Tuesday, December 20, 2011

RS committee urges ‘one rank-one pension’ for ESM

As published by The Pioneer, Rajya Sabha Committee on petitions on Monday,19th December, 2011, urged the Government to grant ‘one rank-one pension’ for ex-servicemen and said Rs 1,300 crore needed to meet this long pending demand which is not a “very big amount for a country of our size and economy”.

In its report tabled in the Upper House, the committee said, “It is not convinced with the version of the Finance Ministry that the grant of ‘one rank-one pension’ for defence personnel would eventually generate similar requests from the civilian work force under the Central and State Governments.

“It feels so because of the quite different terms and conditions of service of the two different categories of employments. The terms and conditions of the armed forces are tougher and harsher than the civilian Government employee. There are restrictions of fundamental risks to the armed forces and their family life is also non-comparable due to transfers and dislocation.”

As regards the projected financial liability of Rs 1,300 crore, the committee noted that “out of this amount Rs 1,065 crore would go to personnel below officer rank (PBOR) while the commissioned officers would be getting Rs 235 crore”.

Keeping in view this fact that officers constitute a small proportion of the entire defence forces, the Committee said, “It strongly recommends that this may be implemented so as to keep up the morale of the services.” The ex-servicemen are agitating for ‘one rank-one pension’ for the last few years and many of them returned their gallantry medals and other citations to the President as a mark of protest.

‘One rank-one pension’ implies that uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank with same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This means bridging the gap between the rate of pension of current pensioners and the past pensioners. Click Here to read further..

Married Daughters Entitled for Dependent Certificates: HC

As per the source published in TOI on 19th of December, 2011, Punjab and Haryana high court has struck down a 'gender-biased' policy of the Haryana government which had excluded married daughters of ex-servicemen from getting dependent certificates.

"A girl is as good a child of her father as the married son. Such policies of the state would offend right of equality and amounts to discriminatory treatment to a married daughter, who is without an independent source of livelihood, by depriving her of a dependent certificate to secure a job," the HC held.

As per the existing policy, only a married dependent son of ex-serviceman, who does not have independent source of livelihood, was eligible for dependent certificate but a married daughter was not.

Rejecting the Haryana government's argument that married daughter is dependent on her husband, the bench held, "In the case of dependent married son, no condition has been imposed that his wife must not be earning."

Directing the state to amend the said policy dated October 11, 2001, the bench also observed that even Hindu Succession Act, 1956, has been amended and now the daughter of a coparcener have the same rights and liabilities in the coparcenery property as she would have had she been a son.

Following the order, now married daughter of ex-servicemen who do not have independent source of livelihood will also be eligible for dependent certificate from the Rajya Sainik Boards to get a government job.

The order was passed by a division bench of the HC comprising Justice M M Kumar and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina, while hearing a petition filed by a retired Naval personnel, Jai Narain Jakhar.

The petitioner had challenged the order of October 27, 2009 passed by the Rajya Sainik Board, Haryana rejecting his application for issuance of dependent certificate to his married daughter and directions to issue her ex-serviceman dependent certificate.

Contesting the petition, the Haryana government had taken a stand that a married daughter would be dependent on her husband and not on her father, therefore, in the policy a married daughter of the ex-serviceman has not been held entitled to the dependent certificate. Source: TOINews.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Devadiga among the veterans honoured in Moodubelle

Moodubelle: On December 16, 2011, being the 50th and 40th anniversaries of  the Wars of Liberation of Goa and Bangladesh respectively and in order to commemorate these two momentous historical events of great significance, the Lions Club of Moodubelle under the leadership of the Founder President, MJF Ln. Commodore  Jerome Castelino organized a memorial function, during which the War Memorial built by Commodore Castelino in his courtyard was inaugurated by the District Governor MJF Ln. Jayakar Shetty Indrali. Later, during the stage function held in  the Lions Seva Bhavan, Moodubelle, 34 Ex-servicemen from the Udupi District who had actively participated  in Goa Liberation War (1961) and Bangladesh War (1971) were honoured.

