Pensionery Benefits on Cabinet Decision on ESM Demands

The wide variation in pension of pre-2006 and post-2006 pensioners in the ranks of Sepoys, Naiks and Havildars (Equivalents) will continue in the operative period of the 6th CPC, even after the recent modified parity exercise by the Govt. It may be narrowed down in the future pay commission, if the same pattern of Pay Band system is continued. Still the variation will always be there as pensioners do not get yearly increments like service personnel.

The Sepoys, Naiks and Havildars (Equivalents) will benefit by around Rs. 400/- in basic pension per month or so. The prospective date of this increase may be from 01 Jul 2009. JCOs (Equivalents) may not be much benefited from the above order.

However, Hony Commissioned Officers of the rank of LTs and Capts (Equivalents) their maximum pension will raise to Rs. 15465/- and Rs. 16145/- per month from Rs. 13500/- and Rs. 13850/- per month, respectively. The prospective date of this increase must be from 01 Jan 2006 as their minimum fitment table is Rs. 10500 (fixed) for Lts and Rs. 10850 (fixed) for Capts (Equivalents).

In general, an increase of Rs.100/- per month in the basic pension, the arrears from 1.1.2006 to 30.6.2012 comes to around Rs.9880/- including DA. If it is from 1.7.2009, the arrears up to 30.6.2012 comes to around Rs.5280/-.

The prospective date of increase for Commissioned Officers should also be from 01 Jan 2006.

Pension Fixation – Lieutenants and Captains

Commissioned Officers and Honorary Commissioned Officers of the rank of Lts and Capts (Equivalents) are treated at par and placed in Pay Band 3 as per the 6^th Central Pay Commission Report accepted by the Government; as far as pay scale is concerned. Accordingly, a maximum assured pension of Rs. 13850 for Capts and Rs. 13500 per month for Lts has been fixed for Pre-2006 pensioners with effect from 01 Jan 2006.

Prior to 2006, Hony Commissioned Officers pay scale was a fixed one, and substantially higher than the starting pay scale of Commissioned Officers of the same rank. However, due to running pay band attached to each rank, the Commissioned Officers used to get more pay and pension than the Hony Commissioned Officers. Still there were some isolated cases of Commissioned Officers getting lesser pension than the Hony Commissioned Officers. This was due to introduction of Regimental Commission to eligible JCOs/NCOs and their service in Commissioned Rank was very short. However, these anomalies were sorted out by the Pension Sanctioning Authorities and Commissioned Officers pension was brought at par with Hony Commissioned Officers of that rank.

As per pay fixation formula of 6^th CPC, the existing pay of an individual as on 01 Jan 2006 to be taken into account and it should be multiplied by 1.86 + Grade Pay and Military Service Pay (MSP) to be added to it. Accordingly, the maximum pension for the fixed scale of Rs. 10500 and Rs. 10850 works out as Rs. 15465 and Rs. 16145 per month for Lts and Capts, respectively; whereas, they are now fixed with a maximum pension of Rs. 13500 and Rs. 13850 per month only. This aspect is well known to Ministry of Defence, Government of India, as they have worked it out for Viceroy Commissioned Officers and put it in the PCDA (Pensions) Allahabad Circular No 430 and subsequently deleted it without any explanatory reasons.

It is prudent to note here that, bringing some category into higher pay scale should always benefit such categories. But in this case, the MOD has deprived it.

There were six categories in fixed scale of pay in the 4^th CPC viz, S-16, one category in S-32, S-33 and S-34 plus Hony Lts and Capts. This has been brought down to five in the 5^th CPC viz S-16 at Rs. 9000 (Fixed), S-33 at Rs. 26,000 (Fixed) and S-34 at Rs. 30,000 (Fixed) plus Hony Lts at Rs. 10500 and Hony Capts at Rs. 10850.

In 6^th CPC, S-16 Rs. 9000 (Fixed) plus Hony Lt Rs. 10,500 (Fixed) and Hony Capt at Rs. 10850 (Fixed) brought into Pay Band 3. Only the Maximum Scale of S-33 at Rs. 80,000 for Secretaries of GOI (Equivalents) and S-34 at Rs. 90,000 for Cabinet Secretaries (Equivalents) have been retained as Fixed one; and the increase in this fixed pay scale is three-fold and more, and the pensioners in this category get a pension of Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 45,000 per month for their maximum service.

