PCDA advises Pension Disbursing Agencies to step up the casualty Pensionary Award of the affected Pre-2006 pensioners/family pensioners

Revision of Casualty Pension in respect of Pre-2006 Defence Pensioners – Armed Forced Officer and JCOs/ ORs Pensioners / Family pensioners.

PCDA has released a Circular No.560 dated 08.06.2016 revising the Casualty Pension in respect of Pre-2006 Officers & family pensioners.

Office of the Principal CDA(Pensions)
Draupadi Ghat, Allahabad- 211014

Circular No. 560

Dated: 08.06.2016

To,

1. The Chief Accountant, RBI, Deptt. Of Govt. Bank Accounts, Central office C-7, Second
Floor, Bandre- Kurla Complex, P B No. 8143, Bandre East Mumbai- 400051

2. All CMDs, Public Sector Banks including IDBI Bank

3. Nodal Officers, ICICI/ HDFC/ AXIS/ IDBI Banks

4. Managers, All CPPCs

5. Military and Air Attache, Indian Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal

6. The PCDA (WC), Chandigarh

7. The CDA (PD), Meerut

8. The CDA, Chennai

9. The Director of Treasuries, All States.

10. The Pay and Accounts Officer, Delhi Administration, RK Puram and Tis Hazari, New Delhi

11. The Pay and Accounts Office, Govt of Maharashtra, Mumbai

12. The Post Master Kathua (J&K)

13. The Post Master Camp Bell Bay

14. The Pr. Pay and Accounts Officer, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Port Blair

Subject: Revision of Casualty Pensionary awards in respect of r/o Pre-2006 Armed Forced Officer and JCOs/ ORs Pensioners/ Family pensioners.

Reference: This office Circular No. 503 dated 17.01.2013,    Circular No.542 dated.27.05.2015, Circular No. 547 and 548 dated 11.09.2015.

******

Copy of GOI, MOD letter No. 16(01)/2014/D(Pen/Pol) dated 18th May, 2016 on the above subject is forwarded herewith for further necessary action at your end.

2.          As per provisions contained in GOI, MOD letter No. 17(4)/2008(1)D (Pen/Policy)/Vol-V dated 15.02.2011 issued in implementation of Government decision on the recommendations of 6th CPC, under which minimum guaranteed rates of various casualty pensionary awards for Pre-2006 Armed Forces Officers and JCOs/ ORs have been provided on the basis of the minimum of the pay in the pay band plus Grade Pay, Military Service Pay & ’X’ Group Pay where applicable. After issue of GOI, MOD of letters No.1(11)/2012/D(Pen/Pol) dated 17.1.2013, No.1(04)/2015(I)- D(Pen/Pol) dated 03.09.2015 and No.1(04)/2015(II)-D(Pen/Pol) dated 03.09.2015, the basis of the minimum guaranteed pension under Modified Parity has been changed as minimum of the fitment  table for the rank in the revised pay structure issued for implementation of recommendation of 6th CPC instead of the minimum of the pay band.

3.           Further, in respect of disability pensioners, the minimum guaranteed rates of Disability Element/  Liberalized  Disability Element/  War  Injury  Element were already  revised  w.e.f. 24.09.2012 vide GOI, MoD letter No. 16(01)/2014/D(Pen/Pol) dated 10.04.2015 at the rates of the minimum of the fitment table for the rank in the revised pay structure issued for implementation of recommendation  of  6th CPC  instead  of  minimum  of  the  pay band.  Similarly,  the  minimum guaranteed Special Family Pension, Dependant Pension (Special), Liberalized Family Pension, Dependent Pension (Liberalized) & Second Life Awards (in case of JCOs/ ORs in respect of pre-2006 family pensioners of Commissioned Officers and JCO/ORs were also revised with reference to minimum of the fitment table for the rank in the revised pay band w.e.f.  24.09.2012 vide GOI, MOD letter No 1(16)/2012/D(Pen/Pol) dated 17.01.2013.

