Thursday, March 6, 2014

Removal of Anomaly/Refixation of Pension of Majors/Lt Cols (Select/TS)


By Email: RDOA/RM/OROP/3/14 dt 07 Mar 14

To,

Shri AK Antony,
Hon’ble Raksha Mantri,
Ministry of Defence,
South Block, New Delhi-110011

 REMOVAL OF ANOMALY / RATIONALISATION IN PENSION OF MAJORS/LT COL (TS)/LT COL (SELECT) CONSEQUENT TO IMPLEMETATION OF AJAI VIKRAM SINGH REPORT ON 16 DEC 2004 AND INTRODUCTION OF OROP

 Dear Sir,

 The AVS Report was implemented on 16 Dec 2004.  Consequent to its implementation the promotion prospects of the officers of the armed forces improved considerably but left the pre 2004 retirees in the lurch. As per the report, officers are now promoted to the ranks of Captain, Major, Lt Col and Colonel by Time scale on completion of 2, 6, 13 and 26 years of commissioned service. By this yard stick minimum rank attainable is that of Colonel unless an officer decides to go on pre mature retirement.

 Those officers who were Lt Col (Select)/Lt Col (TS) and had the age advantage with them got promoted to the rank of Col (TS) with pay and pension on 16 Dec 2004. Such other officers who did not have the age factor in their favor retired in the rank of Lt Col whether Select or TS thereby losing out on pension. Rightfully the benefit of pension of Col TS should have been extended to all Lt Cols (Select/TS) who retired with 26 years of service or more.

 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’

 No action has been taken to resolve this anomaly. Another class of officers who are suffering in silence are the Majors. 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. IV CPC had recommended abolition of the promotion to the Select rank of Lt Col which was accepted by the Govt and was also pulished in the Special Army Order 1/S//87 but somehow this never got implemented for reasons best known to MoD and Service Hqs.

 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 / Lt Col Select/TS needs to be corrected. As a onetime measure it is proposed that all Majors who have put in 13 yrs commissioned service should be granted pension of Lt Col and those officers who were in the rank of Lt Col Select/TS on 16 Dec 2004 and had retired should be given pension of Col TS provided they have completed 26 yrs commissioned service. The pension tables should be drawn accordingly with datum lines at 13 yrs and 26 yrs of commissioned service.

 With the grant of OROP, the pension gaps will further increase if not resolved before implementation of OROP. It is therefore requested that the rationalization of pensions be done in the best interests of the pensioners.

 Thanking you
With regards
Lt Col Satwant Singh (Retd)
Secretary General
For RDOA

 Copy to:-

Shri Jitendra Singh
Raksha Rajya Mantri
C-1/14 Lodi Garden
New Delhi - 110 003
  For information and action please
General Bikram Singh,
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
Chief of the Army Staff &
Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee
Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Army)
South Block, New Delhi-110011
Removal of anomalies prior to implementation of OROP
Vice Admiral RK Dhowan, PVSM, AVSM,                   YSM, ADC                                       Officiating Chief of the Naval Staff
Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Navy)
South Block, New Delhi-110011
-do- 
 
 
Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha
PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC
Chief of the Air Staff
Indian Air Force
Vayu Bhawan, New Delhi 110011
Secretary Deptt of Exserviceman Welfare
Adjutant General AHQ
Veterans Cell AG’s Branch AHQ
-do-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

40 comments:

sehgal.rp@gmail.com said...

.his is very very important matter, and majors who had retired before 1₹.1.1986 with more than 13 years of service are going to very badly affected. It is high time that this issue be resolved immediately . RDOA must do something to avoid this anomaly.69

Ranjay said...

Sir, My personal opinion :
1. any one who has served as an officer, his physical service should be catered for Pension on following lines :
a. pension of capt having served for 3 Years
b. Pension of maj if served for 8 years.
c. pension of Lt Col/ Col / Brig/ Maj gen at 13/15/17/ 19 years respectively
d. pension of Lt Gen if served for 26 years
e. HAG+ at 32 years

2. This should form part of proposed OROP
3. this should take care of the issue of government rules that have affected the soldiers who have retired & also the issue of NFU.

