Ex-servicemen: benefits from pension

Pune Nearly 10,000 retired jawans and Junior Commissioned Officers in the city will benefit from the finance minister’s one-rank-one-pension scheme. Pranab Mukherjee had said the government had accepted recommendations to improve the pension prior to January 1, 2006, and have defence pensioners below officer rank and bring pre-October 10, 1997, pensioners on par with those who followed.

This will benefit more than 12 lakh jawans and JCOs and will be implemented from July 1.

Pune’s ex-servicemen, though elated, are not quite clear what they would gain. “We have been demanding this for long,” said Anandrao Dhumal, vice-president, Ex-Servicemen’s Association. He said that those in the ranks of jawan, naik, havildar, naik subedar and subedar major will all benefit. “However, it is not clear what the amount of cutoff pension would be for all of us,” he said.

“For long we have been drawing low salaries and now having no difference in the pension payment will bring respite. But it should have been done with retrospective affect with the UPA government having announced it before the elections,” said an ex-serviceman.

There was a huge gap between the pensions of past and present retirees after the Sixth Pay Commission while the pre-and post-October 10, 1997, pensioners were impacted by the fifth panel’s recommendations.

Anantkumar Dange, a retired honorary captain, said the OROP scales should come around Rs 14,000 for all. “It would benefit all ranks.” Now there are three bands of payment, to be now merged. The first band features sepoy to havildar at Rs 4,500 basic pension, the second band includes naik subedars and subedar majors at Rs 9,300, while the third band pays Rs 13,750 after the Sixth Pay Commission.