Approval of MoF Sought on Pay Fixation Issue by DOP&T : Letter by AIREXSA

Pay Fixation of Reemployed Ex-servicemen belongs to JCOs/OR and Officers category employed in banks are allowed with the approval of Ministry of Finance, Dept of Financial Services. They are allowed to draw pay in reemployed post as per last pay drawn in the Armed Forces before retirement. Whereas those Reemployed Ex-servicemen who are reemployed entn though in Ministry of Finance, i.e CBDT, CBEC or any other ministries / Department under Govt of India and State Govt departments etc are not allowed any pay fixation benefit. Only Commissioned Officers reemployed in Got Dept/Ministries are allowed to draw their pay in reemployed post as per last pay drawn before retirement in Armed Forces.

The discrimination has been pointed out in several occasion and brought in to notice of the Govt of India’s nodal agency DOP&T since last 37 years ( 01 Jul 1986) and finally, in the year 2017, the DOPT has realized that there are open disparity and discrimination in the Pay Fixation of reemployed Exservicemen between two different categories i.e Reemployed Commissioned Officers and Reemployed JCOs/OR.

Accordingly, DOP&T has drafted a revised uniform pay fixation policy/ methodology and circulated to all stake holders including the AIREXSA and the revised draft CCS (Fixation of Pay of Re­employed Pensioners) Rules, 2019 was prepared and forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for approval. The draft policy is pending since 2017. AIREXSA has actively approached the DOP&T and MoF form time to time and recently, a letter has been written by them to expedite the process of providing financial concurrence. Content of the letter is produced here :-

Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has forwarded File No. 3/3/2016 Estt.(Pay II) concerning the CCS (Fixation of Pay of Re­employed Pensioners) Rules, 2019, to the Department of Expenditure (DOE) on September 1, 2023. The DOE is currently reviewing this file to provide their financial concurrence. DoPT has submitted the file along with their comments addressing the concerns raised by the DOE regarding various aspects of the proposed policy. Unfortunately, this marks the third time that DoPT has resubmitted the file for the DOE’s consideration and approval.

The issue related to the revision of pay fixation policy for ex-servicemen re-employed in various ministries, departments, and statutory/autonomous bodies under the Government of India has been pending since 2017. During this period, the file has been shuttled back and forth between DoPT and DOE, and it is disheartening to note that the DOE has raised several concerns about the proposed policy on three separate occasions when the file was submitted for financial concurrence. It is indeed disheartening to learn that the DOE has even questioned the necessity of revising the proposed pay fixation methodology, especially for a significant number of ex-servicemen who retired from ranks below officers in the Armed Forces.

The need to revise this policy arises from the existing discriminatory methodology in place for pay fixation in re-employed positions, which disproportionately affects the Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) category of ex-servicemen.

While those who retired as officers in the Armed Forces receive pay protection in re-employed positions, this benefit does not extend to the PBOR category of ex-servicemen. This inequity has persisted for the past 37 years, and it is only now that the DoPT has recognized this grave injustice and has decided to revise the pay fixation methodology, which would bring significant benefits to PBOR category re-employed ex-servicemen. Therefore, it is crucial for this proposed policy to receive final concurrence without further delay.

It is worth noting that the matter of pay fixation for re-employed ex-servicemen is not new to the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. In fact, the Department of Financial Services issued guidelines on February 17, 2014, through a letter (No. File No. 4/3/2012-Welfare), for the fixation of pay of ex-servicemen/ex-ECOs/SSCOs re-employed in Public Sector Banks, among others. These guidelines include the provision of “pay protection” for re-employed ex-servicemen and have been effectively implemented in the banking and insurance sectors to this day.

While the Department of Financial Services has approved this pay fixation policy, it is unfortunate to see that the Department of Expenditure, which falls under the same Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, is raising questions about the necessity of revising the proposed pay fixation method by DoPT. This policy revision, if implemented, would not only benefit a substantial number of ex-servicemen re-employed by the Government of India but also establish uniformity in pay fixation practices across all sectors employing ex-servicemen. Therefore, we are hopeful that the DOE will consider the proposed policy pragmatically.

I am writing with a humble request to kindly direct the concerned Secretary of the DOE to expedite the process of providing financial concurrence. This will enable DoPT to finalize the policy and issue the Office Memorandum at the earliest. AIREXSA is always ready to provide any assistance or information that your office may require, should there be any queries or suggestions regarding this proposal.