Government gives 'in principle' nod to pay demand for jawans

The government has agreed to restore 70 per cent "pensionary weightage" to jawans, even as Defence chiefs on Thursday intensified efforts to get "anomalies" in the 6th Pay Commission notification removed. 

"The government has given in principle approval to reverting to the 70 per cent pensionary weightage, as demanded by the Services, overruling the 50 per cent recommended by the Central Pay Commission (CPC), providing much-needed relief just before this Diwali," top Defence Ministry sources told reporters here. 

Espousing their cause, the Services chiefs today apprised Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar and officials in the  Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the issues. 

Earlier, jawans used to get 70 per cent of their last drawn pay as pension calculated on the basis of their 10-month average salary before retirement. 

Under the CPC notification, the jawans, who form the backbone of the Armed Forces but retire at a relatively young age, are to be provided with the option of lateral entry in to the Central police forces and paramilitary and in return, they would get reduced "pensionary weightage" of 50 per cent. 

In order to resolve this issue, Defence Minister A K Antony had written a strong letter to both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, particularly batting for the jawan's pensionary benefits, reduced by the CPC.

Source Economic Times