Sri
Rajnath Singh.
Defence Minister of
India.
Through: PA to Defence
Minister.
13
June 2019
Sir,
I, on behalf of
millions of Ex-servicemen and their families of India congratulate you for
adorning the prestigious mantle of Defence Minister of India. We feel that
after multiple changes on the important post of Defence Minister in the
previous government, the new government on its onset has put the baton to the
able and strong hands of an ironman. We admire you as a man of principle, who
has in-depth knowledge and insight into Defence preparedness of India as well
as the problems of serving men and Ex-servicemen.
Sir, from the
viewpoint of an ex-serviceman may I be allowed to raise a few concerns of
ex-servicemen and veer naris which are
listed below. These are the concerns of the serving soldiers as well, as
today's serving soldier would be tomorrow's ex-serviceman.
1. OROP Revision:
The last government implemented
OROP with effect from 01.07.2014 and notified in clear terms that OROP be
revised after every five years. The revision of OROP ought to be
implemented automatically from
01.07.2019. But sadly, no preparatory work could be initiated by Controller General of Defence
Accounts (CGDA) for want of
policy direction from Ministry of Defence.
Sir, as per the reply I received from CGDA (by my RTI
application), CGDA has raised multiple queries to Ministry of Defence about the
modality of implementation, the base year of calculation etc, for which they
are yet to get any reply. In such a situation the OROP revision is heading for
an indefinite delay.
2. One Man Judicial Commission Report:
Sir, I do not want to elaborate on the constitution of OMJC
and subsequent fate of its report in the hands of high level scrutiny
committee. The report still remains under examination and none of us know why
is it delayed indefinitely. I understand that the Government has every right to
accept or reject a commission report. But if some of the recommendations of the
OMJC are accepted by the Government, it is logical that they should be
reflected in the revision of OROP. Keeping the report under a wrap will only
complicate the whole process.
3. Multiple
Court Cases:
Sir, I regret to mention that in many occasions ex-servicemen
had to knock at the doors of a Court of Law to get their rightful dues. And
even after getting a favourable judgment, the benefits were extended to the litigants
only and no universal orders / notifications were issued by the authority to extend
the benefit to similar cases. Sir, is it possible by thousands and thousands of
affected ex-servicemen spread over the rural areas of our country to seek
remedy from a court of law?
4. Equal MSP:
Sir, Military Service Pay was introduced by VI Pay Commission.
By definition this benefit was extended to all jawans, officers and MNS
(Military Nursing Service) considering the rigour and dangerous service
conditions of military service. The VII pay commission also recognized this and
recommended MSP as a unique element of pay for defence services. Now all JCOs
and other ranks get equal MSP irrespective of their rank or basic pay.
But there exists wide difference in the quantum of MSP among
jawans, MNS and Officers. A personnel in MNS, who is never exposed to any
combat duty or any dangerous situation gets almost double the amount received
by a jawan. An officer gets almost three times more than a jawan. It is an
irony that a jawan who is at the forefront of war or war-like situation and who
is in the first line of enemies' and terrorists' fire gets the least MSP. Respective
Pay Commissions overlooked this great anomaly and the Government never stepped
in to correct it.
Sir, these are the major concerns of ex-serviceman community.
There is growing indignation amongst ex-servicemen that every political party
swear by the patriotism of Armed Forces, but when it comes to the welfare and
benefit of its personnel, the government often buckles under the pressure of civilian
bureaucracy and deny them of their
rightful dues.
Sir, we strongly believe and hope that with the fine acumen
of a strong administrator like you most of the above anomalies will be rectified
soon.
Jai Hind.
Manananda Biswas
Vice Chairman,
JCO/ORS Veterans Welfare
Association of India