Chidambaram announces One Rank One Pension for defence forces

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today allocated Rs 500 crore to the Defence Pension Account in the current financial year itself for implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme for the defence forces of the country. “It is an emotive issue, it has legal implications, and it has to be handled with great sensitivity. During the tenure of the UPA Governments, changes in the pension rules applicable to the defence services were notified on three occasions in 2006, 2010 and 2013. As a result, the gap between pre-2006 retirees and post-2006 retirees has been closed in four ranks (subject to some anomalies that are being addressed): Havildar, Naib Subedar, Subedar and Subedar Major,” Chidambaram said in Parliament.[caption id=“attachment_1394189” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  One Rank One Pension for military. PTI [/caption] The finance minister said the government had decided to walk the last mile and close the gap for all retirees in all ranks. Chidamram said that this decision will be implemented prospectively from the financial year 2014-15. “There is still a small gap in the ranks of Sepoy and Naik and a gap in the ranks of Major and above. We need a young fighting force, we need young jawans, and we need young officers. We also need to take care of those who served in the defence forces only for a limited number of years. Government has therefore decided to walk the last mile and close the gap for all retirees in all ranks. I am happy to announce that government has accepted the principle of One Rank One Pension for the defence forces,” the minister said. “This decision will be implemented prospectively from the financial year 2014-15. The requirement for 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 500 crore and, as an earnest of the UPA government’s commitment, I propose to transfer a sum of Rs 500 crore to the Defence Pension Account in the current financial year itself,” Chidambaram said.