New Delhi: On Friday, The Congress claimed that the Modi government was crushing the morale of army officers by ‘snatching away’ their pension.
Pointing to a press conference on Friday, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala stated, “The Modi government has become the first regime in history to snatch the pension and alternate career choice after the active help of those officials who protect our country. A letter circulated by the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the office of the CDS has sought suggestions for the same.”
He included, “This Diwali, PM Modi exhorted the country to light a ‘diya’ for our soldiers, but has guaranteed darkness in their lives by attempting to reduce their pension by half.”
अब सेना पर मोदी सरकार के ताजे हमले की इस प्रस्तावना ने झूठे राष्ट्रवादियों का सेना विरोधी चेहरा उजागर कर दिया है : श्री @rssurjewala #न_भूले_हैं_न_भूलेंगे pic.twitter.com/FAEPcAlhsc
— Congress (@INCIndia) November 6, 2020
Surjewala stated, “As per the Modi government’s new proposal, just for those officers who have spent more than 35 years in the Armed Forces service shall be entitled to a ‘Full Pension’. But the reality is, 90 percent of the army officers retire before 35 years of service. In such a circumstance, the Modi government is hatching a conspiracy to deny 90 percent of the army officers their full pension.”
The Congress said at the hour of recruitment in the military, each officer in the Indian Military Academy needs to mandatorily sign a 20-year compulsory bond. An officer following 20 years of service, currently gets 50% of the last drawn salary as pension, however, the Modi government’s new proposition is stealing away 50 percent of that.
The Congress likewise referred to the internal notice for ‘the consideration of the pension in the Armed Forces’. Surjewala stated, “For example, if an officer gets Rs one lakh as their last drawn salary, presently he will get Rs 50,000 as a pension. But BJP’s new proposal shall only give the officer Rs 25,000. Only an anti-army Modi government can indulge in such ruthless brazenness to deduct half the pension of the officers serving the country and insult their valor and sacrifice.”
Surjewala said that the terms of service of the military officers also cannot be modified with ‘backdate’. He added that when 20 years of compulsory service and full pension after 20 years has been prescribed for retirement, then how can the Modi government revise all those conditions of service? This will only lower the morale of our Armed Forces.
The Congress head said there is now a lack of 9,427 officials in all the three-Armed Services of India. The figures accessible for June 2019 show that there is a lack of 7,399 officials in the Army, 1,545 in the Navy, and 483 in the Air Force.
The party stated that in the Armed Forces on an average of 65 percent of the army officials are limited to the position of Lieutenant Colonel. Just 35 percent officials can try to arrive at the post of Colonel or above.