The above shows how a Jawan who had put in his exemplary service and hard work and achieved the rank of Commissioned/Hony Commissioned officers rank of Lt and Capt is deprived of his legitimate pension of Rs.15465 for Lts and Rs. 16145 per month for Capts, which is still less than the three-fold increase in the pension of S-33 and S-34 categories.

S-16 pay scale as per 5^th CPC, which is in Pay Band 3 in 6^th CPC, is applicable to a civilian officer’s category and they are entitled for an assured pension of Rs. 10,500 per month for their maximum service and they are short of only Rs. 570 as per the above calculations, for which remedial action is in progress.

Majors (Equivalents) pension do fall in the above category, which I have explained in my earlier blog (http://blog-captncpoojary.blogspot.com/) and there are plenty of write ups about this.

It is pertinent to note here, that a case which can be solved easily by the MOD, GOI, is so delayed without any tangible reasons is disturbing in nature. We can pray and hope that a better decision will prevail and a suitable outcome may come out! Otherwise, an officer of the rank of Lt and Capt (Equivalent) would be in a loss to the tune of around Rs. 4,00,000 during the operating period of the 6^th CPC. God help us!

Ex-Servicemen Pension/Family Pension - MOD Letters and its Relevance

With reference to:

(a) MOD Letter No. 17(4)/2008(1)/D(Pen/Pol) dated 11 Nov 2008

(b) MOD Letter No. PC 10(1)2009-D(Pen/Pol) dated 08 Mar 2009 (PCDA (Pensions) Allahabad Circular No. 430) and

(c) MOD Letter No. 17(3)2010/Pen/Pol) dated 15 Nov 2010.

If we go into details, the above letters are relevant in one way or the other as far as Ex-servicemen Pension/Family Pension is concerned. Annexure I of Ref. (a) above deals with the pension calculation based on the fitment formula of 226% [i.e. basic pension as per 5th CPC + DA 86% (DP w.e.f. 1 April 2004 is excluded, hence the DA of 74% is increased to 86%) + 40% of 5th CPC Basic Pension = 226%). This has been clearly explained at Para 4 of the said letter. Para 5 of the above letter deals with Pension/Family pension as per new criteria of 6th CPC based on Pay Band and Grade System + MSP, in which the junior rank pensioners who are upgraded to higher Pay Band have mostly been benefitted.

After the issue of Ref. (b) (i.e. Circular 430), the pension of all JCOs/Other Ranks (Equivalents) has substantially been increased and the Annexure I of Ref. (a) became ineffective as far as living pensioners (JCOs/Other Ranks(equivalents)) are concerned. However, most of the family pensioners are still covered by the said Annexure of Ref. (a), as Circular 430 is not applicable to family pensioners.

Coming to Ref. (c), the Government has cleared the anomaly to some extent bringing the pension of affected seniors at par with the juniors. Here also, the senior rank pensioners still may feel upset as a Hav (Equivalent) is placed at par with a Sepoy (Equivalent). This needs to be accepted as it is the procedure followed by the Government earlier also. In this letter, the family pension of Lt Col. (TS), Lt. Col. (Equivalents) has not been increased. This is a rider imposed by the Government, which I presume is because the placement of Lt. Cols (Equivalents) in Pay Band 4 has been done later after much deliberations. Only the living Lt Cols (Equivalent) pensioners NOK may benefit.

Readers are welcome to give their views/comments.

Pension Anomaly – Lieutenants, Captains and Majors (Equivalents) (Pay Band 3)

If the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has awarded the increase in the pension for Majors (Equivalents) taking into consideration of their minimum starting salary with Rank Pay as per 5th Central Pay Commission (CPC) scales and the fitment criteria of 6th CPC, the same criteria needs to be applied for Honorary Commissioned Officers of the Rank of Lieutenants and Captains (Equivalents) also. In such case, the revised minimum assured pension for Lieutenants, Captains and Majors (Equivalents) will be as under:-

Hony Lts – 5th CPC Basic Pay (i.e. Rs. 10500) multiplied by 1.86 = 19530 + Grade Pay 5400 + 6000 MSP = 30930 half of which for 28 years = Rs. 15465.