4.           Accordingly,  the  rates  of  Casualty  Pensionary  Awards of  all  Pre-2006  Disability pensioners/ Family Pensioners shall be revised with effect from 01.01.2006 on the basis of minimum of fitment table for the rank in the revised Pay Band as indicated under fitment tables annexed with SAI 1/S/2008 & SAI 4/S/2008 as amended and equivalent instructions for Navy and Air Force.

5.           General Guidelines: Implementation regarding revision of various elements of pension may be done keeping in view the following general guidelines:

(i)           Applicability:  These  Orders  are  applicable  to  all  Pre-2006  Armed  Forces  Officer, JCOs/ORs and their families who were/ are in receipt of Disability Pension/ Liberalized Disability Pension/ War Injury Pension, Special Family Pension/ Dependent Pension (Special)/ Liberalized Family Pension/ Dependent Pension (Liberalized)/ Second Life Award  of SFP/ LFP(in case of JCOs/ ORs ) on 01.01.2006 and onwards.

(ii)          Non Applicability:

The provisions of this letter do not apply in the following cases: –

a)          UK/ HKSRA pensioners.

(b)          KCIOs who are in receipt of pension in Pound or Sterling as on 01.1.2006.

(c)          Persons in receipt of Compassionate Allowance/ Guzara/ Reservists Allowance or any other allowance on which relief is not payable.

(iii)         Due/ Drawn Statements:

All  the  payments  already  made  shall  be  adjusted  by  preparing  due  and  drawn statement.  A  suitable entry regarding revised  Special  Family  Pension  /  Dependent  Pension (Special)/ Liberalized Family  Pension/ Dependent Pension (Liberalized ) /Second Life Award (in case of  JCOs/ ORs ) and Disability Pension/ Liberalized Disability Pension/ War Injury Pension should be made in Check Register/ Payment Register/ Pension Payment Scroll/ Pension Certificate etc.

(iv)         Over Payments/ Recovery of:

Any overpayment of pension coming to the notice or under process of recovery shall be adjusted in full by the Pension Disbursing Agencies against arrears becoming due on revision of pension on the basis of these orders.

(v)          Life Time Arrears (LTA):

If a pensioner to whom benefit accrues under the provisions of this letter, had already died on or after 01.01.2006, the PDAs will itself revise the pension as per this order and LTA may be paid to the family pensioners or his/ her heir. Payment of LTA shall, however, be regulated as per the extant Government orders on the subject matter.

(vi)         No Revision where Pre-revised Pension is more beneficial:

In cases where pension has been finally sanctioned under the pre-revised orders and if it happens to be more beneficial than the pension becoming due under these orders, the pension already sanctioned shall not be revised to the disadvantage of the pensioners.

(vii)        No additional Commutation –

No commutation will be admissible for the additional amount of pension accruing as a result of this revision. The existing amount of pension commuted, if any, would continue to be deducted from the consolidated pension while making monthly disbursements.

(viii)         Elements to be revised by the Pension Disbursing Agencies:

(a)         Disability Element/ War Injury Element   (ANNEXURE- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

(b)         Special  Family  Pension/  Liberalized  Family  Pension/  2nd    life  Award  (JCOs/Ors)

(ANNEXURE–A, B, C)

(c)         Special    Family    Pension/    Liberalized    Family    Pension/    Dependent    Pension

(Commissioned Officers)  (ANNEXURE– D)

Note-1: The amount of Disability Element already commuted out of pre-revised disability element should be deducted from the revised disability element till restoration of commuted portion of pension.

2: Tables given as Annexure 1 to 7 are for 100% disability/War Injury Element. For disability/War Injury Element lesser than 100%, the same shall be proportionately reduced.

3: The rounding off benefit for disability percentage, if applicable, under rules shall also be given.

(IV)        Dearness Relief:

Dearness Relief shall be admissible on the revised rates sanctioned from time to time vide Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension (Deptt. of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare) while calculating dearness relief on Casualty Pensionary Award.

