The 20% disability misconception (Navdeep Blog). Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS (Retd.)

The 20% disability misconception

Defence personnel and Record offices are still under the misconception that a minimum 20% disability is required for earning a disability element of disability pension. This misconception stems from the fact that the said 20% figure is mentioned in Regulations 48 and 173 of the Pension Regulations dealing with grant of disability pension.

However, the said criterion of 20% minimum requirement has already been abrogated with effect from 01-01-1996 but only for invalided personnel. Hence, there is no requirement of minimum 20% disability for earning a disability element for those post-1996 retirees who were invalided from service and such invalided personnel are entitled to a disability element by rounding off the disability to 50% even in case they are medically boarded out with 01% disability. The minimum 20% disability requirement however remains intact for those disabled retirees who have been discharged on completion of terms or have superannuated.

The Govt, after the 5th CPC, had brought disabled defence personnel at par with civilian disabled personnel and had abrogated the minimum 20% requirement for earning a disability element for those personnel who were invalided. The reason for this was that normally it is not expected from the authorities to invalid out personnel with disabilities less than 20%, hence the govt had taken a considered decision that if such a situation arose then such invalided personnel shall be given the benefit of disability element with rounding off to 50% even if the disability was 01%.

This becomes clear from the heading of Para 7 and Para 7.2 of Govt of India, MoD Letter dated 31-01-2001 which provides that disabilities ‘less than 50%’, (that is, without any minimum criterion of 20%) would be reckoned as 50% for disability element purposes. Further the heading of Para 8 read with Para 8.1 and more particularly Para 8.2 clearly stipulate that in cases of individuals retained in service (and not invalided), no disability element shall be paid for disabilities below 20%. This condition of minimum 20% has only been imposed in Para 8 (retirement / discharge cases) and not in Para 7 (invalidation cases).

Though the office of the PCDA(P) and the MOD are both aware of the abrogation of the 20% criterion and are granting the benefit whenever papers are processed to them, many Record offices remain unaware of the same and are not sending the documents for continuation of disability pension in invalidation cases where the disability has fallen below 20% or when the disability was initially assessed at below 20% but still the person was invalided out.

Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS (Retd.)
President.
Ex-Soldiers, Sailors & Airmen Association.
Mob. 098554-09128, Tele-fax 0175-5000896.

Questions regarding pension of veterans raised in Lok Sabha and reply by the Defence Minister.

Discrepancies in One Rank One
Pension Scheme
†1645. SHRIMATI SUSHMA
SWARAJ:
DR. M. THAMBIDURAI:
SHRI ARJUN SETHI:
Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has fullyimplemented
One Rank One PensionScheme;
(b) if so, whether the personnel of all the three services
in various ranks will be equally benefited by the scheme;
(c) whether some discrepancies in thescheme have been
brought to the notice ofthe Government;
(d) if so, the details thereof includingthe details of representations
received inthis regard; and
(e) the steps being taken by the government to remove the
discrepancies.

The minister said that after a Committee under
Cabinet Secretary considered all the aspects of
One Rank One Pension issue, the proposal was not found
administratively feasible to be implemented as such.
"However, several other recommendations by the Committee
to substantially improve pension benefits of jawans and
commissioned officers have been made, which have been
accepted by the Government," Antony added. These
measures include removal of linkage of full pension from
33 years of service, revision of Lt General pensions after
carving out a separate pay scale for them and removal
of cap on war injury element of pension.

Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
Mob.098554-09128,Tele-Fax.0175-5000896.

Pre-2006 Disability Pensioners may hope for something good in respect of Disability Pension:Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.

Dear Veteran,
Regards.

Pre-2006 Disability Pensioners may hope for

something good in respect of Disability Pension.

During the 5th CPC regime, disability pension of defence personnel
was calculated on a slab-system basis while civil disability
pensioners were placed on a percentage basis.While defence
personnel were granted disability element @ Rs 2600 for officers,
1900 for JCOs and 1550 for Other Ranks (all rates for 100% disability),
civilians were granted a disability element @ 30% of basic pay. The slab
system was beneficial for some lower ranks of the forces but was not
quite congenial to the overall scenario.Recognising this anomaly,
the 6th CPC rightly recommended that even defence personnel should
be placed on a percentage system of calculating disability element.
However while accepting the new dispensation, the Govt made it
applicable only to post-2006 pensioners while retaining the old slab
system for pre-2006 pensioners. This resulted in a great disparity
between pre and post-2006 disabled personnel. To take an example,
a General who may have retired on 31 December 2005 was entitled to a
disability element of Rs 5880 per month while a General who retired
a day later with the same disability on 01 January 2006 was entitled
to Rs 27000 as disability element. The injury is the same, the rank
is the same but the disability element, well.The above seemed even
more unjustified in the light of the fact that when the percentage
system was introduced for civil disability pensioners in the 5th CPC,
it was made applicable to pre-1996 (pre-5th CPC) pensioners as well.
Moreover when the 6th CPC had tried to remove this anomaly between
defence and civil disability pensioners, the said rectification had
to date back to the inception of the anomaly (1996) and not from
a prospective date. The Hon’ble Courts have also time and again ruled
that when an anomaly is rectified, it has to date back to the time when
such an incongruity came into being and not from the date when the
decision of such rectification is taken.Thankfully, there are indications
that the new stipulation is going to be extended to pre-2006 disability
pensioners too, very soon. Personnel who retired prior to 01 January 2006
would then also be placed on a percentage system for calculation of
disability element. Of course this shall be subject to a minimum grant
of Rs 3100 as disability element for 100% disability. This should take care
of a very major grey area as far as our disability pensioners are concerned.

Veteran Prabhjot Singh Chhatwal PLS Retd.
President,
Indian Ex-Services League,Punjab & Chandigarh.
Mob.098554-09128,Tele-Fax.0175-5000896.