Opposition, Ex-Military Personnel Slam Centre's New Disability Pension

Rules

The revised rules will redefine pension and eligibility criteria for disability
pension and replace all previous entitlements. They will now fix the percentage
of disability and assess the grant of pension accordingly.

New Delhi: The new disability pension rules for retired armed forces personnel
have sparked a political row between the Union government and the opposition.
Introduced by the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) on September 21, 2023,
the new rules titled ‘Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pension and Disability
Compensation Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2023’ redefine pension and
eligibility criteria for disability pension and replace all previous entitlements.

The revised rules will now fix the percentage of disability and assess the grant
of pension accordingly. The MoD has introduced the concept of “impairment
relief”, making the previous “disability element” redundant. As a result, armed
forces personnel believe that the disability pension is likely to face a drastic
cut.

The tightening of the pension rules for armed forces has come under attack both
by the veterans and the Congress, which has likened the Union government’s
move to a display of the BJP’s “fake nationalism”.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on X (formerly Twitter), “BJP’s

Fake Nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our
brave Armed Forces ! Around 40% of Army officers retire with disability
pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements,
rules and acceptable global norms. The All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare
Association has strongly protested this new policy by the Modi Govt, which
place soldiers at a disadvantage when compared to civilian employees.”

Kharge also took the opportunity to highlight multiple other instances in which
the union government allegedly slashed employment benefits of armed forces
personnel.

“In June 2019, the Modi Govt had come out with a similar betrayal, when they
announced that they will be taxing disability pension,” he said. He added that
the Agnipath scheme, the tour-of-duty employment for soldiers, One Rank One
Pension -2, withdrawal of ‘non-functional utility (NFU) that ensured time-
bound promotion, curtailment in medical benefits, and privatisation of
Ordnance Factory Board and rationing of CSD outlets were all instances of
“fake nationalism”. He said that the Modi government was a “habitual
offender” in working against the welfare of jawans, and veterans.

However, an MoD official refuted the claim and said that the new rules were
based on recommendations made by a committee headed by a top military
officer, and that those recommendations were implemented in letter and spirit.

“Many soldiers do suffer injuries as well as undergo tremendous stress and

strain while serving in high-altitude areas or other tough operations. But it is
also a fact that the disability pension was being misused by some officers to
claim much higher pensions, with many such cases being filed just before
retirement. The new policy tightens the norms,” the official told Times of India.

Although the new rules for the first time accommodate lifestyle diseases like
hypertension and Type-2 diabetes, the impairment relief will only apply to
those who have acquired disabilities while on active duty in high altitude areas
or excessive physical exertion during the period of military service. Officer
trainees and cadets, too, have been kept out of the list of eligible beneficiaries
but will receive an ex-gratia payment.

The new recommendations were made after a CAG report in March

2023 flagged concerns about almost 36-40% of military officers who retire
every year getting disability pensions, while only 15-18% of jawans were
receiving the same. The armed forces had set up an inter-services panel chaired
by the Army’s Adjutant General.

According to Indian Express, defence pensions saw an uptick in the last five
years, rising from Rs 1.08 lakh crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1.38 lakh crore in 2023-
24, forcing the Union government to examine the matter.

However, the All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association has demanded a

repeal of the new rules in a letter to the MoD last week. Bhim Sen Sehgal,
chairperson of the ex-servicemen association, said in a statement, “The
definition of Invalidation has also been changed in a regressive manner and it
has been reiterated that there would be a requirement of ten years of service to
earn an Invalid Pension. This requirement was already abrogated for civilian
employees in January 2019.”

“The service connection of disabilities has also been altered, belying medical
science and common sense. For example, the existing rules and also the CCS
(EOP) rules for civilians, provide that all heart diseases are linked with stress
and strain of service without any preconditions attached. However, the new
rules of the MoD state that heart diseases shall only be considered as linked
with service in case the same occurs in high altitude areas,” the statement said,
pointing out that the stress and strain of military service could happen
irrespective of the area where soldiers are posted.