Promotion Prospects for PBOR

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Government has not restricted promotion opportunities for the Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR) in the Armed Forces. The Government has, in fact, improved the career prospects by approving grant of three Assured Career Progression (ACP) to PBOR at 8, 16 and 24 years of service as against three Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPs) for the Central Govt Civilian Employees at 10, 20 and 30 years of regular service. At the time of each financial upgradation under ACP, the PBOR would get an additional increment and next higher Grade Pay in hierarchy.

Army: PBORs (including Jawans) are eligible for grant of commissioning into Officer Cadres through various In Service entries i.e. Army Cadet College (ACC) / Special Commissioned Officers (SCO) / Permanent Commission Officers (Special List) [PC(SL)].

Navy: Adequate promotion avenues exist through time based, roster based and selective promotion for sailors. Promotion upto the rank of Leading Seaman/equivalent for non-Artificers and upto the rank of Artificer 3rd class for artificers are time based. Roster based and selective promotions are for higher ranks against the available / anticipated vacancies. Promotion avenues also exist for sailors to be promoted to officer rank through the Commission Worthy Scheme and the Special Duty List Scheme.

Air Force: A PBOR during his service career can be promoted upto the rank of Master warrant Officer (MWO) subject to fulfilling eligibility criteria and availability of vacancies.

Number of PBORs including Jawans promoted to Senior Officers post in the three services of the Armed Forces during the last three years is as under:



Year--   Army*-- Air Force---Navy -Commission Worthy Scheme-special Duty List Scheme

2007   159            94                54                      82
2008   139            64
2009   205            59

* Excluding Army Medical Corps and Army Dental Corps

Government proposes to review the promotion policy for PBOR to ensure greater opportunities for PBORs. In the Army, review of the promotion policy for PBOR is under process to ensure better opportunities. A cadre review for the PBOR has been ordered in May 2009. The Navy is also working on a proposal for cadre restructuring of sailors, which would enhance their promotional avenues.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Arjun Ray in Lok Sabha today.
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(source-CG Employees news)

Endless wait for 54 POW families - Data From Defence Ministry Shows Majority Of Persons Missing For 40 Years

Mumbai : The thought that her husband might be alive languishing in some jail in Pakistan still gives Manju Malkhani sleepless nights.The Colaba resident hopes a miracle might happen and her husband, Flight Lieutenant K L Malkhani, may return home finally. Malkhani was a fighter pilot with the Indian Air force and part of the first air strike during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. His first sortie on December 3 in 1971 did the maximum damage in Pathankot area and destroyed the communication installations, recalls Manju. Malkhani did a second sortie but never returned. The search team could never find any remains of the aircraft, which probably means the plane did not crash, Manju says.

Manju is not alone. There are 54 such families of defence personnel across the country who still believe their near and dear ones to be in the custody of Pakistan. Data from the defence ministry show that a majority of these persons have been missing for 40 years now. An RTI activist who filed a query on this issue said the families should get some confirmation whether they are alive or not so that they get on with their lives as the uncertainty is more tragic. Punjab and Haryana top the list with 10 officers gone missing and believed to be in Pakistans custody. Delhi comes 2nd with nine officers missing, followed by Maharashtra with four officers missing. Out of the 54 missing defence personnel, 24 are from the army. A senior defence ministry official said during the visit of the external affairs minister in Jan 07,  Pakistan Govt. was persuaded to receive a delegation of people whose close relatives were missing in action. The delegation of 14 relatives even went to 10 jails in Pakistan.But they could not conclusively confirm any physical presence of the missing officers from the defence services, said the official. He added the Pakistan government has consistently denied the presence of any Indian prisoner of war in its jails. But we will continue to exert pressure, the official said. Ansar Burney, who has been fighting the case of alleged Indian spy Sarabjit Singh said he has been working on this for almost 20 years. I found so many prisoners of war in mental asylums, even the Pakistani paper Dawn had reported it then. The problem is that both sides hide their prisoners of war. There was the case of Kashmir Singh who was found after many years and his name then was Ibrahim. I would want the Pakistan authorities to search for them and share the information with the Indian government. Nasir Aslam Zahid, a former judge of Pakistan, has been working to secure the release of prisoners on both sides of the border from 2004. I visit jails every day and with experience I can tell you there is no Indian prisoner of 65 and 71 on jail records of Pakistan, he said, adding there was a joint committee of eight judges from both sides of the border which was abandoned after 26/11. Our delegation went to Delhi in 2008 and then a delegation came from India in March 2008 that visited the jails of Pakistan. There were only about 15 prisoners whom this delegation met. Not one member from the delegation indicated there might be some prisoners of war, said Zahid.
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(source-toi)

100TH PENSION ADALAT AT BENGULURU ON 19 AND 20 AUG 2010

ALL VETERAN BROTHERS IN THE STATE OF KARNATAKA MAY BE PLEASED TO NOTE THAT THE 100TH PENSION ADALAT WILL BE HELD AT BENGULURU ON 19 AND 20 AUG 10.

