Govt trashes charge of disability pension for armed forces being reduced

File photo - Representational image

New Delhi: The government tonight rubbished media reports which claimed the disability pension for armed forces has been reduced and said it has rather been "significantly increased" in the case of  90 per cent of the armed forces personnel as per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations.

The increase in disability pension ranges from around 14 per cent to 30 per cent among the personnel below officer rank/junior commissioned officers (PBORs/JCOs), sources said.

"On the issue of disability pensions for the armed forces, there is a lot of negative reporting going around by the usual suspects," the sources said, hours after the opposition Congress attacked the government quoting media reports.

"There was a dramatized article in the media today describing how the pensions of army personnel who participated in the surgical strike get cut drastically if they got severely injured during the surgical strike. But the fact is, that the disability pensions for war injury cases for personnel who have been invalidated have not been touched, according to the recommendations of the 7th pay commission," they added.

The sources said media reports have "tried to create an impression, by selective misquoting, that the disability pensions have been slashed."

"The truth is that the disability pension for non-battle cases has increased for majority of the personnel," they insisted.

The government has accepted recommendations of the 7th pay commission to ensure increase in the disability pensions for majority of the personnel, the sources said, adding the resolution based on the 7th pay commission recommendations has been passed.

The details and the actual order are yet to be issued, they said.

"The increase in disability pensions ranges from around 14 per cent to 30 per cent among the PBORs/JCOs. In fact the disability pension of almost 90 per cent of the armed forces personnel have been significantly increased," the sources said.

Giving an idea about how the disability pensions will "actually increase, once the recommendations of the 7th pay commission are implemented", the sources said for Sepoy, it has increased from Rs 9282 to Rs 12,000, for Havildar, it has increased from Rs 10,542 to Rs 12,000 and for Naik, it has increased from Rs 9680 to Rs 12000.