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Enhanced pensions elude former soldiers

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Over 12 lakh prematurely retired soldiers are enduring a long wait for enhanced pensions despite assurances from the former Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. The increased pension, announced on Republic Day this year, is seen as an initiative to improve the lot of pre-1996 retirees who get reduced pension because of fewer years of service.

The Ministry of Defence says it did the requisite paperwork in time and the onus was on other departments to arrange for speedy disbursal. The new arrangement substantially increases the pension of junior ranks — a jawan will get about Rs. 600 more a month and Naiks Rs. 400. It is this category, which is finding it difficult to make the ends meet in civilian life due to small land holdings and inability to develop a second skill for life after retirement.

"I suspect the exercise will be completed by the end of the year. By that time 50,000 beneficiaries would have died. Payment to legal heirs is permitted, but the process is a can of worms,'' said Gen. (Retd.) Surjit Singh. He was among the retired officers who took up their cause and wrote to Mr. Mukherjee in August on the implementation of an electoral promise made by the Congress in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

It took Mr. Mukherjee's intervention to begin disbursements from a few centres in the metros. But the bulk of the beneficiaries may have to wait for a couple of months, as payment advice has reached only four banks so far.

Sources said though the 83 revised pension tables were immediately made on the computer, more time was taken, as they had to be prepared manually to conform to the audit rules.

Thereafter, the Defence Printing Press took four months to print just 65,000 copies because "they have their own priorities based on the total work with them," according to the former Defence Minister.

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