Ex-servicemen of Udupi district, who had actively participated in these two wars, were honoured on this occasion. They are Subedar Major Alex D’Almeida, Naib Subedar Achutha Rao, Wing Commander A S Bhojaraj, Sqn Ldr K L Baliga, Craftsman Bhaskar Kini, Commodore Jerome Castelino VSM, Sergant Chandrashekhar Suvarna, Subedar Clement D’Silva, Ldg Seaman Diwakar Devadiga, Corporal P Dinesh Naik, Corporal Desmond Fernandes, Master Warrant officer Frederick Noronha, Hon Capt Gopalkrishna Prabhu, Naik Gopal Shetty, Sepoy Henry Quadros, Havaldar Jagannath Bangera, Hon Subedar Major Kutty Shetty, Sapper Koragappa Kundar, Naib Subedar M K Kumar, Corporal H M Kamath, Corporal Monthu Adrian D’Souza, Hon Naib Subedar U Panduranga, Hon Subedar P Raghu Shetty, Gunner B Rama, Colonel B Ramachandra Rao, Subedar Robert D’Sa, Air Vice Marshal K Ramesh Karnik, Corporal B K Salian, Corporal Simon Piad D’Souza, Sergeant K P Talwar, Lt Col Victor F D’Souza, Hon Subedar Major Vittal Nayak, Aircraftsman Walter Rosario and Havaldar William Barboza.






Picture credits to: Bellevision.com (to see more pictures Click Here)
Ex-servicemen's names as published in:
Mangalorean.com (to read full story Click Here)

Ex-CPMF to be at par in Canteen Facilities

The long pending demand for Canteen facilities for about 7.5 lakh Ex-Central Para Military Force men has been approved by Government of India. As per central news released by Press Information Bureau, GOI, A Central Police Forces Canteen System (CPFCS) is being established to provide a wide range of goods to serving as well as retired personnel of the forces and their families through their unit outlets. The system is designed to take advantage of the competition in the market with a clientele of seven and a half lakh CPMF personnel and their families. The battalions would take their supplies directly from the authorized dealers/stockists of the manufacturers thereby saving on the profits of intermediaries. The system is structured to have a low operational cost and to eliminate generation of dead stocks. The CPFCS would be administered by a Common Central Administrative Committee (CAC) and Central Purchase Committee(CPC) manned by Force officers. Regional Depots will also be made functional in remote areas in due course where possibilities of distributors do not exist. The initial working capital will be provided from the welfare fund to be recouped over a period of time. The CPFCS system will be functional within a few weeks.

The CPMF personnel have been demanding Canteen facilities similar to the CSD system of the Ministry of Defence for a very long time. The demand becomes more relevant in the present scenario of intense involvement of CPMF personnel for anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations away from their homes and families and civic amenities for prolonged spells. Not only do they have to bear the burden of maintaining two establishments, but also survive intense hardship on account of deployment under stress-full conditions where basic requirements also may not be easy to get. With firm commitment to provide better working conditions to all the para-military personnel, the Home Minister had directed that a scheme be introduced for providing the requirement of CPF personnel through a common canteen system. Source: Press Information Bureau, GOI.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

10% of Group ‘B’ Posts in Paramilitary for Ex-Servicemen

Government Aggressively Pursuing Measures for Welfare of Ex-Servicemen : Antony

Ministry of Home Affairs has consented to fill 10 percent of the Group ‘B’ posts in Central Paramilitary Forces from Indian Ex-Servicemen lot. This has been announced at the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee associated to his ministry here on 15th Dec 2011. Shri AK Antony, the Defence Minister said efforts are now being made to persuade public sector undertakings and the private sector to tap this invaluable reservoir of talented and disciplined Ex-Servicemen.

