Should bureaucracy deny veterans their due The Statesman 18 Jun 19
Should bureaucracy deny veterans their due 18 Jun 19
In a letter of 05 Apr this year, addressed to the Directorate of Ex-servicemen Welfare of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Comptroller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), a part of the same ministry, queries the logic of initiating the OROP revision due on 01 Jul this year, post directions issued by the government. The directions of the government on the granting of OROP to military veterans stated that the same would be equated every five years. The last equation was done with the base of 01 Jul 2014.
Para 3 (a) of the CGDA letter states, ‘Whether there is any logic to initiate process of OROP revision (equalization) once the pension of past and current pensioners has been equated on 01 Jan 16 by the 7th Pay commission.’ Clearly a case of adding confusion where none should have existed. The 7th Pay commission and OROP have nothing in common, nor were they even linked.
The pay commission only revises existing salaries and pensions on a common factor, whereas OROP is meant to equate pensions of earlier retirees with present ones. Revision and equating are vastly different and done at different timeframes. Revision as per the dictionary means ‘correction/alteration’, whereas equating means to make ‘uniform or equal’. The CGDA seeks to add confusion by mixing the two words.
The defence minister was convinced by his bureaucracy to establish a committee to work out modalities and method of next revision of pensions under OROP. It is surprising that he was not explained the difference between revision and equation and its impact on pensions. Evidently, this letter is a preconceived mindset of the bureaucracy aimed at delaying and denying rightful dues to veterans.
While the letter innocently seeks clarification on the procedure for implementation of OROP, methodology for which formed the basis of the last OROP equation, the wording of the letter questions its very concept. Its recommendations hint that OROP should not be granted as the pay commission does the needful at regular intervals. It intermixes revision and equation to add to confusion.
The CGDA is the same organization, which despite over three years of the implementation of the pay commission has been unable to fix anomalies in salaries which arose in its wake. It also seeks this incompetence of itself as a justification to delay equating pensions. In any private organization, such incompetence would have meant sacking of the top hierarchy, but the MoD defends and accepts it. Will the new rules laid down by the Prime Minister of inefficient bureaucrats being given ‘pink slips’ also apply to the CGDA? If it does, then multiple heads should roll.
There have been many cases in the past, when the CGDA has denied rightful pensions to martyrs and war veterans on flimsy grounds, compelling them to approach courts for justice. Sitharaman, as the defence minister, has on occasions promised to stop fighting wasteful cases of pensions in court, yet the organization has not reformed.
One of its latest case of denial of rightful dues to a war veteran is most appalling.
The case began in Dec 99, when militancy was rising in the valley. An operation to flush out militants, infiltrated into an army unit in Baramulla, was launched. In the conduct of the operations, the company commander was injured in the thigh by a bullet fired by a militant from close range. He survived, but the bullet damaged his nerves leading to a paralysis of his left leg. The officer, a battle casualty, continued to serve with the paralysis and is now nearing retirement.
His case for grant of war injury pension due to him being a battle casualty, was sanctioned by Army HQ’s and sent to Principal Controller of Defence Accounts, (PCDA) Pensions, a part of the CGDA, in Apr this year. It was a simple case and should have been cleared. However, bureaucratic blocks began appearing.
PCDA Pensions questioned Army HQs (vide their letter of 12th Jun this year), stating that unless additional documents including proceedings of the court of inquiry conducted in 1999, injury report and charter of duties of that period are not submitted, the case cannot be processed. It has refused to accept that the officer was declared and served as a battle casualty since 1999. For the bureaucrats serving in the CGDA, the injury suffered, and difficulties experienced through life by that officer has no relevance.
If the authority to declare war injury pension to an individual is that of army HQs, which does so after detailed scrutiny of records and analysis of the incident, then does it require another bureaucratic institution to conduct its own at the time of the individual being released from service, 20 years later? What would the PCDA gain by examining these documents.
Would it send its representatives to Kashmir to assess the spot where the incident took place in 1999 (without security cover)? Is it more aware of army rules of conduct of operations that it needs to study the charter of duties in operations?
With a new defence minister sworn in, the bureaucracy and its offshoots have begun playing the game once again. They have tried to mislead the defence minister and the nation by confusing equation and revision of pensions and in the bargain seeking to block release of OROP which was granted after a prolonged agitation by veterans.
Are these actions a case of testing waters as the new defence minister settles in? Is it that the CGDA indicates that it possesses bigger boots than other departments of the MoD?
The defence minister should not have been misled and compelled by his advisors to order a committee but instead given a simple direction to implement government orders. Unless the defence minister acts firm, by either sacking the hierarchy of the CGDA for its failure to resolve anomalies even after three years, or for questioning government decisions, he would only face stumbling blocks throughout his tenure. He needs to send the right message immediately. The question is, will he?
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army