Ranjay said...

Sir, My personal opinion :
1. any one who has served as an officer, his physical service should be catered for Pension on following lines :
a. pension of capt having served for 3 Years
b. Pension of maj if served for 8 years.
c. pension of Lt Col/ Col / Brig/ Maj gen at 13/15/17/ 19 years respectively
d. pension of Lt Gen if served for 26 years
e. HAG+ at 32 years

2. This should form part of proposed OROP
3. this should take care of the issue of government rules that have affected the soldiers who have retired & also the issue of NFU.

corona8 said...

Bravo, RDOA!

The veterans community salutes these resolute steps.

Please do consider keeping everyone affected informed as to what efforts and contributions would be required so everyone can join in.

Unknown said...

Every time Veterans are given a few deserving benefits, some one/group wants to introduce another angle.

How about those who superannuated before the liberalised promotion policy of 1979 and suffered the fate of retiring as Majors even with 28 years of service before 1.1.86 being deprived of Rank Pay?

Another group is those who are serving and recently retired deprived of NFU from date of its introduction, with adverse effect on present emoluments and future pensions respectively?

Their interests need to be included.

jdosvd said...

Thank you RDOA for taking this up NOW AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Unknown said...

Further to my comment.

I was born in 1936, and superannuated as a Sqn Ldr at age 48 in 1984 with 28 years service. Qualifying service for full pension was 33 years.

Enhanced pension tables provided to me indicate that a Sqn Ldr of 28 years service draws pension of Rs 18205; Lt Col (TS) and select with 28 years service draws pension of Rs 26265 and Col (TS) and Select draws a pension of Rs 27795.

Would you consider my case and some others like me (aged 78 years and over)to be equated to the post AVSC-2?

Lt Clo R C SHARMA said...

I am not sure.Can this be ordered to be implemented when model code of conduct is enforced ? Please clarify.

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

A good clear projection of the demand. Any sensible person(read minister/Govt) must realise the matter to the core.
Hearty congrats to RDOA for hitting the nail on the head(of whom?)
v.sundaresan

Dhoop said...

@Taaza Khabar: "...How about those who superannuated before the liberalised promotion policy of 1979...." :

I am totally in agreement with you. A pre cadre review Major with more than 26 years of service, when the Lt Col(TS) rank had not been introduced, should also be at par in terms of pension with a pre AVS-I Lt Col/LtCol(TS) retiree with more than 26 years of service i.e. both categories of retirees must have pensions at par with a Col(TS) veteran who retired after implementation of AVS-I from 16 Dec 2004.

Please read the connected logic by following the link to this old comment.

selvaraj veeraswamy said...

Sir,
A selection grade Lt Col of the past must be upgraded to the selection grade Cols pension as most veterans of Lt Cols(s) who had commanded Bn/Regt or still alive.The 26 years commissioned service should not be applied for the past Lt Cols(s) as they had faced the SB in the past.

selvaraj veeraswamy said...

Lt Col selvaraj

All selection Grade Lt Cols of pre 2006 must be placed in post 2006 Col(s)pension irrespective of length of commissioned service.

MAJOR NAZAR SINGH GILL said...

I (Membership No 1590) am thankful to Chairman and members of RDOA for taking up this matter with RM vide their letter No RDOA/RM/OROP/3/14 dt 07 Mar 2014. I have also taken up the issue with COAS vide my letter No SL 3025X/NSG/P dt 28 Sep 2013 and requested for Lt Col Pension in addition to my ranks service pension from 09 DEC 1963 to 24 Jul 1983 + Army officers pension from 25 Jul 1983 to 01 Feb 2003 due to dual pension policy for my total pension for 39 years 55 days ignoring limit of 33 years which may be for IAS/IPS officers who join at later age than ARMED FORCES ranks/officers. For my total service I am to be considetred for Lt Gen Pension for equal service equal pension as per NFU for IAS officers as they do not face Service Selection Boards for laying their life for nation/country. OROP be considered for equal service equal pension.

