, and then from 1.1.1996 and 1.1.2006, i.e. at the time of subsequent pay revisions. Similar process would be carried out for revision of pension of the retired personnel. Any changes at one place will inevitably have impact on horizontal and vertical parities thereby changing the overall pay structure by the 4th CPC.

(b) Grant of this unintended benefit would place a heavy burden on exchequer. Para 9 and 10 of the Report (emphasis by deponent) of the High Powered Committee constituted to assess the financial impact is reproduced below for ready reference: -

“9. Apart from the enormous financial implications, actual implementation of the Hon’ble Court’s order would involve the following stages: -

 Revision of pay of officers on 1.1.1986, 1.1.1996 and 1.1.2006 with simultaneous revision of all pay linked allowances/benefits. Enormous efforts are required to extract data from all backed up resources, including information relating to promotion, annual increment, stagnation increment, details of forfeiture, admissibility, discontinuation of relevant allowances, calculation of Income tax and apportioning the same over the years;

 Calculation of DA on slab basis from 1.1.1986 to 31.12.1995 is time consuming;

 Revision of retirement benefits (gratuity, leave encashment) of officers retiring after 1.1.1986;

 Revision of pension on 1.1.1986, 1.1.1996 and 1.1.2006;

 In several cases, family pensions would have to be revised on the basis of revised pay/pension of the officer;

 In some cases, payments may have to be made to legal heirs of the deceased retired officers; and

 Interest at the rate of 6% per annum for upto 24 years in each case will have to be calculated and paid.

This would be a protracted exercise taking a lot of time and involving huge manpower as each case will have to be examined/calculated individually.

10. Financial implications of around 1623.71 crores arising out of implementation of the Hon’ble Supreme Court order dated 8-3-2010 would create a substantial impact on the public exchequer. This impact in only one time. In addition, it would also lead to enhanced recurring expenditure from Consolidated Fund of India. It would further nullify the recommendation of the Pay Commission as well as the decision of the Government thereon. The Committee, therefore, is of the view that the financial implications and above facts and in the present matter may be submitted to the Hon’ble Supreme Court for considerations.”

Anonymous said...

@Wg Cdr Sundaresan, Now the Dte of Air Veterans has asked for details+ PAN card copy+ pre-receipt + cancelled cheque for arrears in pension and gratuity.
Earlier AFCAO asked for copies of PPOs, Pan card, etc for payment of arrears of pay and difference in leave encashment.

How is it no one has mentioned if an application under Sec 4 of the RTI Act 2005 has been sent?

corona8 said...

@Satyam Never Jayate:"...Dte of Air Veterans..."; Bureaucratism is contagious, especially amongst those who sit in their chairs and twiddle thumbs all day long in order to realize some hidden ambition to emulate the bureaucrats they secretly envy.

So, with these kind of bodies, one can always expect, "Send in triplicate the data we and our staff are too lazy to pick up from the Office next door!" {Or else!}

With friends like those, who needs enemies?

Anonymous said...

@corona8,

that is what AVSC 1 & 2 have done - just like the 2k DGPs and their portfolios!

corona8 said...

@Satyam Never Jayates: :-)
Some of those portfolios can get their aft sections off the dumb-bells and collect data instead of building empires. Why blame AVS-I or II? AVS will be just dandy if, as RDOA say, there's room for shooting out some legal notices and collecting more dues.

good samaritan said...

The number of Major and equivalent retired with 20 years of service before 2006 would be miniscule. Hence justice should be done to them.

sqn ldr Selvaraj(retd)

corona8 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
corona8 said...

@good samaritan: "..before 2006 would be miniscule.."; And justice should not be done if the number is not miniscule.
Wow!
With logic like that floating around, no wonder our lot is not a happy one.

lt col sp sharma said...

Sir,
Our friends in the civilian dress feels that:-
"I am in the helm of affairs. I formulate the rules. I decide about every one in the country including u AF people. I rule the nation with political masters in the front. hence I am ur master. I am ur God. U went aginst me in the court, least realising people in court r my counterparts. U went to political masters, their words are mine n ultimatly it is only that happens what i wish to happen n when i do it, i do it in my own way.
So U go any where. u do what ever u feel like including returning ur medles. nothing will happen except what i desired to happen. after all I having entered the civil service, i am lisenced to rule including u."
This is the clear message given time n again in different forums n situations. i would like to know what our RDOA can do to atleast uphold our dignity n remove us from the financial loss caused through 4 n 5 cpc rank pay deduction from our entitlement. most of our brothers have left the earth un anticipation of justice. to day there is no one to bring us the justice. we lost ur youth in love for the mother land. the country is not bothered about us. even the court order is dishonoured by interpreting the order in their own way. because they know no one can harm them because that licence to harm is their patent right.
Regards. may god bless them all and enlighten them to raise above personal prejudice n hateredness.

lt col sp sharma said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ppp@123 said...

what is rdoa doing on all these aspects of disparity?
ppp@123

Anonymous said...

