Clarifications and update on the Cabinet decisions on pay and
pensionary issues emanating out of the 7th Central Pay Commission: By
Maj Navdeep Singh
There is a press note floating around
on social media regarding certain decisions taken by the Cabinet related
to pay and pensionary modalities related to the 7th Central Pay
Commission (CPC).
Though many have questioned its veracity, this
is to confirm that it is absolutely a valid document and has been
officially issued by the Ministry of Finance.
That said,
let me run through some of the important decisions taken by the Cabinet,
clarifications thereon and their impact. Please note that the new Pay
Rules issued by the Ministry of Defence do not take into account the
changes in the pay structure or removal of anomalies and these shall be
incorporated through separate amendments in the rules issued on 03 May
2017.
Restoration of Percentage based Disability Pension Rates
The
7th CPC had recommended 'flat/slab' rates of disability pension for the
defence services rather than the ones based upon 'percentage of pay'.
Civil disabled personnel were however retained on the percentage system
as before. As stated earlier, frankly, I never expected this regressive
7th CPC recommendation to be accepted by the Government, but
unfortunately it was. While recommending this aspect, the 7th CPC had
also made unfounded and uncharitable remarks against disabled soldiers
by casting aspersions on those who have incurred disabilities while in
service which was discussed in detail by me earlier in my opeds, here
and here. This resulted in a massive decrease after the 7th CPC
resulting in a payout even lower than 6th CPC rates for almost all
post-2016 retirees of all ranks and also for pre-2016 retirees of
certain ranks. The arbitrariness of this decision becomes evident from
the following chart at the apex levels:
(100% Disability)
Rank | Rates under the
6th CPC as on
31 Dec 2015 | Rates applicable
after the 7th CPC
as on 01 Jan 2016 |
| Lt Gen | Rs 52,560 | Rs 27,000 |
| Head of Central Armed Police Force | Rs 52,560 | Rs 67,500 |
Thankfully,
the then Defence Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar, fully understood the
issue and took personal interest in getting the issue referred to an
Anomaly Committee. The Defence Services HQ as well as the Ministry, and
even civilian employee organisations, supported the resolution of this
anomaly which now stands addressed and the Cabinet has decided to retain
the old system of calculation on percentage basis, that is, 30% of pay
shall remain the disability element for 100% disability. I however do
hope that a protection clause is introduced for pre-2016 retirees of
lower ranks who stood to gain from the slab rates.
Improvement in Pension calculation system for pre-2016 civil and defence retirees
The
Cabinet has also accepted an improvement over and above the system of
pension calculation which was finally effectuated after the 7th CPC.
Rather than basing the pensionary calculations on the "Old Pension X
2.57" formula, an option would be provided to calculate the pension
based upon the notional pay stage from which the employee had retired as
opposed to the minimum of pay as was the system followed till the 6th
CPC. Calculation of pension in this manner would definitely enhance the
pension of civil pensioners and perhaps a small number of defence
pensioners, who, in all probability would be provided the opportunity of
choosing the most beneficial option, that is, the new formula, 2.57
multiplication formula or OROP rates. Contrary to popular perception,
this does not exactly result in OROP for pre-2016 civil employees as is
being projected, since while this is based on notional data, the
military OROP is operated on live date of fresh retirees, moreover while
this system is expected to be revised only after ten years, the
military OROP as per the current scheme is meant to be revised after
every five years.
Issuance of Pay Rules rather than Instructions on Pay
There
were messages that the Chiefs of the Defence Services have been
sidelined and downgraded since the earlier system of issuance of Special
Army Instructions, Special Navy Instructions and Special Air Force
Instructions (SAI/SNI/SAFI) has been discontinued and a new dispensation
of 'Pay Rules' has been initiated. This seems to be the negative
imagination of fertile minds. SAI/SNI/SAFI were never issued under the
authority of the Chiefs of the Defence Services HQ but were always
issued by the Ministry of Defence, that is, the Government of India.
'Orders' such as Army Orders (AO) etc were (and are) issued by the
Defence Services HQ under the power of the Chiefs. The new Pay Rules
have been promulgated under the authority of Article 309 of the
Constitution of India and are statutory in character rather than being
mere executive instructions like was the case till now. With this, the
pay rules of the Defence Services are at par with the statutory pay
rules of the civil services which are also issued under the authority of
Article 309 of the Constitution of India.
Defence Pay Matrix to have 40 stages
The
7th CPC had recommended only 24 stages in the defence matrix while 40
stages were provided to civilians. This anomaly has been rectified and
now the defence pay matrix shall also have 40 stages. This will
particularly be helpful for JCOs towards the retiring years and will
also beneficially affect their pension and other retiral benefits.
Multiplication factor of 2.67
This
anomaly had been rectified earlier for Brigadiers and a multiplication
factor of 2.67 had been applied for the said rank. Now the same benefit
has also been extended to Lieutenant Colonels, Directors to Government
of India and Colonels, that is, Levels 12A and 13 of the Pay Matrix.
Other Anomalies
There
shall be pay protection for the amount of Military Service Pay (MSP) on
promotion from the rank of Brigadier to Major General. It may be
recalled that MSP is not entitled to ranks above the rank of Brigadier.
No decision has been taken by the Government on the aspect of Non
Functional Upgradation till now since the matter is being considered sub
judice. On directions of the Supreme Court, the Government is
re-considering the issue of NFU for Central Armed Police Forces for
which a meeting was recently held. The issue is to be considered by the
Government and the fresh decision is to be placed before the Supreme
Court in August 2017. The most pertinent anomaly of enhancement of
Military Service Pay, especially for JCOs, also remains pending along
with other matters and probably these issues would be clearer after
various anomaly committees submit their reports and a decision is taken
thereafter by the Cabinet. The committee on allowances has already
submitted its report which will now be examined by the Government.
Unlike pay and pension which are admissible retrospectively from 01
January 2016, most freshly rationalized allowances shall only be
admissible prospectively.
This is all I have to say at present,
please DO NOT mail me individual queries on email or social media. You
are free to discuss the above @ the comments section of this post.
Thank You.
Source:
Maj Navdeep Blog
