A top Army officer on Saturday said it is not possible for any “undeserving” case to get through the procedure of granting disability pension to armed forces personnel as there are “too many levels of scrutiny”.
Lt Gen Ajith Nilakantan, Commandant, Army Hospital (R&R), said this in response to a query during an interaction with a group of mediapersons on the AHRR premises here.
The new rules titled ‘Entitlement Rules (ER) for Casualty Pension and Disability Compensation Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2023’ were brought out based on the recommendations of a study involving the three services, Armed Forces Medical Services and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
Army Hospital (R&R) comes under the Armed Forces Medical Services.
There have been apprehensions among certain quarters of ex-servicemen after the new rules governing the grant of disability pension were unveiled.
“Recently the Entitlement Rules and the Guide to Medical Officers for pensions have been revised to rationalise this whole disability classification, and granting of disability… along with the Persons with Disabilities Act,” the AHRR commandant said.
“We have aligned with that system… so now the disability granting and quantification of that is rationalised. So, we follow that system and it is working smoothly,” he added.
He was asked if it was possible to misuse the disability pension provisions to seek undue benefits.
“Let me assure you that each and every case is which is granted disability is scrutenised by appropriate medical boards and strict adherence to the rulings is ensured at all levels. I don’t think it is possible for any undeserving cases to get through this procedure of very strict scrutenisation by medical boards and further at formation levels,” Lt Gen Nilakantan said.
Misuse is not possible because there are “too many levels of scrutiny,” he said.
In October last year, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan had said that the new rules for granting disability pension to armed forces personnel were brought out following wide-ranging discussions among the three services and they are aimed at protecting the interests of the “genuine” people and ensuring a fitter military.
He had said the new rules were also brought out to enhance the efficiency of the overall functioning of the three services.
(By:PTI)
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