General
1. A delegation comprising the following veterans met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley at 1800 hours on 18 Dec 2015:
a) Lt Gen Raj Kadyan
b) Lt Gen Balbir Singh
c) AVM RP Mishra
d) CPO Dhani Chand
e) Sgt Vijay Kumar
f) ELT 1 Ved Pal Rathee
g) Sep Dharam Singh
h) Sep Lakh Pat Hooda
2. As a preamble the Minister emphasised the point that every Indian holds the defence forces in high regard and will not grudge an increase in their emoluments. The respect is well earned by the defence forces through remaining apolitical (he gave the contrasting example of Pakistan) and by maintaining a dignified collective persona. Underscoring the patriotism that is associated with the defence forces, he mentioned that whenever a defence veteran is called for comments on the TV, everyone expects and knows that he will speak in favour of India unlike some others. Nothing must be done by anyone to lower that high pedestal on which our soldier is placed by the countrymen. In this connection he also mentioned about the need to avoid monetising the military.
Points made by the delegation
3. The points submitted pertained basically to OROP but also covered some aspects of the 7th Pay Commission. A brief summary is given in succeeding paras.
4. The Judicial Committee. When an apprehension was expressed about the terms of reference of the Committee - that they will draw reference only from the govt - the Minister allayed all fears by clarifying that the Committee will be open and take views from all stake holders.
5. Core Issues of OROP. It was recommended that he following are core issues and need to be resolved by the govt themselves instead of being handed over the Judicial Committee, as without these OROP loses its basic meaning:
a) Periodicity of the pension equalisation to be annual and not five-yearly.
b) The benchmark to upscale old pensions should be selected based on the top of the scale and not on average of minimum and maximum.
6. It was impressed that point at 5 (a) will cost less than Rs 100 Crore whereas the point at 5 (b) will also remain within the limit of the accepted Rs 8,000 to 10,000 Crore.
7. Widows' Pension. Highlighting that widows are the weakest segment among pensioners, it was recommended that on widowhood the lady must continue to get the pension that her husband was getting.
8. Disability Pension. There is a strong case to continue with the percentage based system of granting disability pension as opposed to the slab system.
9. Pro Rata Pension. Those leaving the Service before completing the minimum qualifying pensionable service should be given pro rata pension depending on the total period they have served. In this, particular mention was made of the Short Service Commissioned Officers.
10. Reservists Pension. There is a relatively small and diminishing population of reservists. They should be given pension equal to the pension of a Sepoy with 15 years service.
Overview
11. Nothing concrete can or should be expected from such meetings. However, these serve the useful purpose of maintaining contact with the political leadership, exchanging views and conveying our concern first hand. In the final analysis problems will get resolved only by talking across-the-table. Viewed in that light the meeting was useful.
Best regards,
Lt Gen Raj Kadyan
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