KPSC notifies vacancies of Assistants, First Division Assistants, Senior Assistants, Junior Assistants & Second Division Assistants

Karnataka Public Service Commission has notified vacancies of Assistants, First Division Assistants, Senior Assistants, Junior Assistants and Second Division Assistants in various departments of Karnataka Government. Applications can be submitted online from 03rd July 2015 to 01st August 2015 (till 11:45 pm). To access the notification click here .

They Dedicate Their Lives To Protect Ours, Then Why Aren’t Their Demands Being Heard? - By Arati Nair

The famous American military leader, General Douglas MacArthur once said, “Old soldiers do not die, they just fade away.” He borrowed it from a song popular among British soldiers during World War I. Quoting this bit of trivia from an ugly period of the world’s military history is significant as it rings true even today. A case in point is the ongoing turbulence surrounding the implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme in India.

After a prolonged period of inertia, the retired personnel from the armed forces have renewed their protests, including hunger strikes, against the delay in implementing the OROP. Last week, various organizations of ex-servicemen initiated nation-wide protests, including in the national capital, following the failure of talks with the government. The main bone of contention for these groups is the reluctance of the authorities to provide a time-frame for implementation of the scheme. The issue is being shuttled between the defence ministry (MoD) and the ministry of finance, which has further irked veteran soldiers throughout the country. That a poll promise of the BJP has now seemingly become a question of political largesse, has not gone down well either.

Why Are The Veterans Demanding OROP?

One Rank One Pension provides for the same pension for the same length of service by personnel of the same rank, irrespective of the date of retirement. Any increments in pension rates are to be added onto the past pensioners’ pay as well. This definition was accepted by the last committee to deliberate on the issue, the Koshyari Committee (2011). It will benefit over 20 lakh ex-servicemen and about six lakh war widows. In essence, this scheme, if implemented, would not discriminate among veterans, war widows etc. on the pesky premise of retirement date.

In this context, the organizers of the nation-wide war cry for the OROP have faced the brunt of numerous problems and justify their demands on several counts, like lack of parity with the civil services, inequity with the paramilitary forces and superseding powers of the bureaucracy.

What’s The Tiff With The Bureaucracy?

The OROP, axed in 1973 during the authoritarian Indira regime to equalize civil and military pay, is hardly a new concept. Most of the dilly-dallying, as alleged by various organizations of ex-servicemen partaking in the demonstrations, can be attributed to the bureaucracy dragging its feet in this regard.

The non-functional upgrade (NFU) granted to the officers in all-India Group A services (IAS, IPS etc.) by the sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) allows them higher pay than permissible for their rank during ‘certain’ conditions. This couteous gesture is limited to the bureaucracy, with no such additional aid being extended to the defence forces. Glaring disparities in field allowances of army special forces as against paramilitary commandos betrays the step-motherly attitude of the government towards the former. With limited prospects for career growth when compared to their contemporaries in the civil services, defence personnel deem themselves entitled for a hike in pay/pension to bridge the gap.

Even as the stalemate over OROP continues, the veterans accuse the civil servants of covertly sabotaging their efforts. This includes attempts to dilute the definition of the scheme and even suggesting alternative models such as the one proposed by the departments of the MoD, which seeks to implement OROP for those pensioners who retired prior to 2006.

This exercise has been been dubbed as a design by the bureaucratic machinery to scale down the demands of ex-servicemen, and exercise its one-upmanship over the military.

Why Aren’t Politicos Listening?

The politicians are equally culpable for the present scenario. A Supreme Court judgement, providing suffrage rights to serving defence personnel in their area of posting, compelled all political parties to extend piecemeal offers to appease them. The present government, in particular, vociferously supported the implementation of the OROP and its benevolence for the armed forces was evident by the appointment of ex-army officials like General V.K. Singh and Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to key positions in various ministries. But when General V.K. Singh says- “The Prime Minister has made a promise regarding OROP. It will be implemented. There is some delay because calculations are going on. Therefore it is taking time“, he is reiterating the government’s position with little substantive effort to echo the sentiments of his defence brethren.