As per news released in GOI's website, Press Information Buereau, Shri Antony said the Government is taking ‘aggressive measures’ for the all-round welfare and well-being of Ex-Servicemen. He said the health of the Ex-Servicemen and their dependents is a prime concern for the government. Giving details of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) which has been operating since April 2003, Shri Antony said, presently the scheme caters to 38 lakh beneficiaries including 12 lakh Ex-Servicemen and over 26 lakh dependents. Initially, 227 polyclinics had been approved by the Cabinet.Later, in 2008 another 199 polyclinics were sanctioned, out of which 20 are functional and 179 polyclinics are in various stages of implementation. This scheme is currently being implemented through 247 polyclinics. Shri Antony said the reach and coverage of the scheme can be easily appreciated from the fact that during 2010-11, a total of 89 lakh patients attended the polyclinics. He hoped that with the commissioning of all the sanctioned polyclinics the entire fraternity of Ex-Servicemen would be covered comprehensively.

Cutting across party lines the Members of Parliament wholeheartedly appreciated the contribution of the Armed Forces personnel in ensuring the security and territorial integrity of the country as also their contribution in providing relief during natural calamities. They wanted to know the latest status as far as the demand for ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) is concerned. The members also suggested that seats for the children of serving Armed Forces personnel and Ex-Servicemen should be reserved in all medical and dental colleges. Some members felt that there should be periodic inspection of the ECHS facilities so that the quality of service rendered by these units are kept high at all times. There was also a suggestion that the few surviving veterans of Second World War and war-widows should be given higher pension for dignified livelihood. Other suggestions were that the government should take urgent measures to build a suitable National Memorial for martyrs in the national capital and inclusion of the Members of Parliament in the ZilaSainik Board meetings. Please click here to read further.

Cars through CSD to the Serving and Ex-servicemen Stopped

Purchasing car through CSD canteen with discount (minus taxes) was made available to all ranks recently (01st of Jan 2009). This facilitity was not continued to make available for long, infact not even for 2.5 year. Well, I was lucky to grab this opportunity in 2009...

On April 15, 2011 the quartermaster general branch (QMG) of the army had issued a circular by which the sale of cars through CSD to the serving and retired soldiers was stopped. At the time of imposing a blanket ban on sale, all the command headquarters were informed that the ban would be reviwed after 30th of June, 2011.

Now, it has been nearly six moths and there is no conclusions made in this regard. Due this delay in decision, nearly 40,000 ex-servicemen are affected. Please Click Here to read further.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Centre rejects site for CSD in Una

SHIMLA: Poor selection of site by the state government is going to deprive lakhs of soldiers, ex-servicemen and their families of a canteen stores depot (CSD) in the state, as the Union defence ministry has rejected 188 kanals of land in Una after finding it prone to floods. The ministry has made it clear that even if another site is selected, the proposal will be considered depending upon availability of budget and manpower.

There is no depot in the state and government has been pursuing the issue vigorously with the Centre over the past one year. In May, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had even written a letter to Union defence minister A K Antony on the issue. The state has 1,20,200 serving soldiers, 1,02,739 ex-servicemen, 1,057 war widows, 27,367 other widows and 7,50,804 other dependents of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers.

At present CSD supplies come from depots located in Punjab and Haryana. "Representatives of ex-servicemen and military commanders had been repeatedly raising the issue of setting up a depot in the state and it was proposed that it be located in Una since the area was well connected with broad gauge railway line," sources said.

Identification of 188 kanals at Baned, in Una district, had cleared the path for opening a CSD bulk supply store, a first in this region. The proposed bulk supply store was estimated to cost around Rs 40 crore and was likely to cater to 50 CSD canteens in the region.

But the hope was dashed on Monday, when the Union defence minister informed Parliament that land offered by the state government was not found to be suitable, since it also included rivulets and nullahs which are prone to flooding during the rainy season. The minister gave the information while replying to a query of Virender Kashyap, MP from Himachal, in Lok Sabha.

