Job benefits for ex-servicemen to stay

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 16

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today announced that he was staying the Cabinet decision to deny seniority benefits to ex-servicemen employed with the HP government. He made this announcement while talking to newsmen after the rally organised at Dharamsala to welcome the party general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Politically sensitive decision to deprive the ex-servicemen employed in Himachal government service of seniority, pay fixation and pension benefits, which they were entitled to earlier, was taken in the last Cabinet.

The decision had impacted thousands of ex-servicemen now in government job and about two lakh ex-servicemen, serving defence forces and their families. A large number of ex-servicemen, either after completion of their service or after seeking pre-mature retirement, join the state government in practically all the departments.

As per the Cabinet decision their benefits would have come to an end as the Cabinet gave nod for deletion of Section 5.1 of the Demobilised Armed Forces Personnel Non Technical Rules, 1972.

The plea being given for taking such a decision was that Section 4.1 which gave benefits to the retired ex-servicemen now in the Himachal Administrative Services (HAS) was struck down on a court directive. “However, some cases relating to service terms of ex-servicemen are still pending in court and the move to delete Section 5.1 would have adversely affect thousands of ex-servicemen, now in government service in various departments.

Many politicians had too expressed surprise at the move in the election year with the polls being barely three months away. The highest number of serving and retired army personnel are from Hamirpur, Kangra, Bilaspur, Mandi and Chamba districts. In fact, every political party makes efforts to woo this sizeable chunk of the electorate by extending various benefits to them. As such the move could antagonize the serving and retired defence personnel and their families.