Disability pension for defence forces at par with civilians

The government has accepted the recommendations of a panel that parity with civilians for the grant of disability element to the defence forces under the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) should be maintained, according to an official statement today.
The armed forces have been pressing for reverting to the percentage-based regime for disability pension and were strongly opposed to the slab-based system conceived by the 7th CPC.
The matter was referred to the National Anomaly Committee (NAC) by the Ministry of Defence to decide methodology for calculation of disability element of disability pension under the 7th CPC.
"The National Anomoly Committee has recommended that parity with civilians for grant of disability element which was granted to the defence forces under the 6th CPC shall be maintained.

"The recommendations of the NAC have been considered by the government," said a statement by the Department of Ex- Servicemen Welfare (DESW) under the defence ministry.
Heeding to a major demand of armed forces personnel, in May this year, the government decided to continue with an earlier system of disbursing disability pension and not to go ahead with a new regime recommended by the seventh CPC.
The Ex-Servicemen Health Contributory Scheme (ECHS) has launched 'Complaint and Litigation Reduction Scheme (CLRS)', for the grievance redressal of veterans and their dependents.
"This will assist us in our increased focus on formulation of caring policy and implementation initiatives preserving the time and resources of our veterans who have served the nation in a selfless manner," an army official said.