6.           Cases to be referred to concerned Pension Sanctioning Authorities:

(a)          Disability Pension:

In cases where permanent disability is not less than 60%, the Disability Pension (i.e. total of Service Element revised in terms of Para-2.1 of GOI, MOD letter dated 04.05.2009 as amended from time to time plus Disability Element) shall not be less than 60% of minimum of the fitment   table   for   the   rank   in   the   revised  pay   structure   issued  for   implementation   of recommendation  of 6th   CPC  corresponding  to  the  pre-revised  scale  held  by Armed  Forces Personnel at the time of retirement/ discharge/ invalidment, subject to minimum of ` 7,000/- p.m. In such cases where aggregate of service element and disability element is less than 60% of minimum of the fitment table, such cases are required to be stepped up to 60% of minimum of the fitment table. As the corrigendum PPO will be required to be issued by the concerned Pension Sanctioning Authorities therefore, these cases shall be referred to the respective Pension Sanctioning Authorities for revision of pensioner.

(b)          Liberalized Disability Pension:

In cases where aggregate of Service Element (i.e. total of Service Element revised in terms of Para-2.1 of GOI, MOD letter dated 04.05.2009 as amended from time to time plus Disability Element) is less than 80% of the minimum of the fitment table for the rank in the revised pay structure issued for implementation of recommendations of 6th CPC, corresponding to pre-revised scale held by Armed Forces Personnel at the time of retirement/ discharge/ invalidment, such cases may be stepped upto 80% of minimum of the fitment table. As the corrigendum  PPO  will  be  required  to  be  issued  by  the  concerned  Pension  Sanctioning Authorities,  therefore,  these  cases  shall  be  referred  to  the  respective  PSAs  for  revision  of pension.

(c)          War Injury Pension:

All cases of War Injury Pension, irrespective of their qualifying service shall be forwarded to the concerned Pension Sanctioning Authorities through respective Record Offices in  ANNEXURE attached to this circular as the restriction of aggregate of War Injury Pension (Service Element plus War Injury Element) with reference to minimum of fitment table in the revised pay structure applicable from 01.01.2006 is applied till 30.06.2009.   However, the same is removed with effect from 01.07.2009 vide  GOI,  MOD letter No.  10(01)/D(Pen/Pol)/2009/Vol.II dated 19.01.2010.   In such cases, Pension Disbursing Agencies may not able to revise the War Injury Element as well as Service Element under these Government orders; therefore, such cases shall also be referred to the concerned Pension Sanctioning Authorities for revision of War Injury Pension through corrigendum PPOs or issue of instructions as the case may be.

Other cases:

7.           In cases, where Pension Disbursing Agencies are in doubt regarding the revision in individual case, the concrete cases with full details of pensioners and PPO number may be referred to:-

(i)            Pr. CDA(P) Allahabad:

All types of cases pertaining to the Commissioned Officers(Army) and Air Force & Navy (retired prior to 01.11.1985) to the O I/ C, G-1/ Military Section O/o the PCDA(Pensions) Draupadi Ghat, Allahabad- 211014 and O I/ C, G-3 Section for disability pension /War Injury Pension pertaining to the JCOs/ORs (Army) & Air Force/Navy personnel(invalided out/discharge prior to 01.11.1985). The details of officers to whom cases will be referred are as under: –

(ii)         PCDA (Navy), Mumbai:

Cases pertaining to the Commissioned Officers and PBORs of the Navy retired on or after 01.11.1985 may be forwarded to;

Smt. Vandana Shetty, Sr.AO

O/o the PCDA (Navy) Mumbai-400039

(iii)         CDA (AF), New Delhi:

Cases pertaining to the Commissioned Officers of the Air Force and PBOR  retired on or after 01.11.198 may be forwarded to;

8.           Pension  Disbursing  Agencies  are  hereby authorized to step  up  the  casualty Pensionary Award of the affected Pre-2006 pensioners/family pensioners whose existing pension is less than the rate of pension indicated in Annexures attached to this Circular.

