Between two Republic Days
I pray that Our Nation and our Armed Forces gain strength between now and the 76th Republic Day, especially as this recollects how things running smoothly can be ruined in the guise of modernisation.
Thinking Veterans would be evaluating how the Armed Forces have been treated between the 74th and 75th Republic Day. WhatsApp Veterans would be forwarding messages as if thinking has been prohibited.
What a downfall for the terms ‘forward looking’ and ‘forward thinking’ to blindly forwarding.
Agnipath and Its After Effects
Inspite of allegedly much wringing of hands (https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/book-of-revelations-the-lid-on-m-m-naravanes-memoirs/cid/1995986), the Govt of India went ahead and introduced the Agnipath scheme. Agnipath was, reportedly, originally meant only for the Army (just as the original Bagga Commission recommendations were for Army only but which MoD later modified as Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) to include the Navy and Air Force).
Chiefs of the three Services and the Offg CDS waxed eloquent on the advantages of the Agnipath scheme and how it would benefit the Nation to have trained (and disciplined) youth. But what were the benefits to the Armed Forces? Perhaps silence was better than counting them on the fingers of one hand!
Wouldn’t 75% of the trained (and disciplined) youth be wondering what their future would hold for them in those 3 years before they are shown the door? And without a pension though our elected representatives are entitled to pension for sitting in legislatures even for a day!
Would the young ex-Agniveers be consigned to be security guards for the rest of their lives and have to be content with Rs 11 lakh? Would they be laterally absorbed in the CPMF/CPO? Wouldn’t they have preferred to being permanently employed with promotions and a pension to look forward to in their old age?
Perhaps Gen Naravane’s book would have enlightened us why the political leadership is experimenting with the Armed Forces, especially after the Galwan fiasco, instead of trying out the scheme with the CPMFs?
Affidavits Attested/Signed by First Class Magistrate
Then the Armed Forces HQ decided that Veterans must be made to pay more, literally, for errors of transcription of names in the service records, especially of spouses and next of kin. That a simple method was necessary for semi-literate NoK appears to have been shrouded in the airconditioned environs of South Block and Vayu Bhavan (Subroto Park).
Even though the previous (UPA) Govt decreed (vide Dept of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances OM No. K-11022/67/2022-AR dated 10th May 2013) and this Govt (NDA-I) re-affirmed (vide OM No. A-46020/9/2014-Coord dated 15th July 2014 in Dept of Publications OM No. C-19011/1/2014/(O&M) dated 21st Nov 2014) that Secretaries of Ministries “will appreciate that the method of self-certification is citizen friendly and obtaining either an attested copy ot affidavit not only cost money but also involves wastage of time of the citizens and Govt officials,” the Services decided that only an affidavit signed by a First Class (Judicial Magistrate) would do (emphasis supplied).
A detailed submission on 12 Sep 2022 to then Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee & CAS, (as a successor to late Gen Rawat was not yet appointed), why the DARPG recommendations should be implemented elicited a response that it would be discussed at the next CoSC meeting. If it was, then the outcome has not been publicised.
Senior Officers Paid a lower salary and pension than their Juniors
Vide MoF/DoE ID No. 03.05/2016-E(III-A) dated 19th May 2023, this was justified by Shri Amar Singh, Consultant in the Dept of Expenditure, MoF in the following words
“then Secy (DMA, CDA vide his minutes dated 21.09.2020 categorically opined that no officer in the Defence Services, irrespective if the length of service should breach the ceiling of Rs 225000. This point was reiterated by him vide his minute dated 24.10.2020.”
Further, in Note 1 on page 92, the Consultant states on 19.05.2023, inter alia, “The proposal of the DMA as approved by the then Offg Secy (DMA) is to step up pay of Maj Gen level officers of the three Services (Air Vice Marshal in Air Force and Rear Admiral of Navy) beyond the maximum of their Pay Level (Level 14 Rs 218200) to Rs 233100 up to a level par with the sum of the maximum pay of the scale of Brigadier ….(Rs 233100)”. Despite of there being a revised decision, MoD/DMA has accepted the limit of Rs 2,25,000!
The assertion of the Consultant, E.III.A Division is
(a) inspite of the fact that AVM P S Babu’s pay was increased to Rs 217600 + 15500 = Rs 233100 by E.III.A ID Note of 15.09.2021 consequent to the “coercive action” order of AFT, PB dated 18.08.2021 in MA 1653 of 2021. Subsequently, at least 4 other AVMs have been awarded pay of Rs 2, 33, 100.
(b) despite the fact that MoD/Army HQ had already been submitted as a Short Reply affidavit in CWP No. 13425 of 2021 on 21.12.2021 settled at the level of Ld ASG. Based on which the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana passed a final order dated 09.02.2022. The Contempt Petition No. 2137 of 2022 is in respect of the above order.
