Govt likely to categorise 'military pension' separately

Aiming to fulfill a long-standing demand of ex-servicemen regarding the implementation of 'one rank, one pension' norm, the government may categorise 'military pension' as a different pension category.
Official sources said that is likely that military pension may be soon categorised as a separate category which would ensure that it cannot be equated with other pensions.
"There are several reasons because of which the government is contemplating such a move to differentiate this service. First of all this is the only service where a majority of soldiers retire at the age of 34 years. There is constant risk to life and the service hours are round the clock," a well placed source said.

Explaining the logic further, the source said that military is also the last line of defence and such a step will also have a motivational and inspirational value.
Sources said that the Finance ministry and the Defence Ministry are making efforts towards fulfilling the commitment.
It is learnt that the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar have been deliberating on the issue.

The move is expected to cost around Rs 8,000 crore, the sources said.
"Detailed planning is required as there are hundreds of ranks and thousands of permutations and combinations involved," a source said.
One rank, one pension scheme has been a long-standing demand of the over 2 million ex-servicemen in the country.

It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.