Road Ahead

The initial fervour now seems lacking, with the centre working on a fresh draft governmental letter (DGL) as opposed to the one forwarded by the defence services headquarters. Thus, the accepted definition of OROP is bound to be tinkered with.

A highly disciplined section of our population had to take to the streets and sign petitions in blood in a mad dash attempt to jolt the authorities into action. The government, hiding behind technicalities, has propped feeble excuses like fund scarcity and inter-ministerial discord as its armour against the wrath of these betrayed citizens. The protesters, in their desperation, are even willing to set aside their pathological disagreement with the opposition and seek help from the Congress.

Relinquishing medals did not awaken the last government. War veterans like Havildar Kaka Singh (retd.), rendered blind during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, are still lying in wait for the leadership of the country to consider their plight. Thisscathing open letter by Honorary Lieutenant Kameshwar Pandey conveys the despondence slowly pervading our fauji ranks. It remains to be seen if the country-wide protests will yield any results. Or will our old soldiers, as is the universal case, simply fade away?

Some myths doing the rounds, and the truth thereon

Since many improbable queries are being raised on One Rank One Pension, more so on social media, let me attempt to clarify some of these again to put an end to misinformation, especially for those not connected with the Armed Forces who may be unaware about the modalities of the concept.

Here are the three biggest myths doing the rounds of Social Media.

Myth No 1: Since OROP is to cater for early retirement, why should those officers who retire at 60 be granted OROP?

Truth: Nobody in the military retires at 60 except Lieutenant Generals. Civil employees retire at 60.

Myth No 2: Pay progression in civil service is faster and hence pension is higher but civil services cannot be compared with defence services and when an officer joins up, he/she knows what he/she is getting into.

Truth: Though many civil services had a faster career graph, the situation has gravely deteriorated since the 6^th Central Pay Commission (w.e.f 01-01-2006) when Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) was introduced for Organised Group A Civil Services. The said scheme provides that all officers of such civil services, if otherwise eligible, shall be granted the higher pay of promotional grades, even if they are not promoted. Hence, by default, officers who are unable to be promoted in their cadres are now retiring with the pay of an Additional Secretary to Govt of India (HAG) which results in (almost) de facto OROP. This concept of NFU has been denied to the defence services but remains applicable to civil officers working shoulder to shoulder even under the Ministry of Defence. For example, today, a Chief Engineer (CE) of the Military Engineering Services who may be a military officer of the rank of Brigadier may have his Civilian Superintending Engineer (SE) who would be serving under him, drawing the pay of a Lieutenant General under NFU and hence also the pension of a Lt Gen. So the boss gets a lower pay and pension than his subordinate!

Myth No 3: Personnel of the forces are granted employment on the civil side after being released from the Army, why then are they demanding OROP?

Truth: Absolutely untrue. There is no job protection for defence personnel after they are released from the forces, and by the way, they start retiring at the age of 34 years. Most of the personnel of lower ranks end up guarding our neighbourhood ATMs and a minuscule percentage is given the opportunity of government employment but much below their erstwhile military status and at Group D levels at times. Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) who are Group-B (formerly known as Class-II) gazetted officers are being offered appointments below the rank of Sepoy. To make this more understandable for those on the civil street, it is like offering a job profile below the rank of Constable to a recently retired Deputy Superintendent of Police. Is this fair?

Courtesy: Major Navdeep Singh

Annual General Meeting - AFA, Karnataka

AGM NOTICE

The Annual General meeting of Air Force Association, Karnataka branch will be held at 1000 hrs on Saturday,    25 Jul 2015 at Arjan Hall, HQ Training Command, IAF Bangalore. Ladies and dependent children are welcome.

The meeting will be followed by lunch. Contribution for lunch is Rs.180/- per adult and Rs.100/- per child below 12 yrs.

The balance sheet for the current year has been put on AFA website and AFA office notice board for the perusal of the members.

