Extension of date of Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension(OROP)

Extension of date of Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension(OROP)

F. No. 12(39)/2015/D(Pen/Pol)(Part-V)
Ministry of Defence
Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare
D(Pension/Policy)

New Delhi,

Dated 09.05.2016

Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension (OROP)

Government of India, Ministry of Defence, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare vide Public Notice No. 12(39)/2015/D(Pen/Pol)(Part-V) dated 13.04.2016 had invited representation, suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified under OROP order dated 03.02.2016, to the MoD, DESW through post or by email by 29th April 2016.

2. Keeping in view several representations received requesting for the extension of last date for submission of representation, suggestions/views on the revised pension as notified under OROP orders, the last date of the submission of representation, suggestions/views has been extended upto 15th May 2016.

Postal Address: Under Secretary/D(Pension/Policy)
Room No. 220A,
‘B’ Wing
Sena Bhawan; New Delhi-110011
Email ID: us-pen-pol@desw.gov.in

(R.K. Arora)
Under Secretary (Pension/Policy)
Tele: 01123012973

Signed copy download here-Public Notice for addressing anomalies on One Rank One Pension (OROP)

7th CPC & Armed Forces - Will the History Repeat Itself

7th CPC & Armed Forces

Will the History Repeat Itself

Brig Anil Gupta
Ever since the Seventh Pay Commission report has been made public there has been a sense of great resentment and let down in the armed forces community. While the veterans were battling for justified grant of One Rank One Pension (OROP) the men in uniform were hopeful that the impending pay commission report will deliver justice to them and will set right the unsettled anomalies of the fourth, fifth and sixth pay commissions as promised by their political masters. The battle hardened soldiers were not only surprised by the bomb shell delivered by Mr Mathur Chairman of the Seventh Pay Commission but were also highly demoralised.

Having learnt from the previous experience of the Indian Air Force, the three service chiefs immediately swung into action to not only douse the simmering fire amongst the rank and file but also to plan a joint strategy to address the government. The seventh pay commission not only failed to resolve the pending anomalies of the previous pay commissions but added further salt to the injury by equating the status of the Armed Forces of India with that of the Central Armed police Forces. It is a pity that the bureaucrats in our country fail to draw the distinction between the Armed Forces and the Police Forces. The Pay Commission also went beyond its charter and has tried to tinker with the terms and conditions of service of the rank and file of the Armed Forces. The armed forces were harmed both monetarily as well as status/protocol.

Much has already been written in the media on the subject. The basis of the report is a study carried out by Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, a strategic think-tank, comparing the pay of Indian Armed Forces with that of certain foreign armies of developed countries. The competence of IDSA to carry out such a study is questionable. Moreover, why only the armed forces have been singled out for such a comparison and why not other services like IAS, IFS, Forest, Railways, IPS to name a few? The answer is simple; the study was motivated and designed to reduce the salary, perks and status of the armed forces. But what worries the soldiers is the possibility of history repeating itself. Though every pay commission since 1973 has been unfair to the armed forces major resentment surfaced after the announcement of the sixth pay commission report in 2008. It led to a major showdown between the three service chiefs and politico-bureaucratic establishment.

The services requested the then government to appoint their representative in the Committee of Secretaries appointed by the government to look into the various anomalies in the 6th CPC report that were brought to the notice of the government. The request of the Service Chiefs was based on the logic that 30% (nearly 1/3rd) of the central government employees affected by the pay commission belonged to the three services. The request was not granted but an assurance was given that their concerns would be addressed with sympathy and without prejudice. In keeping with the apolitical stance of the Armed Forces the service chiefs conceded but were taken aghast when the report of the committee was announced after approval of the government. The services found that not only were their major grievances not addressed three more glaring discrepancies were introduced in the final Cabinet notification. The three service chiefs not only felt let down in front of the forces they commanded but also badly humiliated. They took up the matter separately with the Defence Minister and the Prime Minister and conveyed the concerns of the Armed Forces. But they learnt to their dismay that real villain was none else than their own Ministry of Defence (MOD) which presented a very weak case without relevant supporting documents to the PMO and Finance Ministry.Incidentally, this was worse than the aftermath of 5th Pay Commission ten year earlier when the armed forces pointed out 48 anomalies out of which only eight had been resolved during the decade preceding announcement of 6th Pay Commission Award. Fortunately, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, a no non-sense officer, was the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee then. He convinced his other two colleagues to delay the implementation of flawed 6th CPC Report in the Armed Forces. Accordingly, the decision was communicated by the respective service headquarters to their rank and file through a signal message.

