As per the requirement of 7th CPC we have to submit a reply to questionnaire immediately and to submit a memorandum separately on or before 30.06.14 before the 7th CPC. However our Unit Secretaries are requested to intimate urgently as to whether it is required to submit another memorandum separately apart from the above on the similar views expressed by Paramilitary Forces(their memorandum is reproduced below) or otherwise?.
MEMORANDUM
Grant of One Rank one Pension to Paramilitary Forces
The PARAMILITARY FORCES RETIRED OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, CHANDIGARH, hailed
the grant of ‘ ONE RANK ONE PENSION’ to the three wings of the defence
service personnel , and termed it as the right move on the part of the
government. However, they rued the govts apathy for not extending the
same to the Paramilitary Forces,{ Armed Forces of the Union of India
under Ministry of Home Affairs, viz Border Security Force (BSF),
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF),Central Industrial Security Force (CISF),
Assam Rifles ( A R )}. These Armed forces have the same structural
features, same command and control elements, serve under similar harsh
service conditions, and are subject to stringent legal provisions as per
their respective Acts under which these forces were raised, as the
army. In spite of the similarities in the duties performed by the PMFs,
these forces are deprived of privileges extended to defence services and
discriminated in numerous ways, as listed below:
(a). The Paramilitary Forces had been raised under the Central Acts of
the Parliament, and designated as ‘ Armed Forces of the Union’, and
placed under the control of Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA), in view of
international ramifications. For example, BSF was raised under the BSF
Act, 1968 (Act 47 of 1968).This Act is almost a replica of the Army Act.
Similar is the case with other forces which constitute the Armed Forces
of the Union (as per their respective Central Acts). It was later that
MHA added the word ‘Police’ before the actual designation of these
central forces, to forestall any international ramifications. However,
the service conditions of all these forces are akin to the army, with
same stringent conditions of service, as applicable to the Army.
(b) The ‘ Armed Forces’ or the ‘Central Armed Police Forces’( CAPFs),
are deployed to safeguarding the nation externally as well as
internally, ensuring the security of the borders of India, and for
maintaining internal peace and are placed under the control of Ministry
of Home Affairs. The task very much akin to Defence services.
(c) The command structure of CAPFs is similar to the army, and so is its
rank structure, except that the ranks in CAPFs have different
nomenclature ( Commandant, Deputy commandant, Assistant commandant,
Subedar, S I etc). The command and control system in a battalion of CAPF
is also similar to the army battalion. Under these conditions, when the
juniors start getting more pension than the seniors, it violates the
hierarchy of command system, as is applicable to all Armed Forces,
whether under the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Home Affairs.
It is a well establish dictum based on the Supreme Court judgement of
1982 and accepted by the Central Govt, that,” pension is not a bounty
nor a matter of grace depending upon the sweet will of the employer. It
is not an ex-gratia payment, but a payment for past services rendered”.
In another judicial ruling, it has been stated that different criteria
for grant of unequal pay / pension for the same rank on the basis of
cut-off date of retirement violates Article 14 (equality before law) of
the constitution. All pensioners irrespective of rank are entitled to
same pension. In the case of defence services, the govt has, rightfully,
realized the truth of this fact, and given succor to the pre-2006
defence pensioners to come up to the level of their post 2006 retirees
of equivalent rank and status by granting them ‘One rank one Pension’.
However, the personnel of CAPFs, who have equitable dispositions,
command structure, rank system and nature of duties are grossly ignored,
discriminated and forced to face the ignominy of far less emoluments
vis-à-vis their juniors retiring post-2006. The govt has also termed the
retired personnel of CAPFs as ‘ex-servicemen’ on the analogy of defence
forces, vide Govt of India, MHA, O M No 27011/100/2012-R&W, dated
23 Nov, 2012 . Denial of any incentive to the ex-servicemen of CAPFs as
extended to the ex-servicemen of Defence Armed Forces is most unfair.
(d) The CAPFs, such as BSF, ITBP, SSB, A R are deployed on the borders
with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar, and CRPF is actively
engaged in counter insurgency operations, Naxalite menace, and also
manning high altitude posts in the north-east. BSF, CRPF, ITBP and A R
have been actively engaged in the wars that have taken place in the past
(1965, 1971 and Kargil Operations in
1999). These forces have suffered heavy casualties in the wars, dealing
with trans-border crimes, in anti-Naxalite operation and other such
activities. These duties are akin to the army, which is also responsible
for the guarding of the borders, and are responsible for security of
the nation. In fact, in J & K and in the North-eastern states of
India, the CAPFs are deployed side by side with the army, at times, on
the same location and high altitude mountain features. They perform
their duties in most adverse conditions coupled with threat to their
life either by enemy action, insurgents and the climatic hazards in high
altitude, deprived of domestic life, which leads to deterioration of
the physical and mental ability.
(e) Because of the similarity in the nature of deployments and
performance of duties with the defence services, especially the army,
the personnel of Central Armed Forces require high standard of physical
fitness. To ensure a young profile, these personnel are compulsorily
retired at a younger age of 57 years, compared to their civilian and
Police counterparts where the normal retirement age is 60 years . The
normal superannuation age of the Defence Forces (Army, Navy & Air
Force) ranges from 40 to 57 years. No compensation for earlier
retirement in the pension/ emoluments is granted to the CAPF personnel
for their early retirement, as is applicable to the personnel of defence
services.
(f) In spite of the fact that the service conditions of CAPF personnel
are akin to the Defence Armed Force personnel, they are not compensated
with any additional incentives or allowances, as in the case of army. An
Army jawan, posted in Leh or Ladakh gets Military Service Pay, for
reasons that he is a part of army, but a BSF jawan or a ITBP jawan,
serving under same conditions and in the same location, surviving in
sub-zero temperatures is deprived of the same , without any potent
reasons. It is the harsh conditions of service, and their performance
which should matter, and not the name of the wing of the Force, of which
these personnel are part of. Denial of ‘One Rank One Pension’ to the
Armed Forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs is discriminatory,
arbitrary, illegal and unjustified.
(g) The CAPFs are doubly discriminated. On the one hand, they are
employed on duties akin to the army, without the incentives, applicable
to Armed forces placed under Ministry of Defence, and on the other hand,
by being dubbed as a Police Force, are equated with the Civil Service.
Here also, they are deprived of
certain privileges extended to civil servants and the Police, such as
Non Functional Up gradation (NFU) etc, on the analogy that they are
Armed Forces, governed by specific rules. On one hand, personnel of
these Forces are pressurized to face the hazards of serving in most
hostile and difficult areas, face the bullets of the enemy, insurgents
etc, without any incentive, and on the other hand they are the losers on
the financial front granted to certain category of civil employees and
Police.
These are only a few instances of the discrimination against the CAPFs,
which are agitating the minds of pre-2006 retired personnel of CAPFs,
leading to frustration. It is high time that the govt pays attention to
mitigate the discrimination of pre-2006 pensioners of CAPFs vis-a -vis
defence services pensioners, and consider extending the grant of ‘ONE
RANK ONE PENSION’ to the Armed Forces of Union of India under Ministry
of Home Affairs at par with Armed Forces under Ministry of Defence.
