Soldiers and officers of various army and para-military units like CRPF, BSF, BRO, ITBP, etc. are deployed in remote and far flung areas to protect Borders of India. The soldiers and officers are working day and night without bothering about difficult weather conditions and as they are posted away from their homes and headquarters, there is a constant requirement for them to speak to their family and also to their Headquarters. They use only DSPT service provided by BSNL because there is no other means of communications available in those areas.

Briefing the media here, the Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha said that in order to use the facility of DSPT, the soldiers & officers at present are required to pay monthly fee of Rs.500/- and call charges of Rs.5/- per minute. But, looking at the requirement of Soldiers & Officers and also the heavy cost they have to incur for talking to their family members, government has taken an important decision on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. Shri Sinha said, from Diwali day (19th October, 2017), no monthly fee will be taken for using DSPT service, that is, the current monthly fee of Rs.500/- will be ‘Zero’ from tomorrow. And also, the present telephone charges of Rs.5/- per minute is being reduced to Re.1/- per minute.

With this special Diwali Gift from Government of India, Defence personnel can now talk without worrying for more expenses to their home and their Headquarter. The Minister also wished the jawans and officers and their family members A Very Happy Diwali.

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Recommendations of the Lt Gen Shekatkar Committee were submitted to defence minister Manohar Parrikar

The report also touches upon the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff

In order to enhance their combat capabilities, a key defence ministry panel has made several recommendations including increasing the retirement age of jawans by two years, doing away with manpower in non-combat arms and shutting down military farms.

The recommendations of the Lt Gen Shekatkar Committee were submitted to defence minister Manohar Parrikar almost three weeks ago.

The report also touches upon the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff – who would be the single point contact for the military with the government.

The main aim of the committee was to suggest means to cut down on useless expenditure and use the savings to acquire and enhance fighting capabilities of the army.

One of the most important recommendations of the committee was to increase the retirement age of jawans by two years, which will help the army save a significant amount on pensions and training of personnel.

Army jawans retire after serving a minimum of 17 years and depending upon their promotion while in service.

‘If the recommendations are accepted, jawans and junior commissioned officers till the rank of subedar major will get two more years of service,’ ministry sources told Mail Today.

‘This will reduce the cost of training new jawans along with the problem of providing them reemployment. Of the one million jawans in the army, almost 60,000 retire every year.

‘For two years, the forces can also save on recruiting new manpower,’ they said.

The Shekatkar committee has also suggested ‘optimising’ non-combat support arms in the army such as supply corps, ordnance and electrical and mechanical engineers who service cars and heavy vehicles.

‘Even in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, one can get private agencies close to the border to service and repair army vehicles,’ the sources said.

Same applies for certain functions of the supply and ordnance corps like supplying rations and clothes to the forces.

Their roles can be limited to during war and other critical assignments.

The committee has also recommended abolishing military and dairy farms, where several thousand army personnel and a considerable number of officers are involved in mundane tasks like cattle rearing and growing vegetables.

The committee has also called for downsizing the remount veterinary corps, which looks after horses and mules for ceremonial as well as operations in the higher Himalayan regions of J&K and Arunachal Pradesh.

‘With helicopters and road networks allowing vehicles to reach the last points of border areas and mountains, there is no need to maintain such a large force of mules,’ the sources said.

The NCC is also on the radar of the Shekatkar committee as a large number of officers from the Army are sent there.

‘The committee feels that retiring personnel can be trained and sent there as re-employment. This will save the army the regular personnel for operational duties,’ the sources said.

Source : dailymail.co.uk

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The 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommended the following on disability pension:

The Commission is of the considered view that the regime implemented post VI CPC needs to be discontinued, and recommended a return to the slab based system. The slab rates for disability element for 100 percent disability would be as follows:

The above recommendation has been accepted with the approval of the Cabinet and Resolution dated 30.09.2016 issued accordingly. The 6th CPC dispensation of the calculation of disability element on percentage basis, however, continues for civil side which has resulted in an anomalous situation. The issue has accordingly been referred to the Anomaly Committee.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Neeraj Shekhar in Rajya Sabha today.

PIB

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 544
ANSWERED ON: 18.11.2016

Disability Pension of Soldiers

BALKA SUMAN
R. VANAROJA
PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA
SRINIVAS KESINENI

Will the Minister of
DEFENCE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Government has decreased / reviewed the disability pay / pension of soldiers and war veterans;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the disability pay-scale for soldiers during the Sixth Central Pay Commission and under the Seventh Central Pay Commission;

(c) whether the Government proposes to abolish percentage based disability pension regime and restore the earlier slab based system and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether there is no separate category for disability pension due to war injury and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether there has been anomalies in determining the disability pension for defence personnel under the Seventh Central Pay Commission and if so, the details thereof and corrective measures taken in this regard?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE) IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(a) to (e): Disability element of disability pension is payable for disability in other than war or war like situation whereas war injury element is payable for disability in war or war like situation. With effect from 01.01.2006, the disability element is paid based on 30% of last emoluments drawn for 100% disability which is reduced pro-rata for lower percentages of disability.

The war injury element is paid at 60% and 100% of last drawn emoluments for 100% disability for discharged and invalided out pensioners respectively, which is reduced pro-rata for lower percentages of disability. The service element / service pension is paid in addition to Disability / War injury element.

7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has recommended slab system for disability element for Defence Forces Personnel. However, for civil side, the 6th CPC dispensation of calculation of disability element on percentage basis continues which has resulted in an anomalous situation. The issue has accordingly been referred to the Anomaly Committee.

Source: http://164.100.47.190/loksabhaquestions/annex/10/AU544.pdf

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Details of vacant posts of officers and soldiers in the Armed Forces (excluding Medical and Dental Branch), rank wise are as under:

*against this vacancy in the Army 68,331 recruits are under training.
**against this vacancy in the Navy 2247 recruits are under training.
***against this vacancy in the Air Force 6152 recruits are under training.
Some of the major reasons for shortage in Armed Forces include increase in authorized strength due to new accretions in force level from time to time, availability of attractive alternative career avenues, stringent selection criteria, and difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk.

Government has taken a number of measures to encourage the youth to join the Armed Forces, including sustained image projection, participation in career fairs and exhibitions, media campaign etc. Further, Government has taken various steps to make armed forces jobs attractive. These include implementation of recommendations of the VI Central Pay Commission with improved pay structure, additional family accommodation through Married Accommodation Project (MAP) and improvement in promotion prospects in the Armed Forces.

Number of officers who have taken premature retirement from the Defence Forces during each of the last three years and the current year are as under:

The Indian Defence Forces are suitably equipped, trained and organized to face the operational challenges and carry out their mandated task. Operational preparedness of the Armed Forces is reviewed from time to time based on the threat perception. Further, development of the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces to tackle the entire spectrum of security challenges is an ongoing process.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri MD. Badaruddoza Khan and others in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

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