 The message was received with great jubilation by the subordinate units which sent jitters to the politico-bureaucratic nexus as well as received adverse comments from certain quarters in the media. It was Nitin Gokhale who came in open support of the service chiefs and wrote, “If the said signal, as the communication is called in military parlance, is defiance, then no military chief will ever be able to give assurances to, and take, his men in confidence. Anyone who has dealt with the armed forces will tell you that there is not an iota of truth in the canard that is being spread about the three Chiefs ‘defying’ the civil authorities. Yes, they questioned the bureaucracy’s attempts to wittingly or unwittingly introduce pay and status disparities between the armed forces and their civilian counterparts. Yes they took the matter to Prime Minister but in no way did they defy the government.” The bold stand taken by the three Chiefs had the desired result and the Prime Minister appointed a group of ministers to resolve the grievances of the armed forces. A couple of main points were immediately settled and the services accepted the implementation of 6th CPC.

 But true to its traditions the MOD continued to play the spoilsport and number of unresolved anomalies were referred to the 7th CPC. As mentioned earlier 7th CPC report rather than assuaging the hurt feelings of the armed forces has further aggravated the anger and resentment.

The continued apathy of the bureaucracy towards men in uniform is perplexing. World over Armed Forces are considered as the last bastion of a nation and are always held at a different pedestal but in our country under the garb of ensuring civil supremacy the politico-bureaucratic nexus has been working against the interests of the armed forces. The soldiers are remembered and honoured at the time of crisis but forgotten soon thereafter. It is the sheer sense of patriotism which continues to motivate the armed forces personnel to continue to shed their blood for Bharat Mata despite the neglect they suffer at the hands of politico-bureaucratic authorities. Knowing fully well that the armed forces are unhappy with the treatment meted to them by the 7th CPC, effort is being made through the media to spread lies. The latest attempt is an article in a leading national daily titled “Our service chiefs may earn more than US generals.” It states that for the first time, the Indian Army Chief and his counterparts in the IAF and Navy will draw more salary than the top general and equivalent in the US based on purchasing power parity (PPP) terms when the 7th CPC report is implemented. PPP based comparison is misleading and flawed.

Also, how can the pay of officers of two different armies having different terms & conditions of service be compared? Moreover, the figures quoted in the article were exaggerated as was evident from another news item published a few days later by Asian Age titled “Indian service chiefs earn less than top US general reveals new data.” Such articles are aimed at creating confusion among the rank and file and create distrust among the officers and other rank. No nation, more so India, can afford to have disgruntled armed forces. It is thus necessary that the history is not made to repeat itself by prudent political intervention at this stage and all genuine grievances of the armed forces are addressed sympathetically and without prejudice before approving the flawed report of 7th CPC. The Prime Minister needs to intervene to ensure that the justice is done to the armed forces and the trend of widening rift in civil-military relations is halted without further delay. There is a murmur already doing the rounds among the rank and file that if history repeats itself who will don the mantle of Admiral Sureesh Mehta this time?

Read at: Daily Excelsior

7th Pay Commission News – Government may consider minimum pay of 24000

7th Pay Commission News – Government may consider minimum pay of 24000

BMC Secretary’s report follows the meeting of Labour Union Leaders with Minister of State of Personnel, Mr.Jitendra Sangh

7th Pay Commission News – Govt may consider minimum pay of 24,000-7th CPC pay to be paid from July – Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh Secretary reports to Zee Media

With each passing day, the picture of higher monthly payout for central government employees, than what was recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, is emerging clear.