Maheswarar said...

Flt Lt (Retd) M Maheswaran Tirupur – 641687
E Mail:sass7mahesh@gmail.com
Mobile: 9443763694
08 Mar 2014.

Dear Sir,
Reference is made to your E mail RDOA/RM/OROP/3/dt 07 MAR 14.

The subject itself deals with only Majors and Lt Col conveniently leaving the Captains. I was commissioned (Branch Commission) as Fg Offr (automatic Ante date seniority of 2 years from Plt Offr) on 19 Jul 86. I was Promoted to the Substantive rank of Flt Lt in Jul 92 after 6 years of service. Had the policy of 2,6,13 and 26 yrs was in force then, I would have been promoted to Sqn Ldr after 6 yrs of service itself and I would not have left service on pre-mature retirement without becoming Wg Cdr. I left service Oct 94 after 33 yrs of service.
Currently the Flt Lt is paid pension of Rs.16145/- equal to that of Hon.Capt there by degrading a regular Officer. In the OROP also the case of Maj and above only discussed all the time as if the Capt rank does not exist.
The anomaly of pension of Flt Lt needs to be corrected. As an one time measure it is proposed that all Capt/Lt/Flt Lt who have put 6 years and above commissioned service should be granted pension of Maj if they are eligible for pension

Unknown said...

it appears that the requirement of 20 years service for pension eligibility has not been been factored in by some of the officers in this blog.
let us hope that the govt will take a pragmatic view and do justice to a the affected officers.
ramani

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

Dear all,
2-6-13-26 policy(OF ONLY THE COMMISSIONED SERVICE) must be taken into the matter.for pre-2006 veterans.Because, earlier one has to retire if he does'nt get the promotion within three PBs.eg. flying branch officers of iaf WERE TOLD TO BE OUT BY 48/50 AGE, if they do not get promotion(it is another question if there were no vacancies)
Gross injustice. Now A OTHER RANK COMMISSIONED OFFICER(from other ranks) can maximum serve in the commissioned service upto a maximum of say 1-2 years only as a LT.COL ;since he would have attained the superannuation age by that time.(HIS total service could be more than 33 yaers ;BUT IN THE LT.COL RANK HARDLY 1-2 YEARS.) Hence equating 1-2 years LT.COL with 26/years(ACTUAL COMMISSIONED SERVICE) of LT.COL is not justifiable.
Pl consider this aspect
v.sundaresan

sl said...

Just as people have represented on, blogged about and discussed this pre/post AVS-I anomaly, all the other anomalies must be highlighted by affected veterans and necessary action taken to correct those.

Dhoop said...

@Unkmown:"...A selection grade Lt Col of the past must be upgraded to the selection grade Cols pension..."

By your logic, a Col's pension must be upgraded to a Brig's, a Brig's to Maj Gen's and so on??

How can the parity of pensions relating to time based ranks be extended to select ranks?

Where is the guarantee that a pre 16 Dec 2004 select Lt Col would have cleared the promotion board for promotion to Col if he had continued in service?

If he had already been considered and not promoted, then where is the basis for putting him at par with a Col for pension regardless of service?

The only yardstick is the length of service for time-based promotions. If a person automatically becomes a Col at 26 years now, then that is the sole yardstick for parity of pensions for pre AVS-I retirees.

Unknown said...

