In a scathing revelation, the Indian government has finalised a plan to slash disability-related pensions for soldiers rendered out of service from battle wounds by as much as 70 per cent, Business Standard reported.
According to the report, just a day after India carried out its surgical strikes against Pakistan, India's Ministry of Defence issued a notification, announcing the cuts in disability pensions for soldiers across different ranks from junior to senior army officers, including soldiers who might have suffered "severe" injuries during battle.
According to the new set of rules, a young soldier who had suffered "severe" injuries or "100 per cent disability" in medical terms, would see a 40 per cent cut in pension from ₹45,200 to ₹27,200. While senior army officers with severe injuries would see disability pension slashed by ₹70,000 a month; naib subedars with over 26 years of service, would see a ₹40,000 a month cut.
The new disability pension scheme does away with certain provisions of the Sixth Pay Commission, which set these payouts based on matching percentages of the last salary drawn. Instead, the new rules have introduced flat payouts -- ₹27,000 for officers; ₹17,000 for junior commissioned officers; and ₹12,000 for other ranks. That means, a soldier with five years of service earning a monthly ₹30,400 would see a 60 per cent cut in disability pension; while a major with 10 years of service earning ₹98,300 a month, would see disability pension cut by as much as 72 per cent, the BS report noted.
According to the Business Standard report by Ajai Shukla, the disability pension cuts extend beyond battle injuries to include medical disabilities caused during army training and military service.
The draft notification has been issued by the "Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare." Read the notification here.