In a meeting with the BJP’s labour wing Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Jitendra Prasad, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, told the delegation that government would positively look into the demand of the central government employees. “The minister said we will consider the proposal of minimum pay of at 24,000”, Pawan Kumar, Regional Organizing Secretary told Zee Media Bureau.

The Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh is the largest central trade union organization in India, and claims to have more than 10 million members.

The trade union also sought increase in the Multiplication Factor and changes in the HRA.

The 7th CPC under AK Mathur had proposed Multiplication Factor of 2.57, according to which the fitment of each employee in the new pay matrix is proposed to be done by multiplying his or her basic pay on the date of implementation by a factor of 2.57.

“We are expecting the notification for implementation of the 7th Pay Commission in the last week of June, and payout to begin in July”, added Kumar.

He further assured that DoP&T is actively considering for grant of one time relaxation for compassionate appointment in Ministry of Defence. He added that Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh has ruled out possibilities of strike to get a better salary revision under 7th Pay Commission. “We are not part of those who say that we will strike”to get a better pay hike, added Kumar.

As per report, the National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) has decided to serve indefinite strike notice to the Govt on 9th June 2016 and to commence indefinite strike from 11th July 2016, if the Govt fails to come to a negotiated settlement on 7th CPC related issues with the JCM National Council Staff Side.

Source: Zee News

7th Pay Commission Latest News – BMS met Minister to highlight issues

7th Pay Commission Latest News – BMS met Minister to highlight issues

Even as Empowered Committee appointed by Govt is processing 7th pay Commission recommendations, Labour unions and staff federations are emphasizing Govt for rectifying certain anti-employee recommendations of 7th Pay Commission

7th Pay Commission Latest News – BMS met Minister for issues such as Removal of 5% ceiling for Compassionate Appointments, 5% annual increment, rationalization of pay structure, abolition of certain allowances, discontinuance of Grade Pay etc

A delegation of Labour Union leaders representing Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) led by Pawan Kumar today held a meeting with Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh and sought his intervention for redressal of their issues, mainly pertaining to grant of one-time relaxation from ceiling of 5% for compassionate appointments in Ministry of Defence and the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC).

They also thanked the Government for having brought in a legislation in response to their demand for fixing the minimum wage for Government employees.

The BMS leaders pointed out to the ceiling of 5% on compassionate ground vacancies imposed over Central Government employees and requested that this be removed in order to make it possible to accommodate more candidates. They submitted that Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is the competent authority to grant relaxation of the ceiling over vacancies falling under direct recruitment quota in Group-C posts and requested the Minister to kindly take a sympathetic view.

The demand to rationalize the pay structure through 7th Central Pay Commission was also taken up by the BMS representatives. They stated that the allowances were allowed by department as per their operational and administrative needs, but alleged that the 7th CPC on its own initiative had declared them as “outlived their utility” and recommended for their discontinuance. They also complained that the concept of grade pay and pay band has been done away, which should be reconsidered.

Among the other points raised by the BMS delegation were modification of the minimum pay and cognizance of “Senior Citizen and Parents Maintenance Act”, which provides liability of mother and father who are employed sons / daughters.

On behalf of the Government Employees National Federation, an affiliate of BMS, the delegation also sought attention to the fact that the employees are getting only 3% incremental benefit which, they demanded, to be increased to 5%.

Dr Jitendra Singh gave the delegation a patient hearing and said their observations and inputs will be put up at the appropriate level.

Among other members present in the meeting were Sadhu Singh, Shivkant Mishra, P.C. Sharma, Virender Kumar, Yogender Rai, Rajnish Kumar, Nirmal Jain, A.K. Dhankar, D.K. Sharma, Sunil Gupta and Manoj Kumar Singh

Source: DailyExcelsior.com