Ex-servicemen staged a demonstration asking for ‘one rank, one pension’ irrespective of the year of retirement, here on Monday.
The protestors, under the Ex-servicemen Coordination Committee, called for streamlining of pension distribution for the same rank. Col. Pannerselvam said the demand for ‘one rank, one pension’ was pitched for over two decades now. “A jawan ends up with a high pension differential if he had retired in 1996, as against a jawan retiring in 2010. This particularly affects the ex-servicemen in lower cadre, which is in effect for 70 per cent of ex-servicemen,” he says.
According to Col. Pannerselvam, 60 to 70 per cent of jawans retired between 37 and 40 years of age, with a meagre pension. “Unlike other Government services, where responsibilities are fulfilled at the time of retirement, ex-servicemen are faced with meagre pension at an age with no guaranteed employment. They form the lowest cadre especially the jawans.”
The pension should be made equal for the same rank, the protestors said. Krishnagiri has reckonable population of ex-servicemen, what with it ranking second in the State next only to Vellore in its population of ex-servicemen.