On Implementation of 4 PC pay of officers of difference of seniority of 4-5 yrs were bunched and drew Same pay + Rank pay. I was a Maj of 13+ yrs, and senior to me 14 + yrs, the one junior to me 11 yrs.
We two became Lt col(Sel) and the junior remained TS. This offr and others in between were benefited in pay at this stage itself and then again by AVS.This was done very strangely by stepping up his pay and reducing ours ie on calculation of 20% Notional increase of basic pay.
I retired in 2003 as Lt Col(Sel) prior to AVS whereas he became Col(TS).I did Reemp upto 2007 as Lt Col whereas he as Col in some concurrent period as Col with higher last pay drawn.What a state of affairs!
I was surprised to see the case being pursued now to correct it.
In 1987 we had foreseen it and made a draft case of anomaly but as usual shelved it due to commitments .I can send the draft which is still available with me if I can get the address of RDAO.It may come in handy too to ask for increase of pensin of Lt Cols so that lower ranks can also be stepped up.

Unknown said...

91On Implementation of 4 PC pay of officers of difference of seniority of 4-5 yrs were bunched and drew Same pay + Rank pay. I was a Maj of 13+ yrs, and senior to me 14 + yrs, the one junior to me 11 yrs.
We two became Lt col(Sel) and the junior remained TS. This offr and others in between were benefited in pay at this stage itself and then again by AVS.This was done very strangely by stepping up his pay and reducing ours ie on calculation of 20% Notional increase of basic pay.
I retired in 2003 as Lt Col(Sel) prior to AVS whereas he became Col(TS).I did Reemp upto 2007 as Lt Col whereas he as Col in some concurrent period as Col with higher last pay drawn.What a state of affairs!
I was surprised to see the case being pursued now to correct it.
In 1987 we had foreseen it and made a draft case of anomaly but as usual shelved it due to commitments .I can send the draft which is still available with me if I can get the address of RDAO.It may come in handy too to ask for increase of pensin of Lt Cols so that lower ranks can also be stepped up.

Unknown said...

On Implementation of 4 PC pay of officers of difference of seniority of 4-5 yrs were bunched and drew Same pay + Rank pay. I was a Maj of 13+ yrs, and senior to me 14 + yrs, the one junior to me 11 yrs.
We two became Lt col(Sel) and the junior remained TS. This offr and others in between were benefited in pay at this stage itself and then again by AVS.This was done very strangely by stepping up his pay and reducing ours ie on calculation of 20% Notional increase of basic pay.
I retired in 2003 as Lt Col(Sel) prior to AVS whereas he became Col(TS).I did Reemp upto 2007 as Lt Col whereas he as Col in some concurrent period as Col with higher last pay drawn.What a state of affairs!
I was surprised to see the case being pursued now to correct it.
In 1987 we had foreseen it and made a draft case of anomaly but as usual shelved it due to commitments .I can send the draft which is still available with me if I can get the address of RDAO.It may come in handy too to ask for increase of pensin of Lt Cols so that lower ranks can also be stepped up.

Unknown said...

On Implementation of 4 PC pay of officers of difference of seniority of 4-5 yrs were bunched and drew Same pay + Rank pay. I was a Maj of 13+ yrs, and senior to me 14 + yrs, the one junior to me 11 yrs.
We two became Lt col(Sel) and the junior remained TS. This offr and others in between were benefited in pay at this stage itself and then again by AVS.This was done very strangely by stepping up his pay and reducing ours ie on calculation of 20% Notional increase of basic pay.
I retired in 2003 as Lt Col(Sel) prior to AVS whereas he became Col(TS).I did Reemp upto 2007 as Lt Col whereas he as Col in some concurrent period as Col with higher last pay drawn.What a state of affairs!
I was surprised to see the case being pursued now to correct it.
In 1987 we had foreseen it and made a draft case of anomaly but as usual shelved it due to commitments .I can send the draft which is still available with me if I can get the address of RDAO. It may come in handy too to ask for increase of pension of Lt Cols so that lower ranks can also be stepped up.

Unknown said...