"It is not possible at this stage to anticipate the time likely to be taken for setting up the depot at Una in view of the fact that the Himachal Pradesh government is yet to identify another piece of suitable land. Once a suitable alternate land is offered by the state government the proposal will be considered depending upon availability of budget and manpower," he informed. Source: TOI News.

Ex-servicemen to be Employed as Guides

KOCHI: Ex-servicemen who are skilled at languages like English, French and Hindi will have an oportunity to restart their career in future.

The Kochi corporation is planning to employ them as guides for tourists at Fort Kochi. In contrast, the bigger idea is to have them keep an eye on the security of these tourists.
District collector P I Sheik Pareeth told TOI on Tuesday that the plan was among the many efforts under consideration to make Fort Kochi tourist friendly.

"It has come to our notice that French and North Indian tourists find it difficult to locate hotels and shops as per their budget, due to language issues. Complaints like swindling affect the business prospects of hotels. So we are considering recruiting former policemen and armymen who are fluent in these languages and who can also contribute to the overall security of the area. I have proposed the idea to the government and a positive response is expected soon," the district collector said. "At the moment police patrolling is not enough for an extensive tourist spot like Fort Kochi,'' M P Sivadathan, president of Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society, said.

"Even visitors from the state face verbal harassment at times. This creates a bad image for us. If retired armymen are entrusted with the task of protecting tourists, it will considerably help. The Kochi corporation should launch the initiative immediately as tourists flood to this area in December," Sivadathan said.

Of the foreign tourists, most of are from France and they miss cherecterising the real essence and history of the place. If the service of retired army and police men are employed it would be tremendous boost for the tourism of the location, he said. Source: TOI News.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Ex-servicemen to check documents prior to extending support

PATIALA: While political parties don't have any particular criteria to allot party tickets, ex-servicemen of Punjab have fixed conditions for all politicians, who want to get their votes in the forthcoming assembly elections.

The conditions were revealed on Saturday evening after a meeting of ex-servicemen, who had converged here under the banner of Ex-Soldiers Sailors and Airmen Association (ESSAA).

Having faced betrayals by politicians in the past, the ex-servicemen are in no mood to offer their support to any party this time without checking the credentials of candidates, said ESSAA president, Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal.
They have also decided to secure written assurances from candidates, whom they finally support.

ESSAA has formed a special team under the supervision of Chhatwal to check credentials of candidates of all parties.

After detailed screening of candidates, ESSAA will finalize names of candidates but will make a final decision to support only after getting written assurances from them about fulfilling the ex-servicemen's demands.

"We would exercise voting right judiciously this time to press the demands of ex-servicemen. We have also decided to support candidates on merit instead of supporting any single party in the state," said Gurjant Singh, an ex-servicemen.

The organization will take into consideration qualities of candidates like accessibility, ability (educational) integrity, adaptability, accountability, status, past performance in the party and the present agenda of the party.

Candidates with defense background fulfilling all criteria would get preference.
To get proper feedback and take the best decision, the association has authorized its district presidents to recommend candidates of their constituency keeping in view the guidelines formulated by the state body.

"We don't want to face more betrayals by politicians. Written assurances are needed so that we can expose the winners after elections, if they fail to fulfill the commitments they made before elections," said Chhatwal. Source: TOI.

Increase in Tax Relief by MCD for Ex-sevicemen

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has proposed to increase property tax rebates given to ex-servicemen from 20% to 30%. The rebates may encourage more property owners to pay taxes on time. The proposal will be sent to the Delhi government for approval as the Delhi Municipal Act 1957, which governs the civic body, does not have a clause allowing rebates, say senior MCD officials.

"The present rebates are not validated by the DMC Act 1957, but they are given. With the new proposal, the MCD has decided that there is a need to take the government's approval and incorporate the rebates in the Act," said another MCD official.