9.            All other terms and conditions shall remain unchanged.

10.         The provisions of this letter shall take effect from 01.01.2006 and arrears, if any, shall be allowed from 01.01.2006 up to 23.09.2012.

11.      This  circular  has  been uploaded  on this  office  website  www.pcdapension.nic.in  for dissemination to all alongwith Defence pensioners and Pension Disbursing Agencies.

No. Gts/Tech/05/LXXVI, Dated: 08.06.2016

(Nasim Ullah)
Asst. Controller (Pensions)

Download PCDA Circular No.560 dated: 08.06.2016

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Good News for Pre-2006 Pensioners – Indian Military Info article on comparison of Ministry of Personnel and Defence Ministry in dealing with Pension issues

Most readers would be aware that the orders regarding calculation of pension of pre-2006 retirees based on minimum of pay within the pay band for each separate grade/rank and not on minimum of the pay band itself, with arrears from 01-01-2006 rather than 24-09-2012, were issued for Central Government pensioners in July 2015 by the Government as per the decision of the Delhi High Court, which essentially followed a decision of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, and then upheld by the Supreme Court. The High Court had held that the anomaly (though later removed by the Government itself from 24-09-2012) had to be removed from the date of the inception of the anomaly, that is, 01-01-2006. Similar orders were later issued by the Ministry of Defence.

On a similar analogy, many decisions by various Benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal (and then upheld by the High Courts) were rendered de-linking the service requirement of 33 years for grant of full pension for pre-2006 retirees at par with post-2006 retirees for whom there is no such requirement. Some Special Leave Petitions preferred by the Government against such orders were also dismissed, though not by way of detailed decisions. The Punjab  Haryana High Court had also passed a detailed verdict on the same subject for pensioners of the Central Armed Police Forces. Till date, the pensions of pre-2006 pensioners with less than 33 years of service (including weightage) were being calculated by way of proportionate reduction.

Through this earlier post dated 22-01-2016, in view of multiple queries in this regard, I had informed by way of general information that the matter of issuance of orders on this subject for similarly placed retirees was being examined by the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Law & Justice and Ministry of Finance.

The Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare has now issued universal orders giving effect to the judicial decisions of the High Courts and has removed the requirement of 33 years service for full pension. Now, irrespective of length of service, all pre-2006 pensioners shall be eligible for full pension as is admissible to those pre-2006 pensioners who had rendered 33 years or more service including weightage. Full arrears are also admissible with effect from 01-01-2006. The biggest gainers would be voluntary retirees and those released from service on medical grounds or before completing full service. Similar orders should now be issued for defence pensioners also by the Ministry of Defence.

A word of caution- This change would not affect the concept of One Rank One Pension (OROP) applicable with effect from 2014 since while this development is based on 50% of minimum emoluments introduced by the 6th Central Pay Commission for each grade, the concept of OROP is based on live data of actual pension based on real time emoluments as per length of service of in-service personnel. Readers are hence requested not to mix up the two dispensations which operate by way of separate dynamics.

We must again place on record extreme gratitude to the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare functioning under Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions which has once again taken a stand for all Central Government pensioners and ensured issuance of universal directions just on simple dismissal of a Special Leave Petition by the Supreme Court even without a detailed order. One cannot also help but compare this with the attitude of the Ministry of Defence which continues to file appeals against its pensioners and disabled pensioners based on artificial distinctions even when the law has been fully settled by the Supreme Court in a plethora of detailed landmark decisions and which also militates against the grain of the opinion expressed by the highest of political executive, including the Prime Minister. I however maintain and retain full hope that the current Raksha Mantri would be able to rein in the unruly horses.

Jai Hind.

Source: Indian Military Info

The post Good News for Pre-2006 Pensioners – Indian Military Info article appeared first on CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS.