1. Disability pension is awarded to Armed Forces personnel as and when release from the service due to following conditions :
(a) On superannuation after completion of terms of engagement
(b) On Premature retirement
(c) On Medical invalidment
2. It is well known that all disabled persons are not entitled to get disability pension. To get disability pension one should qualify following criteria :
(a) Disability should be either attributable to or aggravated by military service and
(b) Minimum % of disability should be
(i) In case of superannuation and premature retirement – minimum 20%
(ii) In case of Invalidment – minimum 1%
3. Now in this article it will be discussed about applicability of disability pension and invalid pension to the personnel who have rendered less than 15 years of military service and released from service due to IMB or RMB whatever applicable. One can be discharged from service before completion of his qualifying service for service pension i.e 15 years of service into following ways :
(a) by Invalid medical board out process
(b) by not accepting sheltered appointment or not granted sheltered appointment which are also treated as medical invalidment as per Regulation 95 of Pension Regulation for the Army Part I 2008.
4. Those who have already completed 15 years of service are entitled to get their service pension and disability pension if qualify the criteria as mentioned in para 2 above. The Armed forces PBOR who have not completed 15 years of service and released from service due to causes mentioned as para 3 above, are entitled to get disability pension or invalid pension as the case may be. Now you must know the conditions for grant of disability pension and invalid pension. Criteria for grant of disability pension has been discussed in the para 2 above. Invalid pension is authorized if the disability is not attributable and not aggravated by military service. For grant of invalid pension % of disability is not taken into consideration.
Disability pension : Disability pension has no link with length of service as per para 81 of pension regulation for the army 2008. Disability pension is granted to the eligible Armed forces personnel which comprises two elements. These provisions are also applicable to Recruits boarded out.
(a) Service element which is equal to service pension i.e 50% of last drawn emoluments. Emolument measns – Basic Pay + MSP + Class Pay (if applicable) + X Gp Pay (if Applicable). DA, CILQ and other allowances are not included in emoluments for the purpose of calculation of pensionary benefits.
(b) Disability element which is calculates as below : 30% of emoluments last drawn = 100% disability pension. For less than 100% disability, the pension is calculated proportionately.
Invalid pension : Invalid pension is awarded only when one is invalided out of service before completion of 15 years of service with disability which is not attributable and not aggravated by military service. As per Regulations minimum 10 years of service is required for grant of invalid pension. However, recently Govt has issued orders regarding grant of invalid pension to the such personnel who have not rendered 10 years of service and invalided out of service with disability which is NA NA with some specific conditions as mentioned in succeeding paragraphs. This is applicable to recruits boarded out on medical grounds also.
5. Minimum service required for grant of disability pension and invalid pension :
Disability pension : No minimum service length has been prescribed in the pension regulation for grant of disability pension. So there is not connection with the length of service with disability pension.
Invalid pension : As per latest orders of Govt of India, Invalid pension is applicable to all c NA NA cases irrespective of length of service subject to following conditions.
(a) For more than 10 years of service but less than 15 years of service NA NA Cases – One should must be unfit for military service. Regulation 58 & 59 may be referred to in this regard.
(b) For less than 10 years of service NA NA cases – One should be unfit for military service and must be unfit (fully incapacitated) for civil service also.