The agenda points may please be forwarded to this office latest by 30 Jun 2015.

Members who wish to attend are requested to register their names at the office (23513319,

23411081 Extn: 7862) or by email:

afakarnataka@gmail.com/afa.bangalore@gmail.com latest by 15 July 2015.

sd/-

(BU Chengappa)

Air Mshl(Retd)

President

Date: 26 May 2015 

Tables issued for implementation of enhancement of disability and war injury elements of pension based on minimum of pay within the pay band for each rank, rather than minimum of pay-band itself

As most readers would be aware of this post of 21 April 2015, five months after similar orders were issued for civilians, the Ministry of Defence had enhanced the disability and war injury elements of disabled and war disabled defence pensioners based on the fitment of minimum of pay within the pay-band for each rank, rather than the minimum of pay-band itself.

Though the benefits were granted from September 2012, according to the decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal, the Armed Forces Tribunal and the Delhi High Court, as upheld by the Supreme Court, the benefits are actually to flow from January 2006. The file for extension of the benefits from the correct date is currently pending with the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare.

Meanwhile, the office of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) has issued the tables for implementation of the above mentioned orders of enhancement of casualty awards and the same can be accessed and downloaded by clicking here.

Please note that this letter has NO relation with the matter related to broad-banding of disability percentage for cases of release on completion of terms/discharge/retirement/superannuation.

Courtesy: Major Navdeep Singh 

In Fight for One Rank One Pension, Nationwide Protests by Ex-Servicemen Today

Retired defence personnel are protesting across the country including at Delhi's Jantar Mantar today against the delay in the implementation of the long-awaited 'One Rank One Pension'. The ex-servicemen have also declared a relay hunger strike from Monday.

Farmers' groups like the Bharatiya Kissan Union and students from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University are expected to join today's protest at Jantar Mantar.

"The PM assured us that they will settle this issue once and for all... However, it has been one year and nothing has been done yet," said Colonel (retd.) Anil Kaul.

The Narendra Modi government has said that it is committed to OROP, one of its key poll promises, but has refused to specify a timeline for its implementation.

Prime Minister Modi, in fact, reached out to retired defence personnel in his radio address 'Mann ki Baat' last month, assuring that his government will find a solution to the "vexed" issue and asked them to "wait for some more time".

But talks between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and ex-servicemen who are seeking a firm date for the rollout of the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme failed earlier this month following which the retired personnel decided to go ahead with the today's protest.

Mr Parrikar had, last month, said that the OROP "was on its way" but he could not promise a date for its implementation. Sources told NDTV that the file on OROP was shuttling between the finance and defence ministries.

One Rank One Pension seeks to ensure that defence personnel who retire at the same rank and with the same length of service, will get equal pension, irrespective of when they retired. Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme.

Currently, the pension for retired personnel is based on the Pay Commission recommendations at the time when he or she retired. So, a Major General who retired in 1996 draws less pension than a Lieutenant Colonel who retired after 1996.

Source: NDTV

One rank one pension: Ex-servicemen to go on hunger strike, hold rallies

Ex-servicemen on Saturday announced that they would go on a hunger strike from June 15 as the government has failed to commit a timeline for the implementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.

A group of 15 representatives from various ex-servicemen organisations met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the morning but were not able to get a date by which the scheme will be implemented.

“We met the Defence Minister, he promised that the government is committed to implementing OROP. We agreed over the government’s definition of OROP and the formula used to calculate the budgetary provisions. Though we have faith in the government’s good intentions, it is non-committal over the timeline of implementation,” Group Captain (retd) V K Gandhi, general secretary of the Indian Ex Servicemen Movement, told The Sunday Express.

Later in the day, about 150 veterans representing 20-odd ex-servicemen organisations deliberated upon the matter at the Constitution Club. “We have unanimously decided to go ahead with the agitation on June 14 at Jantar Mantar. Starting June 15 we will go on an indefinite hunger strike till the government announces the date of implementation of OROP,” Gandhi said. They will also hold rallies in 50 cities across the country.

