NEW DELHI, Nov 4: In a bid to cut the pension burden of the defence ministry, the Narendra Modi government has proposed a cut in the pension of the army personnel seeking premature retirement except on the grounds of battle injury and also extend the retirement age of the army officers.
The proposal made by the newly-created Department of Military Affairs (DMA), has caused a wave of indignation among the army circles as a letter containing the proposals was circulated in the social media.
The DMA letter dated October 29 is signed by the Deputy Defence Advisor to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who heads the department as its secretary.
The defence ministry sources have confirmed the authenticity of the letter which said a draft Government Sanction Letter (GSL) be processed for the two proposals of pension cuts and increase in retirement age for the perusal of General Rawat by November 10.
The letter proposes there were adverse comments on the move to cut pension and memes of General Rawat lampooning him for the move started circulating all over.
An advocate dealing with military affairs contended that the move will be challenged in court as terms of engagement and entitlements could not be changed summarily by DMA.
The proposals indicate that the pension for officers seeking premature retirement will be cut between 50 per cent and 75 per cent, with only those officers who complete their service till age of retirement receiving the full pension.
As per the proposal, those officers who seek retirement between 20 to 25 years of service will only get 50 per cent of their entitled pension, those retire between 26-30 years to get 60 per cent, and between 31 and 35 years to get 75 per cent of their pension while those who serve above 35 years of service would get full pension. The letter stated that there would be no change in entitlement of pension of battle casualties.
One of the reasons the department forwarded to justify its proposal for pension cut for premature retirement and extension of service period was to restrict specialists from deserting army and seeking private jobs for higher wages. “There are several specialists and super specialists who are trained for high skill jobs in the services that leave the service to work in other sectors. Such loss of high skilled manpower results in void in the services skill matrix and is counter-productive to the armed forces and which is why the pension entitlement is being reviewed,” the letter said.
The increase in retirement age (excluding Army Medical Corps and Military Nursing Service) proposes a Colonel to retire at 57 years of age as against 54 at present, Brigadier at 58 years, as against 56 at present, and Major General to retire at 59 years as against 58 at present.
Highly placed sources said that these proposals had been enunciated by General Rawat during the recently concluded Army Commanders Conference held at New Delhi. The increase in retirement age will consequently lead to the stopping of re-employment being offered to Colonels and Brigadiers after retirement.
“General Rawat had made it very clear that the increase in retirement age would come through by 2021 as it was the need of the hour. Both the measures would lead to substantial financial savings as the increase in retirement age will also lead to lesser intake of officers at cadet level.” the sources said.
The defence ministry had been for some time grappling with methods to bring down its pensions bill which at present constitutes around 28 per cent of the overall defence budget.
(Manas Dasgupta)