RTI Act 2005, Section 4 (1)(b) is designed to ensure that public authorities disclose certain information which are important to the public voluntarily at every level of operation. It is to be noted that, if implemented properly, Section 4(1) (b) will reduce the workload of officials and public authorities with regard to the requirement of providing information on request. This is because the information which is regularly needed by the public can be accessed by them without the need of going through a process of making specific request.

You may apply on plain A4 sheet, attach a IPO of Rs 10/- and send to the Under-Secretary-CPIO (Pay/Services), Ministry of Defence, Sena Bhawan, New Delhi - 110011.

Best of luck.

Unknown said...

When there is a significant change in basic pay of an officer (Capt to Brig), by way of his rank-pay forming an integral part of it (for all practical purposes), then only a malicious mind will presume that a corresponding higher pay-scale need not be granted to that officer consequently. This is specially so in view of corresponding subsequent cascading effects of IV, V & VI CPCs.

In fact this basic ‘wisdom’, does exist at all levels, as can be seen from their affidavit (before Honb’ble SC) submitted by MOD by incorporating in it the words that “…pay scales of other personnel above and below such officers would have to be revised wef 1.1.86 firstly, and then from 1.1.196 and 1.1.2006…” [Ref: para 30(a) of the affidavit].

Any subsequent change of mind, if any, in this regard at this stage will clearly depict its malicious intentions in addition to forming an additional reason for ‘Contempt of Hon’ble SC’.

Consequently, pay-scale of almost all ranks will need a re-look to revise them upwards. The most ill-effected rank in this aspect is that of Major. It need to be placed in PB-4 to reduce the difference of emoluments to what existed ever-before from what it is now after VI-CPC.

There is a most significant recommendation of a CPC that “….Starting salary of Commissioned Officer to be kept at higher level than civilian officer....” [Ref: para 13(d) of affidavit]. This has become a most ‘inconvenient’ factor which ‘Baboodism’ cult is unable to digest. This seems to be the main reason for their biased thinking and affecting their correct decision-making abilities at this late stage.

GOD alone can save our country from such people sitting at helm & steering fate of our country which, no doubt has reached in present state of affairs. They will have to see ‘light of the day’ sooner or later. “Better late than never”.

Ranjay said...

@CL BEDi even God can't save a CUNTry like ours..........we (incl serving Generals) have to rise & speak for our fraternity, The top Boss has to speak to political boss and say enough is enough. the man at top (ie. in AF)has to start cleaning this rot

vicky said...

RDOA should now fight for ANOMALY of pension of Majors.As a one time measure all pre 2006 Majors, who have put in 13 years of service ( AV Singh committee report)should be given benefit of pension of Lt Col ie.Rs.25500 plus DA there on.

Dhoop said...

@Unknown: That is an unwarranted remark. But, instead of fuming and hurling invective, has anyone tried to access information if cases are pending in AFTs or courts for getting justice regarding all or some of these anomalies?

RDOA could offer suggestions, so efforts are consolidated as in the Rank Pay matter.

Red Indian Cowboy said...

It is to be noted…by all………

1986 – The year of …………RANK PAY, TATRA TRUCKS & BOFORS

1. RANK PAY….known to all…
2. TATRA TRUCKS -
3. BOFORS -

2. TATRA TRUCKS contacted in 1986. NDTV New Delhi With renewed focus on how the Indian Army buys its equipment, the CBI is interrogating Ravi Rishi, the chairman of Vectra, again today. A case against Mr Rishi accuses him of cheating and selling trucks at inflated prices to the Army.

Vectra is the majority stakeholder in Czech manufacturer Tatra.

Trucks are assembled by BEML in Bangalore with Tatra parts supplied by Tatra and Vectra.

The problem, according to investigators, is that although all defence equipment has to be bought directly from the manufacturer, in this case, investigators suggest, BEML was acting as a middleman between Tatra-Vectra and the Defence Ministry.

Tatra trucks have been bought by the Army since 1986.

The CBI is pursuing two different cases. One relates to the purchase of 7000 trucks.

The other looks at a new consignment of more than 700 trucks that Vectra was allegedly trying to push through.

3. BOFORS contacted on 24 March 1986.

Bofors criminal case, as investigated by the CBI, deserves emphasis.

It is laid out in legalese, but clearly enough, in the CBI's, certain public servants entered into a criminal conspiracy with W.N. Chadha, Martin Ardbo, G.P. Hinduja and others in India and abroad, and in pursuance thereof, committed offences of criminal conspiracy, bribery, criminal misconduct by public servants, cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery for the purpose of cheating and using as genuine a forged document in respect of the contract dated March 24, 1986 entered into between Government of India and M/s. AB Bofors."