OROP, which means equal pension for officers, men retiring at the same rank and with equal length of service, has been approved in principle by the government. But the file has been shuttling between Finance Ministry and Defence Ministry for the finalisation of financial allocation. Last month, two war veterans refused to be felicitated by the Defence Minister to convey their displeasure over the non-implementation of OROP.

MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who attended the meeting and has been pressing the issue for years, said, “OROP is a legitimate right of our veteran and it is indeed dismaying that they have had to fight for it for so long.”

Source:The Indian Express

New OROP formula may be similar to MPs’ pension plan

The government is working on a fresh option to resolve the ongoing stand-off over 'one-rank-one-pension' demand of ex-servicemen, sources said on Thursday. 

According to a senior government official, they are working on a proposal that would be similar to the pension scheme for MPs. The scheme operates on a band concept, with additional money for each additional year of service. 

READ ALSO: 'One-rank, one-pension' scheme 

The proposal is to create pension bands for each rank, and then provide additional money for each extra year of service. So all officers who retire in a particular rank will be in the same band of pension, with the total pension payment going up according to the number of years he has spent in that rank. 

"We are working out the fine details," one source said. Senior government officials are thrashing out the finer details, and it would be presented to the representatives of ex-servicemen and the military brass. 

The latest move comes even as ex-servicemen are continuing with their protests against what they feel is a huge let down by the Narendra Modi government, which had come to power promising to implement the OROP scheme. 

BLOG: Meet this demand: But One Rank One Pension must be accompanied by cutting armed forces flab 

Ex-servicemen, some of whom have begun to boycott government functions, are planning a major rally in New Delhi on June 14 to protest against the government failure to fulfil the promise. 

They believe that there is only one definition to OROP, which is to grant the same pension to all people who have retired from the same rank after putting in same number of years, irrespective of when they retired. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly tried to douse the anger among ex-servicemen over the continuing delay in implementing OROP, promising a solution to their issue. "You have been patient for 40 years. Give me some time to address it. This is a complex, vexed, issue ... We will together find a solution," PM said in his monthly "Mann Ki Baat" programme on All India Radio last Sunday. 

READ ALSO: Govt deliberately delaying one-rank, one-pension, Cong says 

Expectations of ex-servicemen were raised by repeated assurance from defence minister Manohar Parrikar who said over the recent months that OROP was virtually a "done thing" since it had been cleared by his ministry.

Source: Times of India

PM proposes, babu disposes

The bogey of the paramilitary perceivably demanding the applicability of One Rank One Pension (OROP) at par with the military is yet another case of throwing an additional spanner in the works by the lower bureaucracy of our great nation, thereby totally confusing the political executive.

As most even slightly connected with the subject would be aware, though the concept of OROP seems ideal for all government employees, it is the defence services which deserve it the most and the foremost because of their early retirement with no guarantee of post-release employment.

What should put the comparison to rest is the fact that while personnel of the defence services start retiring at the age of 34 onwards, members of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are released in their late 50s.

So at certain ranks, the latter serve even two decades more than the former, thereby not only garnering higher lifetime earnings and financial protection but also multiple pay and emolument revisions due to the fact that they get the benefit of serving during the currency of subsequent pay commissions by which time their comrades in the military may have long retired, and some, faded away.

It is an open secret that accountants and lower bureaucracy in the ministry of defence have always misguided the higher bureaucracy and military brass and also the political executive of the reality concerning the defence services.

File notings are prepared in a mischievous manner so as to elicit negative replies. Not only their own bosses, but an attempt is made to fool even the courts and parliamentary committees, or else how could one justify the straight lie peddled by the ministry of defence before the Koshiyari Committee of 2011 that OROP would be difficult to implement since documents of defence personnel are destroyed after 25 years?

Hogwash it was since it is the documents of non-pensioners which are destroyed after 25 years while the documents of pensioners (to whom OROP applies) are retained till perpetuity.