Hony Capts – 5th CPC Basic Pay (i.e. Rs. 10850) multiplied by 1.86 = 20181 + Grade Pay 6100 + 6000 MSP = 32281 rounded off to next ten = 32290 half of which for 28 years= Rs. 16145.

Majors – 5th CPC Basic Pay (i.e. 11600 Basic Pay + 1200 Rank Pay = Rs. 12800) multiplied by 1.86 = 23808 + Grade Pay 6600 + 6000 MSP = 36408 rounded off to 36410 half of which for 25 years and above = Rs. 18205.

Hony Commissioned Officers are considered to be juniors to Commissioned Officers as far as appointments are concerned. Hence the minimum assured pension of Commissioned Officers of the rank of Lts and Capts (Equivalents) also needs to be brought at par with Honorary Commissioned Officers to avoid pension anomaly.

Taking the above into consideration, the “One Rank One Pension (OROP)” formula adopted by me as per my blog dated 14 Nov 2010 needs to be changed in respect of Lts and Capts (Equivalents). Their maximum pension for 28 years now needs to be treated as Rs. 20784 and Rs. 21227, respectively, instead of Rs. 18145 and Rs. 18590 (as per the same formula adopted for Majors (Equivalents))

For pension anomaly between JCOs (Equivalents) and Commissioned Officers, please refer to my blog dated 6 Aug 2010.

One Rank One Pension (OROP) – How to be Implemented

(DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR CONSIDERATION)

“One Rank One Pension” is the main demand of all ex-servicemen of pre-2006 for a long time, which is required to be taken care of by the Government at the earliest. However, the details of how it is to be worked out and how much can be arrived for each rank are not clear to all. The introduction of common Pay Band with Grade Pay and Military Service Pay (MSP) to equivalent ranks of the three Services of the Armed Forces in the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) is helpful to determine a near parity with the pensioners of post-2006. Accordingly, I have prepared a sample suggestion for consideration by the Government, the details of which are as under.

Pay Band 1 (Rs. 5200–20200)

There are three ranks viz Sepoy, Naik and Havildar (Equivalents of Navy and Air Force) in this Pay Band with separate Grade Pays and Common MSP

The minimum starting pay as per 6th CPC along with Grade Pay and MSP for each rank has been taken into account and a 3% annual increment in the pay has been given for 10 years to arrive a total pay of a Sepoy: 5 years each in the rank of Sepoy and Naik rank to arrive a total pay for a Naik and 5 years as Sepoy (3 years as Naik and 2 years as Havildar) to arrive a pay of Havildar. The sum thus arrived has been divided to half and considered as minimum-assured pension for 15 years of service for each rank.

Pay Band 2 (Rs. 9300–34800) (JCOs equivalents)

The procedure adopted is the same as that of Pay Band 1 with a slight variation in the division of 10 increments. All the 10 increments counted for Naib Subedar, 3 increments as Naib Subedar and 7 increments in the rank of Subedar for Subedar and 3 increments each in Naib Subedar and Subedar rank and 4 increments as Subedar Major for Subedar Major. The sum thus arrived for each rank has been treated as minimum-assured pension for 15 years.

The Government has earlier assured a pension of 70% of the pay for personnel coming under Pay Bands 1 and 2. Keeping this in view, the pension arrived after taking into consideration of 10 increments has been treated as minimum-assured pension for 15 years and for further service, a yearly increment of 3% has been added and calculated up to 28 years of service. Personnel who are placed in X Group will get a minimum of Rs. 940 as extra pension for 15 years of service and Rs. 1380 as extra pension for 28 years of service ("X" Group pension has been arrived using the same formula which is applied for the calculation of minimum/maximum pension).

