OROP: Payment of arrears to eligible pensioners of armed forces by March 15, Supreme Court gave important instructions

In the One Rank One Pension case, the Supreme Court has directed the Central Government to pay dues to all eligible pensioners of security forces by March 15. The Supreme Court has also given an exemption to the Ex-Servicemen Association that if they are not satisfied with the payment of the dues of the Central Government, then they can apply again in the Supreme Court. The court has said that the work of payment of One Rank One Pension to the election should be expedited.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha directed the Center to ensure that all pensioners of the security forces are paid their dues and there should be no further delay. Attorney General R. Venkataramani appeared in the court on behalf of the Central Government and told that the Controller General of Defense Accounts has completed the tabulation process and soon this tabulation will be sent to the Ministry of Defense for approval. From March 15, the arrears will start coming into the pensioners' accounts.

It is noteworthy that last month, the government demanded to extend the deadline till March 15, 2023, for payment of arrears of pensioners under One Rank One Pension. This was the second time that the Supreme Court had extended the deadline for payment of dues on the demand of the Central Government. Earlier in June last year too, the central government had asked for three months for the payment.

Earlier last month, the Union Cabinet had approved the revised pension for the pensioners of the security forces under One Rank One Pension. Due to this, the pension of pensioners has increased. According to the data of the Ministry of Defense, under the revised pension, the pensioners who have now retired from the rank of constable will now get a pension of about 20 thousand rupees. Along with this, arrears of Rs 87 thousand will be paid to the pensioners of constable rank for the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022.

Similarly, the pensioners who retired from the post of Nayak will be paid a pension of about Rs 21 thousand and arrears of Rs 1,14,000. 22 thousand pensions and payment of arrears of 70 thousand rupees for the post of Havaldar, 27 thousand pensions and arrears of about one lakh rupees for the post of Naib Subedar, 38 thousand pension and arrears of about one lakh 75 thousand rupees will be paid for the post of Subedar Major.

On the other hand, for the post of Major, the revised pension will be around 70 thousand rupees and the arrears payment will be around 3 lakh rupees. For the post of Lieutenant Colonel, the pension will be 98 thousand and the arrears will be around 4.55 lakh rupees. The pension for the post of colonel is one lakh 7 thousand and the balance is 4 lakh 42 thousand, for the post of brigadier the pension is one lakh 12 thousand and the balance is 3 lakh 90 thousand, for the post of lieutenant general the pension is one lakh 15 thousand and the balance is about 4 lahks 32 thousand.

Armed Forces personnel who have retired till June 30, 2019, will get the benefit of this revised pension. One Rank One Pension was being demanded by the security forces for a long time. The demand was that military personnel who retire after serving the same rank for the same length of time should be given a pension, irrespective of the year in which they retired.

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