New Delhi: The allocation for defence pension has shot up by a significant 13.6 per cent to Rs 1.33 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2020-21, even though the overall capital budget allocation for the armed forces has seen a marginal increase of just 3 per cent, or Rs 3,400 crore.
The total defence budget this financial year, including pensions, stands at Rs 4.71 lakh crore. Excluding pensions, the defence budget has just increased by 1.82 per cent. The capital outlay for the Army has increased 10.3 per cent, while that for the Navy has risen 2 per cent. The outlay for the Indian Air Force, meanwhile, has decreased by 2.3 per cent.
Defence pensions, including those for civil employees of the defence ministry, are higher than the pay and allowances for the services, which stand at Rs 1.17 lakh crore. Pensions constitute 28 per cent of the overall expenditure of the defence ministry, even higher than the Rs 1.13 lakh crore earmarked for new acquisitions and modernisation of the armed forces.
The Army is the most manpower-intensive service of the three with a strength of 13 lakh personnel, and the pension allocation for it is Rs 1.13 lakh crore. For the Indian Air Force and the Navy, the figures stand at Rs 0.13 lakh crore and Rs 0.072 lakh crore respectively.
Also read: Only 1.82% hike in defence budget could hurt military acquisition & modernisation plans
A matter of concern
Budget documents show that the increase in defence pension is largely because of an increase in pensioners and an impact of dearness relief.
A senior defence officer told ThePrint the services are aware of the burgeoning pensions, and have been looking for plausible solutions.
“We are aware of the problem, but it is difficult to cut down on defence pensions, as they are a factor in motivating defence personnel to serve in difficult conditions,” the officer said.
Calling the increasing defence pension a big concern, another senior officer said that the Army, in particular, has been contemplating ways to optimise engagement of its personnel by increasing the number of service years.
“Instead of taking any drastic measures, the feasibility of increasing the retirement age of soldiers is being studied. This could go a long way in reducing the pensions burden,” the second officer said, adding that increasing the retirement age of non-combatants by a few years is also under discussion.
Also read: 15th Finance Commission to set up expert panel to look at roll-on fund, cess for defence
I think, it is the time to stop all the nonsense talks against the armed force on the defence budgetary allocation and expenditure. Many people are crticising through media that the fund allocation and expenditure of Armed Forces / Ex-servicemen on the high when compared with civilian staff of other departments. If the present Govt feel that it is correct, then, why don,t you think to put an end the services of Armed Forces? Then Pakistan & China will teach you (the people talking against the expenditure of Armed Forces) a lesson. At present, the expdr of Armed Forces & Civilians working under Def Min are being shown combind. It is not correct. Expdr of uniformed Armed Forces should be shown seperately. Because the Armed Forces personnel are retiring at an young age of 40 to 50 whereas, the civilian personnel working under Def Dept ie. MES, DRDO, etc. are retiring at the age of 60. So the public will know about the actual expdr of the Armed Forces Personnel. At the same time, the Central Govt should issue directions to the misleading public to refrain from such loose talks agaist our prouded Armed Forces of India.
I think, it is the time to stop all the nonsense talks against the armed force on the defence budgetary allocation and expenditure. Many people are crticising through media that the fund allocation and expenditure of Armed Forces / Ex-servicemen on the high when compared with civilian staff of other departments. If the present Govt feel that it is correct, then, why don,t you think to put an end the services of Armed Forces? Then Pakistan & China will teach you (the people talking against the expenditure of Armed Forces) a lesson. At present, the expdr of Armed Forces & Civilians working under Def Min are being shown combind. It is not correct. Expdr of uniformed Armed Forces should be shown seperately. Because the Armed Forces personnel are retiring at an young age of 40 to 50 whereas, the civilian personnel working under Def Dept ie. MES, DRDO, etc. are retiring at the age of 60. So the public will know about the actual expdr of the Armed Forces Personnel. At the same time, the Central Govt should issue directions to the misleading public to refrain from such loose talks agaist our prouded Armed Forces of India.