According to the proposal, ex-servicemen would be entitled to more rebate. And, if possible, the rebates would be extended to senior citizens.  The proposal will come up for approval at the MCD's Standing Committee meeting in the next week.

With the municipal elections just four months away, the MCD has been giving a lot of rebates in terms of property tax. A special settlement scheme has been launched, under which 100% rebate on interest on arrears are being offered to property owners who pay taxes before December 31. Source: HT News.

One Rank-One Pension

The gap between past pensioners and their youger equivalents retiring from the armed forces does not necessarily keeps widening with every successive pay commission. Over the years several improvements have been made in pension of past pensioners. The pension of past pensioners have revised in accordance with recommendation of each successive Pay Commission, as accepted by the Government. The Sixth Pay Commission had recommended fitment formula and modified parity for past pensioners, in order to reduce the gaps, which were accepted by the Government.

Pension Improvement is an ongoing process and considerable improvements have been made in the pensions of armed forces personnel. The Group of Ministers (GoM) had in 2005 improved the pensionary benefits of PBORs. On the recommendations of PMO, a Committee was set up under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary in June, 2009 to look into the issue of 'One Rank One Pension and other related matters. After considering all aspects of the matter, the Committee keeping in mind the spirit of the demand, suggested several measures to substantially improve pensionary benefits of Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) and Commissioned Officers, which have been accepted by the Government and orders for implementation of all the recommendations have been issued. These are available at www.pcdapension.nic.in.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Shri MM PallamRaju in a written reply to Dr.RajanSushantand others in LokSabha today. Source: Press Information Bureau, GOI

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Ex-servicemen refuse to accept Gangman job of Railways

Lucknow: Earlier porters, now it is the turn of the ex-servicemen who refuse the job of gangmen. The “A journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment” has once again made the Railway authorities to search for solution on filling vacancies of gangmen, who perform a very vital task of track maintenance under "not an easy times".

North-Central Railway (NCR) officials say while efforts were being made to accommodate those ex-servicemen not wanting to take up the task of the gangmen at other equivalent posts, the fact remained that not all of them can be taken. An official said the reluctance on the part of the ex-servicemen to take up the task of gangmen was also a “perception” issue, as they felt the job was low in status.


In 2008, the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had launched a scheme of porters being brought to use as gangmen. But the porters’ enthusiasm drawn off soon after as they actually had tough working conditions with less pay. Later, the Railways had to give back the licences to a most of porters.

About five months back, nearly 1,400 ex-servicemen were registered as employees by the NCR in the entire zone, including Allahabad, Jhansi and Agra divisions.

“They were recruited for group ‘D’ jobs and, because the maximum vacancies and requirement were for gangmen, nearly 60 per cent were offered these posts. But, now they have given applications that they do not want to take up the job,” said a senior Railway official.

Divisional Personnel Officer (DPO), Allahabad Division, Sanjeev Kumar, said of the 1,400 ex-servicemen recruited, 700 were allocated jobs in the Allahabad division.
“Of these 700, at least 400 ex-servicemen were made gangmen. Nearly 250 of them joined the duty. But now, almost all of them are demanding they be accommodated in other departments,” said Kumar.

Other than the fact, the gangmen have to live away from their families and live most of the time in tents, their task becomes with a great degree of stress.

“Even big stretches where there used to be 40 gangmen earlier now barely have a dozen gangmen. Also, the density of the trains on the tracks has increased tremendously making the job even more stressful,” said General Secretary, NCR Men’s Union, R D Yadav.
A group of nearly 150 ex-servicemen had recently requested him seeking change to other departments.

Yadav said many ex-servicemen are above the 40-45 age group and had retired from supervisory posts. “Gangman’s task is a tough field job and, obviously, people have who have reached a certain age would not be able to perform it properly,” said Yadav.

The DPO said many of the ex-servicemen who retired from the rank of Hawildars or Subedars and higher, so this job of Gangman is rearded to be below their dignity.  Source: http://www.expressindia.com/