New Delhi: In a major move, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has tweaked the rules for grant of disability pensions to military personnel by introducing a new nomenclature, ‘Impairment Relief’, while also slashing eligibility criteria for lifestyle diseases like hypertension and heart-related ailments.
The new rules titled, ‘Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pension and Disability Compensation Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2023’, that came into effect from 21 September, have even linked certain diseases to be eligible for disability pension only to specific terrain.
The rules have also made it clear that this emolument will not be treated as ‘pension’ and will stop after the death of the recipient, as is the case even now.
Sources in the know of the matter explained to ThePrint that disability pension will be given to those who are invalided out of service prematurely on medical grounds, while impairment relief will be given to those entitled for it but are discharged or retired in the normal course.
At present, any soldier certified to be having 100 percent disability gets 30 percent extra as disability pension. This emolument reduces as per the disability percentage.
In the case of hypertension, the disability percentage for high blood pressure induced by stress and strain of military service has been reduced from 30 percent to just 5 percent. The minimum required figure for disability pension is 20 percent disability.
For those with hypertension that has led to organ damage, the disability was fixed at 20 percent, down from the 30-100 per cent earlier depending on the kind of organ and the damage.
Hypertension and heart-related issues are considered to be one of the main diseases in militaries across the world due to the nature of stress and strain in the life of their personnel, irrespective of field or peace postings.
The new rules come after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its report published in March, mentioned that nearly 36-40 percent of military officers who retire every year were getting disability pensions as opposed to only 15-18 percent of jawans.
This, the Army sources said, was startling but the numbers were high because several cases were related to lifestyle diseases. However, they did not give a breakup of the figures.
What is interesting is that the new “impairment relief” could end up having tax implications for the beneficiaries. A source familiar with the matter told ThePrint that disability pension is tax-free, but impairment relief may become taxable.
Ex-servicemen up in arms, military responds
The new rules have drawn strong reactions among the ex-servicemen as well as the All India Ex-servicemen Welfare Association (AIEWA) which has objected to the new rules, especially the change in the definition of “invalidation”.
The ex-servicemen association accuses the defence ministry of being regressive, negative, and anti-soldier for coming out with impairment relief” which could also be taxable.
“In the new rules, the disability pension/disability element of pension, which is granted to disabled personnel who retire or are discharged on completion of terms of engagement, shall now be called —‘Impairment Relief’ rather than ‘Disability Pension’, as it has been specially stated that it not be treated as ‘pension’,” AIEWA said in a press note on 21 September.
The note added that the definition of “invalidation” has also been changed “regressively”.
After the AIEWA reaction, the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), which includes the Army, Navy and Air Force, issued a statement on 30 September assuring veterans and their families that the revised rules continue to be beneficial for them.
It said that the rules, which lay down the conditions for awards of deaths and disability compensation to armed forces personnel, were revised and implemented from 21 September.
The rules include the recommendations of a study group, which had members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare and MoD (Finance), assigned to update the entitlement rules by incorporating all relevant policy changes made since 2008, the HQ IDS said.
“No changes have been made either in the type or the amount of death/disability compensation that is awarded to entitled personnel. This will have a prospective effect and takes care of the genuine interest of all our soldiers, veterans and widows,” it added.
However, the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff’s statement has done little to reassure ex-servicemen.
Speaking to ThePrint, one such veteran, who is among the many disabled officers who are legally contesting disability pensions for injuries, disabilities sustained while in service, asserted that the new rules fully subdue the relationship of diseases that happen due to service conditions.
He listed some of these diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, hypertension, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), delayed manifestation of degradation of the body, especially the spine, due to exposure to stress and strain, inclement weather and terrain like Siachen and high-altitude areas.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), another veteran said,“Under the new rules, the widow of a soldier dying of sudden cardiac arrest or due to sunstroke caused by hypertension while patrolling in counter-insurgency duties in Srinagar would not be entitled to Special Family Pension, and the soldier, if survives would not get the disability pension. Earlier, all such disabilities were listed as affected by ‘stress and strain of military service.’
Earlier, if a disability was endured or aggravated due to military service, disability pension was extended to ex-servicemen unless it was caused due to their own negligence. The area of posting did not have any bearing on the death and disability benefits after retirement.
In fact, the Supreme Court, in its several rulings had upheld the right for such a provision to be extended to officers and soldiers, irrespective of their area of service. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), who come under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and serve in the same conditions as the armed forces are also entitled to benefits, irrespective of the place of posting.
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Opposition to new rules
Under the Invaliding from Service section in the new rules, invalidation from service means that the armed forces personnel who are invalided out of service are eligible for the award of Invalid Pension, subject to their completing 10 years reckonable service or being declared medically unfit for service both in military as well as civil.
Invalid Pension is granted to soldiers on disability not linked to service conditions, which means that the death or disability may have occurred while the personnel was on leave.
The AIEWA said that this requirement of 10 years of service to earn an invalid pension was abolished for civilian employees in January 2019 through a gazette notification, but not for defence personnel.
“It has been reiterated that there would be a requirement of 10 years of service to earn an Invalid Pension, a requirement which has already been abrogated for civilian employees in January 2019 without any ifs and buts,” the AIEWA said in a press note.
Therefore, now the 10-year minimum service requirement means that if a person gets disabled in under 10 years, she or he won’t be granted the pension.
The source that ThePrint spoke to also highlighted that the new rules have tightened the conditions for granting special family pensions to the widows of defence personnel.
“So many young and fit personnel are dying due to heart attacks on account of stress and strain in service. The widows of all such personnel will now not get Special Family Pension, which is a higher form of family pension unless the death is in a high-altitude area,” the source said.
The new rules also specify that officer cadets who are boarded out of military training due to disability will receive a monthly ex gratia payment, which is revised from time to time. “However, this is not a pension and will cease upon the demise of the recipient,” it added.
Expressing disappointment at the changes undertaken by MoD, the AIEWA said, “While the government has long professed itself to be a nationalistic, patriotic, and pro-soldier, it seems that the finance department of the MoD is forcing the people at the helm in taking regressive, negative, sadistic, and anti-soldier decisions without due application of mind…”
This, it added, came at a time when the country is almost at the cusp of elections and also facing various security challenges.
The sources, meanwhile, explained that studies have said that military employees die earlier than their civilian counterparts
There are substantial amount of research that show serving in inclement and hostile terrain, extended postings in such conditions and the resultant lack of living with family, inability to cater to domestic commitments, non-responsive civil administration, curtailment of freedom and an excessively strict disciplinary code, either create or impact existing medical conditions of soldiers, they contended.
This, they added, is further aggravated by the stress and strains of service.
Talking about the CAG report — which highlighted that nearly 36-40 percent of retired military officers getting disability pensions as opposed to only 15-18 percent of jawans — an officer, who has dealt with the matters of disability and special family pension, explained to ThePrint the reason for the difference in number.
“The percentage of officers is more than jawans because officers start retiring in their 50s and have a much longer service span, while jawans start retiring in their 30s. Naturally, the incidence of medical conditions would be higher in officers than jawans. Further, even the numbers of disabled soldiers are exaggerated and present a jugglery of data,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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