Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to extend the period of retention of government accommodation by Battle Casualties from all the three services to one year from the existing three months.
The move is seen as a pacifying gesture towards military fraternity after the government's decision to levy a tax on the disability pension. In a notification dated June 24, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), under the union finance ministry has decided to tax the disability pension, which had created a furore in the military fraternity.
The issue has put defence minister Rajnath Singh into a tight spot, as he enjoys a pro-soldier image. Singh was finding it difficult to contain the anger after his cabinet colleague union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman put the onus on the army headquarter for the decision.
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Since then, Rajnath Singh-led defence ministry has been making attempts to pacify the veteran community. In October, Singh gave in-principle approval to enhance monetary assistance to next of kin of battle casualties from existing Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. It was a long pending demand of the military fraternity.
And now, today's decision has strengthened Rajnath Singh's pro-soldier image.
“In view of the requirements and demands of the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence reviewed the existing provisions and recommended the extension of the period to boost the morale of the service personnel,” a statement issued by the Defence Ministry said.
Officials claim that at present, the family of an armed forces personnel killed in action against enemy forces or during enemy air attacks are permitted retention of government accommodation for three months and it has now been extended to one year.
Presently, the issue of levying a tax on the disability pension has been challenged in the Supreme Court by several veterans. The sensitive issue of disability took an ugly turn when the Army headquarters officially came out to back the decision to tax disability benefits. In a series of tweets, the Army criticised "personnel seeking disability, even for lifestyle diseases" for tax-exemption purposes and said it highlighted a worrying trend in the face of “security challenges to the nation”.
Last month, outgoing Adjutant-General of Indian Army Lt. General Ashwani Kumar, in a selective media interaction accepted the fact that there are 'impropriety' by some senior officers in maintaining their medical records. And they were given due punishment for the offence. Adjutant-General is the senior-most administration officers, who look after manpower planning, HR Policy issues, recruitment and discipline. Recently, one major general ranked officer who is the former head of the Army Education Corps (AEC) was court-martialled for falsifying medical records to earn disability pension and was sentenced to loss of 10 years service for pension. Besides, several other senior officers were awarded censures for the fudging their medical records to get higher monetary benefits.