Pay Band 3 (15600–39100) (Commissioned Officers)

There are three ranks viz Lieutenant, Captain, and Major (Equivalents) in this Pay Band. The minimum starting Pay (Pay + Grade Pay + MSP) has been taken into account. For Lieutenant, a total of 10 increments of 3% have been added and the sum arrived has been divided to half and treated as maximum pension for 28 years. For Captains, 2 increments as Lieutenant and remaining 8 increments as Captain have been added and the sum arrived has been divided into half and treated as maximum pension for 28 years. The Majors (Equivalent) rank is the worst affected in the 6th CPC as far as fixation of minimum-assured pension is concerned. Their minimum starting salary of 5th CPC should have been taken into account while considering fixation of minimum-assured pension for Majors (Equivalents) in the 6th CPC. As per fixation formula of 6th CPC, their minimum starting salary comes to Rs. 36210, which has now been taken into account as minimum starting salary for calculation of increments.

Pay Band 4 (Rs. 37400–67000)

Altogether five ranks fall in this Pay Band with varied Grade Pay. The minimum-assured pension in this Pay Band for Lieutenant Colonels (Equivalents) is considered to be justifiable; hence no increments have been added to this rank. The 10 increments have been divided into 3, 3, 2, and 2 for Colonel, Brigadier, Major General, and Lieutenant General (Equivalents), respectively. For Lieutenant General, 3 increments as Colonel, 3 increments as Brigadier, 2 increments as Major General, and 2 increments as Lieutenant General have been taken into account. For Major General, 3 increments as Colonel, 3 increments as Brigadier, and 2 increments as Major General have been counted. For Brigadier, 3 increments each in Colonel and Brigadier rank has been taken into account. For Colonels, only 3 increments have been counted. Though the serving officers in the Pay Band will achieve much higher salary at the end of the 6th CPC operative period, in order to have a balanced minimum-assured pension for pre-2006 retirees, less increment has been added to Junior Rank Officers in this Pay Band. For Officers in Higher Administrative Grade and in Fixed Pay Scales, there is no much of a problem in their minimum-assured pension. For major generals and Lieutenant Generals MSP has been taken into account "Notionally".

This suggested One Rank One Pension (OROP) is limited to the operative period of 6th CPC. The suggested minimum-assured pension as shown now, if carried forward to the next CPC with all fitment benefits will definitely reduce the differences between old pensioners and the newcomers. There is no overlapping of pension and hence the anomaly has been avoided. The details are as under:

NCOs and Other Ranks (Equivalents)

JCOs (Equivalents)

“X” Group Pension

Commissioned Officers

For service less than 28 years, a reduction of 3% for each year needs to be made.

Readers are welcome to give comments/suggestions/modifications to enable the Government to take note of it.

Do you have it in you-The josh song

Pay Scales of 6th CPC - Army

The views expressed here is my own. In such case, if any reader disagree with the views expressed in the blog, he is welcome to give the reasons for disagreement giving his Rank and Status, which will help the other readers to know the correct information. Disagreement without a reason will give a doubtful impression to other readers.

Till the 5th CPC each rank had a distinctive pay scale.  In 6th CPC this has been abolished , and the Pay Band with Grade Pay system has been introduced, merging 3 to 4 Ranks in one Pay Band.  Due to this, the percentage increase in the starting salary of each rank has been differed and there is a huge variation from rank to rank.  The same is highlighted below, for the information of this blog viewers.

  Z Gp has been merged with Y Gp in the 6th CPC.  Hence, only X & Y Gps are now existing

The startling variation of 101%  in the starting salary i.e. the lowest 239% for the Y Gp Sub Maj (239%) and the highest 340% for the Lt. Cols can be observed here. This could have been avoided, if Govt  desires.  If the starting salary was restricted  between 290 and 300%,  it would have been a better-judged starting salary for all ranks!

The starting salary is also a main factor to determine the pension for each rank.  For personnel in Pay Band 1 and 2, the pension has been improved with effect from 01 Jul 2009, the affect has now been mainly for the officers of the rank of Hony Lt, Hony Capt and Capt of the Pay Band 3,  who retired prior to 01 Jan 2006 and whose pension is connected to the minimum starting salary as per 6th CPC, which is less compared to the higher Pay Band. The Govt need to look into this aspect as the lower pay band personnel pension is overlapping with the pension of the above officers.