Defence Pensions are Pensions paid from the Defence Services Estimates. 36 percent of amount budgeted for Defence Pensions is on account of DEFENCE CIVILIANS....... Defence Budget Components, PENSIONS are the first to catch the eye because of their spiral increase, some 16-fold, from a modest Rs 7,348 Crore in the Financial Year (FY) 1999-2000....... to Rs 1,19,696 crore in 2022-23........ This is likely to increase even more rapidly due to the pension enhancement of all retirees every five years under the one-rank-one-pension (OROP) scheme initiated by the BJP-led government that assumed power in 2014.
Subject : Defence Civilians Pension Q.Will delinking DEFENCE CIVILIANS PENSION from DEFENCE BUDGET help? A. DEFENCE CIVILIANS PENSION will bring them under the purview of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 and Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 which apply to all other Civilian Central Government Pensioners. A report in the Hindustan Times of July 4, 2022 has said the Ministry of Railways has accepted the recommendation of its Parliamentary Standing Committee to transfer approximately 1.5 million Railways Pensioners-presently governed by the Railway Service (Pension) Rules, 1993- to the jurisdiction of the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW)......
The obvious rationale for this move is the merger of the Railways’ Budget with the Union Budget 2017, discontinuing the practice started by the British in 1924 of presenting these Two Budgets separately.
A fair amount of similarity between the Pension Rules applicable to both these categories of Pensioners (RAILWAY PENSIONERS and DEFENCE CIVILIAN PENSIONERS) the Case for MERGER even stronger. Some Defence Analysts have been arguing on the similar lines for delinking of the Defence Pensions Budget from the rest of the Defence Budget and to clubit with the Budget of the Central Government’s Civil Pensioners under MoF’s Demand No 41.The move to merge the railways and other CIVIL PENSIONERS reinforces their argument.
After all, like the Railways’ Budget since 2017, the Defence Budget has always been a part of the Union Budget.
Consequently, there is no reason why the Expenditure on Defence Pensions should not be subsumed in the overall Pension Budget of the Central Government, or at least the liability not borne by the MoF.
Furthermore, since a large proportion of the Defence Budget -22.79% in the current fiscal- 2022-23 is spent on PENSIONS, it eats into the funds for meeting the BASIC OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS, including acquisition of various EQUIPMENT and platforms, AMMUNITION, and other military capabilities.
Conversely, EXCLUSION of DEFENCE PENSIONS from the DEFENCE BUDGET would allow the MoD to save the MONEY earmarked for PENSIONS and to spend it on ACQUISITIONS.
Defence Pensions are Pensions paid from the Defence Services Estimates. 36 percent of amount budgeted for Defence Pensions is on account of DEFENCE CIVILIANS.......
ReplyDeleteDefence Budget Components, PENSIONS are the first to catch the eye because of their spiral increase, some 16-fold, from a modest Rs 7,348 Crore in the Financial Year (FY) 1999-2000....... to Rs 1,19,696 crore in 2022-23........ This is likely to increase even more rapidly due to the pension enhancement of all retirees every five years under the one-rank-one-pension (OROP) scheme initiated by the BJP-led government that assumed power in 2014.
Subject : Defence Civilians Pension
ReplyDeleteQ.Will delinking DEFENCE CIVILIANS PENSION from DEFENCE BUDGET help?
A. DEFENCE CIVILIANS PENSION
will bring them under the purview of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 and Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 which apply to all other Civilian Central Government Pensioners.
A report in the Hindustan Times of July 4, 2022 has said the Ministry of Railways has accepted the recommendation of its Parliamentary Standing Committee to transfer approximately 1.5 million Railways Pensioners-presently governed by the Railway Service (Pension) Rules, 1993- to the jurisdiction of the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoP&PW)......
The obvious rationale for this move is the merger of the Railways’ Budget with the Union Budget 2017, discontinuing the practice started by the British in 1924 of presenting these Two Budgets separately.
A fair amount of similarity between the Pension Rules applicable to both these categories of Pensioners (RAILWAY PENSIONERS and DEFENCE CIVILIAN PENSIONERS) the Case for MERGER even stronger.
Some Defence Analysts have been arguing on the similar lines for delinking of the Defence Pensions Budget from the rest of the Defence Budget and to clubit with the Budget of the Central Government’s Civil Pensioners under MoF’s Demand No 41.The move to merge the railways and other CIVIL PENSIONERS reinforces their argument.
After all, like the Railways’ Budget since 2017, the Defence Budget has always been a part of the Union Budget.
Consequently, there is no reason why the Expenditure on Defence Pensions should not be subsumed in the overall Pension Budget of the Central Government, or at least the liability not borne by the MoF.
Furthermore, since a large proportion of the Defence Budget -22.79% in the current fiscal- 2022-23 is spent on PENSIONS, it eats into the funds for meeting the BASIC OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS, including acquisition of various EQUIPMENT and platforms, AMMUNITION, and other military capabilities.
Conversely, EXCLUSION of DEFENCE PENSIONS from the DEFENCE BUDGET would allow the MoD to save the MONEY earmarked for PENSIONS and to spend it on ACQUISITIONS.