Little introspection on justification of the defence pension which constitué 28percent of total defence budget. They are getting pension amount even more than their sallary when they were in service. For a developing nation which have considerable percentage of people not having two square meals in a day this is totally unjustified considering that during the service time they get all facilities free accommodation nearly free ration free servant’s and nearly free education for children in top of it all medical needs are taken cared.Considering all these factors it’s not a favour which they do twrds the nation but on the contrary it’s otherwise.The govt should introspect deeply and instead of rasing taxes on common man engaged in job or business they should cut this pension expenditure at least by 50percent.All thèse expenses are payed through taxes imposed on comman man engaged in business and various jobs in fact it is the ordinary citizens who are paying for there pension.So in income of ordinary person had been affected why not the pension percentage of defense personals be proportionately be reduced. But the problem is who is going to bell the cat.
Sorry notavibledefinepensionyoupaidbybankandgovrmenttowaitsyndicatebankforwaiting
A country has to maintain strong armed forces . We can’t forget 1962 and pakis would have snatched J and K in 1965 , but for brave soldiers. It’s the young officers who lead young soldiers to achieve goal set by their superior officers. Only way is to avoid massive payment of pension to young soldiers is to re- recruit them in paramilitary and state police . Our politicians have to rise above their personal needs of filling their coffers by taking recruitment bribe and all kind of riffraffs become policemen though huge manpower , fully trained and disciplined is available . Increase age of front line soldiers will be retrograde step as oldies don’t fight war and sacrifice themselves for any cause. Need to think in national interest and not personal . In place of IPS shelter posting , government must utilise ex defence officers in paramilitary forces.
No one can deny the fact that the army is the most hard work force among the defence forces in the world especially in India their 15 years service is equivalent to 30 years service of civil employment yet they get the same amount of benefits the pesent govt at the centre have done more to the defense personal s for which we are very great full I would request the finance minister to grant free railway warrant at least to exservice men who are boarded out medically and awarded pension irrespective of their percentage of disability ,the personal s in this category comes to a few thousands thank you
No government is ready to consider the OROP anamallies.
Mr gerd
How can you talk in such derogatory terms for civilian. I think you are in narcissist state of mind and think that armed forces are only institution loyal to nation. Each citizen has the same level of nationalism and they don’t need to prove it.
Why this misconception about defence pension arises! Do govt has done case study and discussed with top level defence official to know the fact. It is due to lack of better pay perks and lack of carrier prospect promotion to personnel below officer rank. If various issues are looked into at par with civilian counterpart then obviously number will reduce. After all why people leaving service is a big matter of concern and need to be addressed.
The pensions out of the defence budget should be tagged as combatants pensions and defence civilians pensions and allocations made under these two heads. When the allocations are made in this manner a lucid picture will emerge and the bogey of expenditure on defence pensions will stand exposed before the country.
Govt. Should not keep civilian employees under the name banner of Ministry of Defence . They are non combatant and not going to be veteran warriors. In stead of them keep exservicemen and testing equipments bring OEMs like HAL, BEL , Test range call their engineers and managers suitably and will hand over it to ex servicemen. This non combatant
Appointment is increasing whole pension outlay and that is on the name of Ex servicemen.
Similarly , Indian Coast Guard was constituted
Under Ministry of Home Affairs like Other Para Military Forces but now it is working under Ministry of Defence. They are not Military Service Pay. In this present scenario they should be paid with MSP too, but not . If Ministry of Defence has its present services at present then it should be Indian Army , Indian Navy , Indian Airforce and Indian Coast Guard.
Otherwise Indian Coast Guard should be merged with Indian Navy. These hidden figures
are increasing the defence pension outlay on the name of Combatants.
Army officer is using Jawans as their personal servant . Why they are not stopping this nonsense? Their salry is total waste to this nation and shall be severely punished.
