Govt to raise pension of ex-servicemen

In a move that will benefit large sections of ex-servicemen, government today said demands of retired service personnel with regard to 'one rank, one pension' issue have been "substantially" met and pension of those up to the rank of havildar will be raised by Rs 400 to Rs 500 per month.

"Substantial demands on 'one rank, one pension' issue have been met. The increase in pension will cost the government about Rs 460 crore per year," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said addressing the 26th meeting here of the Kendriya Sainik Board, which looks after the well-being of retired defence personnel and their families.

Nearly 60,000 officers and men retire from the armed forces each year and about 80 per cent of them belong to non-commissioned ranks, equivalent to those of sepoys, naiks and havildars in the three services.

These ranks will benefit from the government's decision to raise pension.

Listing out a number of welfare measures being adopted by the Centre for ex-servicemen, Mukherjee said the government had also decided to launch a new 'Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme' for children of retired personnel for their technical and professional education, from the current academic year.

Under this scheme, girls will be entitled to scholarships of Rs 1,500 per month and boys Rs 1,200 per month, the defence minister said.

Commending Bihar and Rajasthan for creating jobs for ex-servicemen including their recruitment in the police force, Mukherjee appealed to the state governments and Union Territories to explore all possible avenues of providing re-employment and extend their various development and welfare programmes to retired soldiers.