On Implementation of 4 PC pay of officers of difference of seniority of 4-5 yrs were bunched and drew Same pay + Rank pay. I was a Maj of 13+ yrs, and senior to me 14 + yrs, the one junior to me 11 yrs.
We two became Lt col(Sel) and the junior remained TS. This offr and others in between were benefited in pay at this stage itself and then again by AVS.This was done very strangely by stepping up his pay and reducing ours ie on calculation of 20% Notional increase of basic pay.
I retired in 2003 as Lt Col(Sel) prior to AVS whereas he became Col(TS).I did Reemp upto 2007 as Lt Col whereas he as Col in some concurrent period as Col with higher last pay drawn.What a state of affairs!
I was surprised to see the case being pursued now to correct it.
In 1987 we had foreseen it and made a draft case of anomaly but as usual shelved it due to commitments .I can send the draft which is still available with me if I can get the address of RDAO. It may come in handy too to ask for increase of pension of Lt Cols so that lower ranks can also be stepped up.

Lt Clo R C SHARMA said...

Sydney Lobo@... It appears that we are still thinking as individuals.....I think we havee to move ahead and hold the thread where now officers promotions are fixed as 2,6,13,and 26 years to become capt,major,lt col and col(TS) all substantive promotions and the officers are paid accordingly and are still serving.our anomalies of pensions can be removed wrt the present senerio as per avs recommendations.I feel I should forget that I retd as a major after certain period but if I had carried on ............. We must try and get what is expected to be acceptable to authorities by persuing the issue as has been taken up by RDOA and move ahead systematically.

corona8 said...

@Sydney Lobo:"This offr and others in between were benefited..;
How so?

When did you become Lt Col (Select) and how much later did the Offr junior to you become Lt Col(TS)?

In the intervening period, what was the differential between his monthly emoluments and yours, or for that matter, the emoluments of his batch-mates who picked up the select ranks?

What were the appointments the select Officers got and to how many former juniors did the superseded Officer become subordinate?

Of course, you have a point about having missed the AVS-I bus, but it is not the fault of the person who later became Col(TS). Blame the sets of individuals that delayed the implementation of AVS-I recommendations.

As for the Col(TS), at least he got some recompense at the end of his career for all those years of having been superseded in a mostly ad-hoc system of promotions. One should feel glad for him.

But equalizing the pensions of pre and post AVS-I will be a big first step forward for removing the imbalances, in case such a happy outcome comes through.

Unknown said...

I think some of us are missing the the woods for the trees.It all depends on the intrepretation of the language used."one rank one pension" ls applicable to all Ranks. The criteria is "number of years of service in that particular Rank."
I think the concept of weightage of service for various ranks has been removed by the 6thPay commission.
can someone elucidate on this???.

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

I think today is the HSC hearing on the contempt case.
I WISH RDOA AND THE LEGAL TEAM ALL SUCCESS IN THE PROGRESS AND CULMINATION OF THE CASE.
PLGIVE US THE LATEST UPDATE ALSO
V.Sundaresan

kutty said...

Needless to say a detailed study of all categories of veteran officers should have been done before submitting this proposal.
I am a Lt Col(Sel)(approved in Jun 2003 but not placed due to vacancies and subsequent AVS-I in Dec 2004)having 23 years of commissioned service and 14 years of Junior commissioned service retired in Jun 2007.Had this 2-6-13-26 policy come in to force earlier, I would have retired as a Col if not Brig.There is definitely a need to fight for correcting the disparity in pension of Maj and capt in tune with Lt col/Col/Brig but how one can equate a pre 2006 Major of 13 years service with a Lt Col(Sel)of 23 years of commissioned service retd in 2007.I am sure there will be many more similarly placed officers like me.

selvaraj veeraswamy said...

Baskaran Kutty, I wish to inform a clarification sought by me from Lt Gen(Retd) S K BAHRI " Rank at the time retirement/superannuation and total years of service(Incl former service) will apply.

Dhoop said...

@Bhaskaran Kutty:"..a detailed study of all categories of veteran officers should have been done..";

I suppose they should have waited for another few years for people to provide inputs, which they probably would not have provided, considering they hadn't done it so far in spite of all the online discussions and blogging that has gone on for the last few years regarding the subject.