ASHRAYA and SUVIGYA vs SPARSH
Legacy pension disbursement system named ASHRAYA & SUVIGYA vs SPARSH (System for Pension Administration – RAKSHA)
Aashraya and Suvigya are/were established pension disbursement systems implemented by Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) and are now sought to be replaced at considerable additional and avoidable expenditure. The blurb below is from the official website of CGDA and is available in the public domain (https://cgda.nic.in/index.php?page=aashryaN): -
“Defence Accounts Department is responsible for sanction and disbursement of Defence Pension to retired Service Officers, JCOs and ORs, Defence Civilians and their families. Efficient Disbursement of Pension to the Defence Pensioners is of primmest concern to the Defence Accounts Department. The Defence Pension budget constitutes approximately 62% of total pension budget of Central Govt. Pension is sanctioned to approximately one lac retirees each year by three Pension Sanctioning Authorities of the Department and is disbursed monthly to approximately 23.5 Lacs pensioners out of which nearly 5 Lacs receive their pension through 61 Defence Pension Disbursement Offices (DPDOs) spread across the country. With increased life expectancy and a dependency ratio of over 100% for defence pension it is imperative to ensure that correct pension is paid to the pensioners as the quantum of pension and its regularity impacts over 2 million defence personnel.
Given the huge amount of expenditure incurred by the Govt. towards its pension liability and a large no. of people being its beneficiaries, it is absolutely necessary to have a pensioner friendly, efficient and a transparent Pension Disbursement System and Pension Enquiry System. Accordingly the project “Aashraya: Pension Disbursement System” and “Suvigya: Pension Enquiry System” were launched in Jun-2010. These were developed and inaugurated by Hon’ble Raksha Mantri on DAD Day i.e. Oct 1, 2010.
Aashraya
The Defence Pension Disbursement offices were running on COBOL Based Pension Disbursement System called RNPDS. This was an outdated system with very limited utility and required programming skills for its operations for every transaction. Hence, it was not user friendly and required COBOL programming skills for operation. It had a limited facility to generate Pension Schedule of Pensioners. There was no role based operation. The MIS generation and audit was not possible. The Staff and officer of the DPDO were dependent on the programmers of the COBOL to operate it for settling any grievance. With change in pension entitlements like Dearness Relief, Allowances etc the payment of correct entitlements and arrears were a tedious job.
In view of above situation, the Defence Accounts Department conceived the idea of making an efficient Pension Disbursement System (i.e. Project “Aashraya”) for making the correct payment of pension and addressing grievances of the pensioners while automating the most of the manual work of DPDOs. Accordingly the Project “Aashraya” was initiated. This software was developed by using open source platform i.e. PHP/ MySQL and runs on Linux/Windows etc. It has been designed, developed and implemented by in-house team of officers without third party assistance and expenditure on this account. It has following salient features:
· Transparency and stakeholder participation: “Aashraya” software is very user friendly with role based authentications. Pensioner’s profile module in the system enables DPDO staff to view the complete profile of a pensioner by entering the ID of pensioner and payment history for the purpose of redressal of grievances. In earlier system the information could only fetched by writing COBOL program on every case and was dependent on availability of one technical person in DPDO office. Now, “Aashraya” has made available the pensioner’s information with every staff and officer of DPDO for faster redressal of grievances if any or otherwise with least manual effort.
Innovativeness of the initiative and its replicability: ‘Aashraya’ has automated the disbursement of pension to 5 lac pensioners from 61 Defence Pension Disbursement (DPDO) offices across the country. It can be customised for the use of any pension disbursement agency (Post office, civil treasury, bank etc.)
The Software is:
- Intuitive, normal office staff without much computer knowledge can work on it.
- Web-enabled, can be run at dispersed locations across the country.
- Inexpensive, based on freeware platforms and developed in-house and needs minimal outstation resources.
- Comprehensive, covers all main activities of a pension disbursement office and
- Green saves lot of printing effort and paper.
A modified PDCA (plan-do-check-act) iterative cycle was used at all stages for the development. The difference was that the users (Non-EDP taskholders/supervisors) themselves were the problem-solvers, equal participants in the cycle. They concurrently did the data input and suggested further screen improvements that the programmers readily implemented. By the time the system was fully evolved, the users developed an ownership stake and their enthusiastic participation led to an implementation momentum that crashed all timelines. The result is there for all to see.
Increased efficiency of outputs/processes and effectiveness of outcomes: This software has increased many folds the working efficiency of DPDOs staff as working on new system is very user friendly and faster. The process which took many hours now takes few minutes to finish.
