Ex-servicemen association protests changes in disability pension for Defence services

The association has demanded that the letter issued on September 22 be withdrawn immediately. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Bhim Sen Sehgal, chairperson of All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association, pointed out that under the new rules, the disability pension/disability element of pension shall now be called ‘Impairment Relief’. “The definition of Invalidation has also been changed in a regressive manner and it has been reiterated that there would be a requirement of ten years of service to earn an Invalid Pension. This requirement was already abrogated for civilian employees in January 2019,” the letter reads.

“The service connection of disabilities has also been altered, belying medical science and common sense. For example, the existing rules and also the CCS (EOP) rules for civilians, provide that all heart diseases are linked with stress and strain of service without any preconditions attached. However, the new rules of the MoD state that heart diseases shall only be considered as linked with service in case the same occur in high altitude areas ,” the association said in the letter.

The association further added that the anomaly of non-grant of disability pension to officer trainees (cadets) has been continued with even under the new rules. The new rules state that cadets will not be entitled to such disability pension and would instead be entitled to an ex-gratia payment, putting them at a sharp disadvantage to civilian trainees.

The association stated that the non-payment of disability pension to cadets was against Supreme Court decisions and common medical knowledge that the area of service has no link whatsoever in determining the linkage of disability with service and that stress and strain of military service can occur in any place of posting. It added that these new conditions are also diametrically opposite to similar guidelines issued by the Director General of Armed Forces Medical Service (DGAFMS) earlier.

“The judgments, guidelines and global medical knowledge applicable for the last 85 years have suddenly been made to lose their relevance with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, if there are no conditions for similar disabilities for civilian employees, then how and why such intelligent impediments be cleverly introduced for just the Defense Services? Rather than expanding the scope of such disabilities, the Defence Ministry has attempted to go in the opposite directions, which is not in tune with the times we live in,” the association said.