Now that some positive action has been taken, veterans who had not so much as raised a comment or made a representation are lining up to complain why this or that was not done.

But, in essence, I agree with you about the delay in implementation. Now you can question why a particular date was chosen and make an argument that it discriminated against you.

But the RDOA move is regarding pension parity, not what rank someone would have got if the implementation had been done 6 months, 1 year or whatever period earlier.

Unknown said...

I agree with Dhoop.It is only a question of parity on pension and not regarding individual cases lost out due to nonavailability of vacancies.However NFU for defence offrs may solve such anomalies.

Unknown said...

I agree with Dhoop.It is only a question of parity on pension and not regarding individual cases lost out due to nonavailability of vacancies.However NFU for defence offrs may solve such anomalies.

OneTopic at a time said...

@Dhoop in response @Bhaskaran Kutty,

OROP, as enunciated in the 26 Feb 14 meeting and subsequent order appears the LCF (least common factor) of the options available but the Most Feasible factor to ensure that pensions of those who retired before 1.1.06 is brought to the same level as those who retired after 1.1.06 - the common yardstick being "similar rank and similar actual years of service."

Why pre-AVSC should suffer etc was not challenged in legal fora between 2005 (date of implementation) and 2014 (date of announcement of implementation of OROP).

Veterans should accept the offer of CDM (and I hope later from the PARC) to offer solutions to prevent such "retrospective" measures as the Bagga/AVSC so that all personnel are always on the same level playing field.

One more measure could be removing the 32 years ceiling for Havildars and below and raising the ceiling to the actual years of service.

Maheswarar said...

Flt Lt(Retd) M Maheswaran
Tirupur - 641687
E Mail : sass7mahesh@gmail.com
Mobile : 9443763694
To :
Wg Cdr(Retd) V Sunderasan,
Dear Sir, Please furnish your EMail Id and Mobile No. enabling me to discuss pension related matters and get advise in this regard.
11 Mar 14 Flt Lt(Retd)M Maheswaran.

charanjit singh said...

Next date of hearing is postponed to 31st March,14.
Sqn Ldr C S Gandhi

Unknown said...

I think that whatever we write on this blog is only our opinion. we are only venting our feelings.I wonder if the mandarins of MOD even go through this.For any considered
action to be taken we have to directly address it to the authorities concerned or go through the RDOA or the Indian ExServicemen forum officially.
Anyways I think that we are all unneceserily opening the pandora box with its can of worms.
best is to wait rill the official tables are out
Ramani

kutty said...

@unknown
Thanks for the clarification and all positive comments by viewers.I think NFU is the answer for this which is deprived for armed forces.With relentless effort of RDOA,IESM etc Govt will realise this sooner than later

Unknown said...

@Ramesh Sharma and @ Corona8.I had not been able to post my comment due to some tech and later 3 posts appeared. I am not looking for my personal case at all nor pulling down several Jrs, but happy with RDOA proposal to improve the pension of Maj/ Lt Col Sel & TS. If you recollect pay of 1970 - 74 commision was bunched as one by reducing seniors and increasing juniors.It was only an input for presenting the case on merits. Details in Tabulated form has been sent to RDOA by email giving comparative service and emoluments pre & post 4 PC. Majs pension needs to be raised for which Lt Cols should be raised.

corona8 said...

Some distinction is being applied on the basis of "private" or "public domain" considerations.

To my mind the pre/post AVS-I is very much in the public domain and merits inclusion in any meaningful list on anomalies being compiled anywhere.

It's RDOA's call. http://sharad10525.blogspot.in/2014/03/a-short-list-of-anomalies.html?showComment=1395660220765&m=1#c8873257832696908435

corona8 said...

What a wonderfully inspiring post this is as a memory of the long struggle mounted by RDOA on the rank pay matter.

Strangely, some issues are still not resolved ow.ly/7vuj50CUvco