What about OROP Revision, which was due Jul 19, this government is only knows how to take, not interested to give anything
What if free packages given to armed personnel to be withdrawn and not to post armed forces in peace station, automatically expenditure will be reduced. Why armed forces think that civilians are lower grade people than them. In fact civilians are working much harder than they get in return. They are also posted in border and difficult areas. Armed forces must stop thinking themselves superior than their civilian counterparts. After all both are serving this nation,
Sir, at the time of war, natural calamities, and other emergencies no civilian employee is risking their lives.
No civilian employee undergors the hard training both physically and mentally. Please don’t compair civilian employe with a unformed service personal.
Civilian employees od the MoD are the real burden. They are dead load and should be removed. Check the percentage of kitty they eat away and per capita payment of pension to get the real shocking picture.
45% if defence pension layout is consumed by 22% of defence civilians.
The Govt needs to seriously consider reducing the number of Civilians in MOD ,DEFENCE PSUs and others drawing salary and pension from the Defence Budget!
Each time budgetary allocation is made there is an out cry for Down Sizing and the numbers in Uniform are reduced while civilians are not talked about!?
Similarly, there is never a comment on the budget allocation for CAPFs who have been expanding year after year!
A holistic view is seriously required, mere lip service will not do.
Sir, in my opinion, educated and experienced ex-service officers / men can be accommodated as resettlement jobs with half salary in place of civilian posts on their superannuation. The ex-servicemen are getting pension. So they need not be paid full salary and other allowances/perks ie., they can manage with their pension and the present half salary. By adopting above procedure through a govt order, the civilian manpower can be cut into small sizes / reduce the expenditure of civilians salary/pension for the exchequer. On the other hand, a big problem faced by the Central / State Govts for resettlement of the ex-servicemen can be solved. Because, the ex-servicemen are deserved for it due to the following reasons. Civilians and personnel in uniform are being appointed in service at a younger age. But civilians are being retired at the age of 60 years or above with higher amount of pension due to their long service. Due to their long service, they can solve all their family problems / liability like children’s education and marriage Whereas, the combatants are compelled to leave the service in young age of 45 – 50 years due to their service conditions. So naturally they will get small amount of pension which is insufficient to meet survival of their family. They have to meet all their family requirements with the only small amount of pension.
What about Budgetory allocation for revised OROP? or Govt.is not interested to take the task of revise OROP?
Masai ,
It is a very a strong question. It is unable to give sweetable reply particularly for BJP govt . They have one timepass reply that is they organined one commitee who will have been looking into the matter till the next govt will come.
Why are you worried about defence expenditure. There are people and the government who will take care of the defence.
This is a grossly misleading article. Civilian defence pensioners being paid from the Def Pensioners budget consume 40% of the amount, while the numbers of civilian pensioners comprises just about 20% of the total persons being paid from defence pensions. The concern should be rising civilian pensions and NOT veterans’ pensions!
What happened to OROP in this budget
Why are the Figures for Defence Civilians not revealed. These Parasites even if in a lower pay grade get more Pension because they serve for 35 to 40 years ie till age Sixty. Hence they rise to the top of their payband. As they are not subjected to the rigours of Army life, their life expectancy too is more. Has Govt ever ordered a Study on how many years on Average do Defence Civilians draw Pension vis a vis the Armed Forces Combatant Retirees.
And why retire Jawans at 40, Officers at 53 and recruite civilians in MoD. This problem could be addressed by absorbing all non essential Defence Retirees into Military Engineering Services, Defence Estates, Defence Accounts, MoD, Cantt Boards, Canteen Services thus retaining them in Service till Sixty and reducing the Pension Bill as well as burden on additional civilian recruitment.
But the Parasitic Deep State consisting of Civilian Bureaucracy and Allied Services have a Stranglehold on Defence Services. Yet the Armed Forces get the blame. If this undeserving country considers the Army a burden then Shut it down. The Chinese will teach you the Value of Protecting National Security and Economic Interests.
But after all we have Gujarati Banias running the Country. Will they even understand the value of the Armed Forces ?
Thank u for your comment sir.