I am saddened that in the last few weeks, actions taken by the government, far from reassuring the soldiers, have indeed caused them pain and hurt. RAHUL GANDHI, Congress vice-president

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over reports suggesting that his government has decided to downgrade the status of military officers compared to their civilian counterparts.

Raising the issues of reduction of disability pension and the “anomalies” in the one rank-one pension rolled out by the BJP-led NDA government, he said these developments have “adversely affected” the morale of the armed forces soon after they conducted surgical strikes against terror launch pads across the LoC.

“I am saddened that in the last few weeks actions taken by the government, far from reassuring the soldiers, have indeed caused them pain and hurt,” Gandhi said in the October 28 letter to the PM.

“Just days after our soldiers conducted the surgical strikes, the disability pension system was converted to a new slab system, that in many instances drastically reduces the pension received by these brave men in case of a disability,” he said. NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over reports suggesting that his government has decided to downgrade the status of military officers compared to their civilian counterparts.

Raising the issues of reduction of disability pension and the “anomalies” in the one rank one pension rolled out by the BJP-led NDA government, he said these developments had “adversely affected” the morale of the armed forces soon after they conducted surgical strikes against terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC).

I am saddened that in the last few weeks, actions taken by the government, far from reassuring the soldiers, have indeed caused them pain and hurt,” Gandhi said in the October 28 letter to the PM. “Just days after our soldiers conducted the surgical strikes, the disability pension system was converted to a new slab system, that in many instances drastically reduces the pension received by these brave men in case of a disability,” he said.

The defence ministry had earlier this month referred the representation of the armed forces for a percentage-based system rather than a slab-based one for determining disability pension to the Anomaly Committee of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The decision followed widespread criticism over a move that introduced a slabbased by the 7th Pay Commission, for determining the disability pension for forces.

The Congress vice-president claimed that the roll out of the 7th Pay Commission continues to keep the defence forces at “disadvantage and further exacerbates” the disparity between them and civil employees. “To add to that we learnt through the media that the government has downgraded the status of our military officers visà-vis their civilian counterparts in a letter dated 18 October 2016,” Gandhi wrote.

The rank parity controversy erupted after hindustantimes. com broke the story on October 24. On Friday, the government took a U-turn and decided to form a panel to look into the row.

 

Rahul writes to Modi on raw deal for defence officers

I am saddened that in the last few weeks, actions taken by the government, far from reassuring the soldiers, have indeed caused them pain and hurt. RAHUL GANDHI, Congress vice-president

From page 01 NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over reports suggesting that his government has decided to downgrade the status of military officers compared to their civilian counterparts.

Raising the issues of reduction of disability pension and the “anomalies” in the one rank one pension rolled out by the BJP-led NDA government, he said these developments had “adversely affected” the morale of the armed forces soon after they conducted surgical strikes against terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC).

“I am saddened that in the last few weeks, actions taken by the government, far from reassuring the soldiers, have indeed caused them pain and hurt,” Gandhi said in the October 28 letter to the PM. “Just days after our soldiers conducted the surgical strikes, the disability pension system was converted to a new slab system, that in many instances drastically reduces the pension received by these brave men in case of a disability,” he said.

The defence ministry had earlier this month referred the representation of the armed forces for a percentage-based system rather than a slab-based one for determining disability pension to the Anomaly Committee of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The decision followed widespread criticism over a move that introduced a slabbased by the 7th Pay Commission, for determining the disability pension for forces.

The Congress vice-president claimed that the roll out of the 7th Pay Commission continues to keep the defence forces at “disadvantage and further exacerbates” the disparity between them and civil employees. “To add to that we learnt through the media that the government has downgraded the status of our military officers visà-vis their civilian counterparts in a letter dated 18 October 2016,” Gandhi wrote.

The rank parity controversy erupted after hindustantimes. com broke the story on October 24. On Friday, the government took a U-turn and decided to form a panel to look into the row.