I. Web Enabled User Friendly Operations: “Aashraya” is web enabled software with user friendly interface screens and navigation. Any non-technical person in DPDO can easily operate it. The operations of DPDO like generation of Pension Payment Schedule of Pensioners, MIS, Common reports and returns etc could be generated on click of button without programming knowledge
II. In-Built Help: There is in-built help for operation of every screen. There is no need for officers and staff to wait and depend on the COBOL programmer to process any transaction.
III. Pensioners’ Profile: the module “Pensioners’ Profile” gives information regarding pensioners, pension related matters and entitlements being paid. These can be fetched easily by staff and officers of DPDO for attending the grievances and its quick settlement. This has resolved the problem of earlier system where it was not feasible for staff and officers to do so.
IV. Role Based Operations: In “Aashraya” the functioning of DPDO has been made role based for various tasks and ranks as per procedures. This has induced accountability for various tasks at various ranks. Respective operators of “Aashraya” can print the record of the transactions done by them. The administrator can track the person carrying out the transaction. This has resolved the problem of single point data entry and operations by the COBOL programmer on behalf of other staff in earlier COBOL based system. The staff had responsibility without record and direct access to what had been done on their behalf.
V. In-Built Audit Checks: Common Audit Checks have been built into “Aashraya” to ensure accurate data entry and output results. These checks were not there in old system generally leading to output with lesser accuracy. Further, the manual checking of payment schedule as audit requirement in earlier system was time consuming. The “Aashraya” automatically compares the schedules of desired months.
VI. History of payments: “Aashraya” has facility to maintain the history of pension disbursement for longer periods to facilitate quick payment of arrears in the event of change of entitlements by Government and for settlement of a grievance etc. The earlier system could maintain the history of payments of pension only up to 15 months and calculation of arrears in case of change of entitlements etc was tedious manual task.
VII. Monthly Pension Slip to Pensioners through E-MAIL and SMS: “Aashraya” contains the facility for sending monthly pension slip of the pensioners to their e-mail and also on their mobile through SMS. The DPDO has to just press the button once for it.
In nut-shell, the “Aashraya” has automated the operations in DPDOs in a user friendly manner, ensured accuracy by audit checks, minimised grievances and quicken the settlement of existing grievances thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of DPDOs.
VIII. Date of implementation of the initiative:
This project was formally inaugurated by Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Sh. A K Antony on DAD Day on Oct 1, 2010 and the completely implemented by March 2011 in 61 DPDOs. Now it is running in all 63 DPDOs.
Suvigya
Armed Forces Personnel generally retire at an early age. The pension structure compensates them for early retirement and also for acts of bravery, strain of active service and so, is very different from civil pension system. Pay Commissions and other Authorities constantly keep improving their entitlements. Hence, Defence Service Pensions are far more complex. At present, pension is being disbursed to pensioners by Defence Pension Disbursement Offices, banks, State Government Treasuries and Post Offices. They also carry out table based pension revision. While the DPDO understands the technicalities of pension, being part of DAD, other agencies, especially bank branches have limitations.
Our experience at the Pension Adalats has been that most of the issues in pension arise at the bank level. In this back drop project SUVIGYA is a total in-house designed and developed Pension enquiry System, was taken up in July, 2010 with a view to empower the pensioners to know what their correct entitlement of pension is from time to time. It is a web-technique based system. The system requires very few basic inputs from the pensioner. Once data is entered software calculates the pension and changes to it from time to time. Pensioner can get a print out of inputs provided by him and of the outputs generated by the system. If a pensioner finds his/her pension actually paid or being paid is less then the results given by the system, he/she can take up the matter with the Pension Sanctioning Authority or Pension Disbursing Agencies for rectification.
To the best of our knowledge, no other Government department has so far established such a comprehensive and interactive Pension Enquiry System. We have provided e-kiosks at various DAD and Service secured locations accessible to the pensioners. For computer-shy pensioners, we have trained the concerned officials of DAD, Zila Sainik Boards and other offices where e-kiosks have been provided” (emphasis supplied).
SPARSH
Now, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has introduced SPARSH (System for Pension Administration – RAKSHA) (https://sparsh.defencepension.gov.in/) for Army, Navy, Air Force and Defence Pensioners at considerable expenditure to replace pension payments through an elaborate and exceptionally well functioning system through Central Pension Payment Centres (CPPCs) of Public Sector Banks, ostensibly to effect savings but to the disadvantage of 26 lakh Defence pensioners (Civilian and Armed Forces), a majority of who live in rural areas, whose surviving wives are poorly educated and do not possess internet and/or smartphones to download the SPARSH app.
SPARSH was made operational about 3 years ago is based entirely on the electronic connectivity of India which is poor in rural India (A Survey on Rural Internet Connectivity in India - https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9668358; S. K. A. Kumar, G. V. Ihita, S. Chaudhari and P. Arumugam, "A Survey on Rural Internet Connectivity in India," 2022 14th International Conference on COMmunication Systems & NETworkS
(COMSNETS), Bangalore, India, 2022, pp. 911-916, doi: 10.1109/COMSNETS53615.2022.9668358.)