While I have full faith in the prime minister's commitment towards OROP, and also of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is as well-intentioned as one can get, I would just want to warn them not to take at face-value what is presented to them by the bottom of the hierarchy.

It is the political executive through the higher bureaucracy from the top that has to impose the policy decisions on to the lower layers and not the other way round. The government has to be run by the top echelons and not by the army of section officers and under secretaries.

Policy has to be determined by the government under the Rules of Business and not by Accountants of the Defence Accounts Department. Decisions must be taken by due discussion and inputs from experts and insulation from reality by a coterie ensconced in a web of negativity should be avoided.

The attempt to water down the definition of OROP must also be fervently resisted. There is only one definition of OROP, and that stands solidified by the government itself -- similar amount of pension for each rank with similar length of total service, with the benefit of future enhancements passed on to past retirees.

Which also brings me to the role of the military veteran organisations. Veterans should not jump the gun with every move or indication that they perceive to be against them. Instead they should be united, not bicker amongst themselves, shun their differences, present a cohesive front and then fight for their rights in a dignified manner.

Statements of no less than the prime minister assuring veterans of his concern should not be brushed aside lightly and the tendency of hyper-technical hairsplitting of every public announcement with a negative connotation is best avoided, more so when we are so close to the goal.

Due regard should definitely be rendered to what the prime minister has stated, but that is again not to say that in a free democracy we are entitled to advise others to muzzle their voices but one can definitely counsel to dignify the tone.

One can hope that now that the issue is in the national consciousness it is implemented swiftly. It is also hoped that all stakeholders, including military veteran bodies, would not lose sight of other insidious, and in fact, even more important issues that are staring them straight and which may not be glamorous enough or monetary in nature but still are a cause of major concern.

Pertinent amongst these being:

• The way disabled soldiers are treated by the system with the official establishment filing appeals till the Supreme Court in cases of disability pension awarded to disabled soldiers by courts and tribunals;
• The constant decline of the status and the sheen of the military rank in the official pecking order and also the society at large;
• Guaranteed post-retirement employment with protection of military status and dignity;
• And most importantly the recent Supreme Court decision rendered on a plea of the ministry of defence and the army wherein it was held that soldiers, veterans and military widows aggrieved by decisions of the Armed Forces Tribunal would not be able to approach the high courts for relief.

This is a disaster since it has snatched a fundamental right that is otherwise available to every citizen and also to similarly placed civil government employees of approaching the high court under the writ jurisdiction and thereby leaving the military community remediless thus making the Armed Forces Tribunal the first and the last court for them with no tiers or layers of judicial hierarchy at their disposal which is guaranteed to all citizens in all democracies.

An unaffordable and inaccessible direct appeal to the Supreme Court under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act is also only permissible if the matter involves a 'point of law of general public importance', which is not the case with 99.99% of litigation before the tribunal.

This has come as the biggest blow since Independence, but veterans, totally engrossed in OROP, do not seem to have realised the gravity of the situation.

While OROP remains an important emotive issue for veterans, the focus hence should not just remain limited to it but also on subjects which on the surface do not seem attractive enough since these have no nexus with finances, but affect the very basic existential rights of the military community which stand obliterated for them but remain available to all other citizens.

While summing up, we, as citizens, should hope and pray that the prime minister's sentiment is not held ransom by machinations and craftiness of a few junior babus who throw in an imaginary impediment at every welfare measure and resultantly snigger and giggle at the sidelines every time a soldier is ill at ease, and also trust that the veteran community continues to pay attention to persistent issues that will haunt their survival in life that shall be beyond their current aim -- OROP.

Courtesy: rediff.com

Note: Major Navdeep Singh is a practicing advocate in the Punjab & Haryana high court and the Armed Forces Tribunal. He was the founding President of the Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association. He is a Member of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War at Brussels.

He is also the author of Maimed by the System, a collection of real life accounts of military veterans and their families who had to fight to claim their rights.