Further, the charge-sheet alleges, "the accused S.K. Bhatnagar, W.N. Chadha... Ottavio Quattrocchi, Martin Ardbo, M/s. Bofors

corona8 said...

@vicky:"...all pre 2006 Majors, who have put in 13 years of service..."; I think what you are trying to say is that all pre AVS-I, ie 16 Dec 04, Maj (PC) retirees who had completed 13 years of service and had completed pensionable service, ie 20 yrs, should be given parity in terms of pension with a post AVS-I, ie 16 Dec04, Lt Col PC) retiree.

If that is what you are saying, I couldn't agree more.

Not so much with the statement the way you worded it. :-)

Anonymous said...

All well-wishers and managing committee of RDOA,

I am trying to get information from the MoD and will put it on my blog soon.

Could RDOA upload the affidavits and counter-affidavits so that we have a detailed record of IA No. 9 of 2010 and TP (C) 56 of 2007

corona8 said...

@Satyam Never jayate: "..and will put it on my blog soon..";
Do provide us with a link to your blog as we can only see your profile presently. As for me, I don't have a blog :-)

Unknown said...

The way the executives are signing the letters drafted by their babuji clearly shows that executive /Sachivs are not working with due care to avoid confusion at letter stage.The political bosses are sleeping and do not monitors the issue properly Unless they are taken to task through supreme court and by us they will not learn the lesson.

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bala said...

further to comment ....BOFORS , TETRA TRUCKS.
Yeah, now i can recall from memory of that period 1987. yes. absolutely on the dot and correct.
You see,u all can see , even without glasses/magnifying glasses-All that rank pay duly recommended by 4 th CPC and approved by GOI and published in GAZETTE of GOI and due to Armed Force officers has been channeled to BOFORS and TETRA TRUCKS.
It was all your money that has gone. look at figs:-600 pm ( average ) for 40,000 offrs,for 24 months,yr86&87 (approx)-600*40,000 * 24 =57,6000,000 . ie, 57.6 crores-mere 57 crores at that time;and those persons placed/sitting in those chairs of MOD, violated GOI resolutions and orders ,by dubious design of that famous fixation formule of +,+,+,-,int pay fixed and add rk pay.that minus (-)was the mischiff,fauxpass,cheating...etc.It is dug deep and brought to the surface after 27 years.
It was more than HIMALAYAN SIZE CHEATING IN TERMS OF BOTH QUANTUM AND QUALITY OF ADVERSE EFFECT ON national SECURITY, . IT IS A CLEAR CASE OF pay fixing,LIKE MATCH FIXING IN CRICKET.CRIMINALITY AND VIOLATIONS ARE OF VERY SERIOUS AND GRAVE NATURE.
Those who did the trick have probably received several awards and promotions .That is the supreme court judgement- inherent in that judgement.
If that 57 crores is now given after 27 years at today"s rupees ; what is the value?????1/10 th,even for that ; so much of reluctance,delay/evasion ?????After all it is your money -your legitimate pay like all others in GOI have drawn from 1986 and enjoyed.

Dhoop said...

There has been no validation or independent confirmation, but this email doing the rounds on the internet appears to convey the impression that the date anomaly has been rectified .

DS Ramakrishna said...

@ good samaritan, vicky and all similarly placed pre 06 Maj and equi pensioners and families :

This is wrt para 5 of this post regarding vast gap in pension of pre 06 Maj and Lt Col and equ. Officers with 21 yrs of Commissioned officers have already been taken care of as per the latest orders. However majority of suffering lot happens to be the in-service candidates of tri services who superannuated on putting 12- 19 yrs of commissioned service, over and above the service as PBOR.

Presently what action is in hand with RDOA, IESM and etc for addressing this most serious (fall out of VI CPC PB system and change in promotion policy post AVS I) issue is not clearly known.

Understand nothing concrete can be expected since dignitaries at the helm of affairs are not the affected party.

Presently revised amount of Rs 18205/- is nowhere near the deserving amount, and if this grave anomaly not addressed now, the gap shall keep widening in subsequent Pay Commissions, throughout the life time of pensioners and families, since promotion to Maj and equi is now 06 yrs of commissioned service.

As one time solution to this imp disparity is, we have to file fresh case through some suitable AFT, requesting the authorities for re-designating all pre 06 Retiree Maj and equi as Lt Col (Notional) for retirement and pensionary benefits only, wef 01-01-06. This would help us to receive our legitimately deserving Lt Col Pension since now all officers get this rank in 13 yrs of commissioned service.

To this effect I intend to request similarly placed officers to contact me on
" sopanrdoke16@gmail.com", to decide further course of action and move.Desired advise and legal help may be sought from Lt Cdr Avtar Singh Sir and Maj Navdeep Singh etc, who have already been part of legal battles of AFs post VI CPC award.

Thanks and regards,

Lt Cdr DS Ramakrishna (Retd)
Thane/ Mumbai, 9769976959