An abstract is re-produced below: -
“Rural connectivity has been a widely researched topic for several years. In India, around 50% of the population have poor or no connectivity to access digital services. Numerous technological solutions are being tested around the world, as well as in India. The key driving factor for reducing the digital divide is to lower the cost of network deployments and improve service adoption rate by exploring different technological and economical solutions. This survey aims to study rural connectivity and create awareness about the use-cases, state of the art projects and initiatives, challenges, and technologies to improve digital connectivity in rural parts of India. The strengths and weaknesses of different technologies tested for rural connectivity are analysed. The study includes a brief discussion of rural connectivity trials performed in India and around the world. We also explore the rural use-case of the 6G communication system, which would suit the rural Indian scenario.”
SPARSH was introduced first by stating that migration from the legacy system through CPPCs would be voluntary but transited to being mandatory without seeking views of the Defence pensioners.
Glitches galore in SPARSH have compelled the MoD/Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension) to hire the services of Tata Consultancy Services at more expenditure (Rs 160.22 crore) to little effect.
Banks state that they have transferred all data electronically and in the format that PCDA (P)/SPARSH wanted. Yet, even though the data is correct as verified from e-PPO issued by PCDA(P), PCDA(N) and JCDA (AF), in SPARSH dates of birth are missing, year of retirement/discharge are incorrect and a login elicits, more often than not, a message that 'Record has been marked as Discrepant as some mandatory data is missing. Please contact with PCDA (P) for data updation to enable Corr PPO.'
On the other hand, the IDAS Officers and other civilian officers of the Defence Accounts Department under Department of Defence headed by the Defence Secretary (an IAS Officer) benefit from a tried and tested system in vogue through the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) and CPPCs of banks. Which brings us to the question why not a System for Pension Administration (Civil Services) or SPACS using the same software and share the misery?
Here is just one of thousands of errors in SPARSH of “without your permission/willingness” migration
Shri S K Mohanty is a Defence civilian pensioner who joined Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) through UPSC as Asst Works Manager in the year 1963 and retired on superannuation in the year 2002 as Director General (DGOF) & Chairman/ Ordnance Factory Board.
All these years his pension account was with SBI and he was getting his monthly pension regularly and meticulously in time without any problem. Then all on a sudden his pension account was migrated to SPARSH in November 2022 without his knowledge or approval.
To his good fortune, this problem of LC was solved with the help of his banker SBI branch by furnishing DLC in December 2022.
He got the SPARSH PPO. He was also able to log into their Site. The portal shows his pension slip which contains his name, PAN, Aadhar number, Pension amount, and TDS correctly.
However, in his profile there is nothing else. But by clicking here and there, he could get following STARTLING details:
- He joined the service as a Sepoy. - He retired as Dy General Manager. - His wife is dead. (She is very much alive in real world). – He is UNMARRIED !
He is now 81+ years old. If something happens to him, then his family may not get family pension.
Filing of Appeals in the Jurisdictional High Courts
Consequent to the issue of Entitlement Rules of Casualty Pension and Disability Compensation Award to Armed Forces Personnel 2023 by Dept of ESW, MoD on 21st September 2023, the CDS went public to state that the effect would be prospective and it would benefit the Armed Forces. There is no mention if the statistics provided to the C & AG of those who have been found by review medical boards to have been wrongly categorised to be disabled or to the Attorney General of India (who is stated to have described it as a racket as per AFT Chandigarh Bar Association in its press note PN/1/2023 dated 16th October 2023).
However, DESW, MoD has clarified vide ID No. 1(29)/2023-D (Pen/Legal) dated 30th October 2023 (with copies to Naval and Air Force HQ) based on to Army HQ Service Note No. 39022/27/AG/PG/PS-4 dated 4th October 2023 that appeals must be filed in jurisdictional High Court in pending and future cases.
However there is hope that DESW, MoD would learn a lesson (if that is possible) as the honourable High Court of Punjab & Haryana (in CWP No. 27278 of 2023 of UoI vs Balwinder Singh) asked GoI/MoD on 10th January 2024 “why contempt proceedings may not be initiated against the Department for filing petitions against orders passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) granting disability pension once the issue has attained finality with the decision rendered by the honourable Supreme Court”… and ASG “to assist the court why costs of Rs 10 lakhs should not be imposed upon the petitioners in this case, requiring a senior officer from the concerned Department being present in Court on the next date of hearing”. The case is still in progress as the Acting Chief Justice has been appointed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Uttarkhand on 02 Feb 2024.
Jai Hind