FOR ANY PENSION PROBLEM THEY MAY APPROACH THE ADALAT OFFICER, WITH ALL DETAILS IN THE PRESCRIBED APPLICATION FORM.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE NOTICE AND APPLICATION FORM

LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATION FORMS IS - 30 JUN 2010

Resettlement of Ex-Servicemen

Thursday, July 30, 2009 - There is no proposal to extend minimum pensionary benefits to the ex-servicemen who render less than 15 years of service. The data with regard to number of ex-servicemen State-wise is given below:
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Sl.No. States EX- SERVICEMEN  - Army Air Force Navy TOTAL
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1. Andhra Pradesh 58703 10522 4479 73704
2. Arunachal Pradesh 284 0 0 284
3. Assam 30219 2184 872 33275
4. Bihar 64972 3075 1458 69505
5. Chattisgarh 4209 272 156 4637
6. Goa 1118 204 646 1968
7. Gujarat 16615 3818 607 21040
8. Haryana 215075 10432 8781 234288
9. Himachal Pradesh 95905 1989 3163 101057
10. Jammu Kashmir 65254 601 458 66313
11. Jharkhand 17064 1084 843 18991
12. Karnataka 53834 9167 2094 65095
13. Kerala 123380 20185 11048 154613
14. Madhya Pradesh 35630 1548 1057 38235
15. Maharashtra 132381 11239 13362 156982
16. Manipur 6225 74 33 6332
17. Meghalaya 2072 78 54 2204
18. Mizoram 4642 20 20 4682
19. Nagaland 2560 8 17 2585
20. Orissa 23629 4435 2085 30149
21. Punjab 266238 9837 5103 281178
22. Rajasthan 136664 6453 3554 146671
23. Sikkim 1094 1 8 1103
24. Tamil Nadu 105429 10886 3248 119563
25. Tripura 2107 101 51 2259
26. Uttarakhand 222314 19143 10533 251990
27. Uttar Pradesh 111922 2028 2088 116038
28. West Bengal 47657 9588 3512 60757
29. A & N Islands UT 435 103 140 678
30. Chandigarh UT 6047 2399 340 8786
31. Delhi 28294 6214 2709 37217
32. Puducherry UT 1272 327 89 1688
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31. TOTAL 1883244 148015 82608 2113867
Note: Figures for the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur are provisional.
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Various training and self-employment schemes for the welfare and resettlement of ex-servicemen are provided through the Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR) and Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB). Details are as follows:

Ex-servicemen are given training to prepare them for civilian life. DGR is entrusted with the responsibility of preparing both ex-servicemen and retiring service personnel for a second career. Towards this end Officers and PBORs are given resettlement training at IIMs and various other institutes across the country. The following self employment schemes are operated for the welfare of officers and PBORs Ex-servicemen:-

Security Agencies; Allotment of surplus army vehicles; Coal Transportation scheme; Coal Tipper Scheme; Allotment of oil product agencies; Allotment of BPCL-GHAR outlets; Mother Diary Milk and Fruits and Vegetables shops; Management of CNG Station by ESM Officers in NCR; Management of Toll Plaza under NHAI; Kidzee brand chain franchise. Financial assistance is provided for treatment of serious ailments, supply of modified scooters for ESM paraplegics, toolkits for ESM technician, financial assistance for needy ESM for house repair, daughter’s marriage, children education etc, Prime Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme, funds for maintenance of paraplegic rehabilitation centres, Cheshire home and St. Dustan aftercare organization and war memorial hostels. Besides the above the following benefits are also available to Ex-servicemen: Tuition Fee exemption for wards of war widows/war disabled ESM; Allotment of medical/BDS seats to wards of Defence Personnel; Reservation in State Government jobs and in professional colleges for wards of ESM/widows; Reservation in allotment of house sites/flats; Cash incentives for winners of gallantry awards; Ex-gratia grant to war widows; Legal assistance and exemption of court fee; Concession in fare for rail and air to recipients of gallantry awards, permanently disabled Officers and war widows; 10 to 24.5% reservation in Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ posts in Central and State Governments, PSUs, nationalized banks and paramilitary forces. Along with the above benefits 100% medical coverage is provided to ESM pensioners through Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), who are members of scheme.

This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Shri M.M. Pallam Raju in a written reply to Shri Kodikkunnil Suresh in Lok Sabha today.
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(source-cg employees news)

(source-vaartha)

And Accountability For All - Change the system in which politicians, bureaucrats and citizens seek to elude responsibility : Rajiv Desai

In many ways, Govt has embarked on a path-breaking route, in terms of both domestic and foreign policy. For instance, sometime ago, the issue of fertiliser subsidies came up. In one fell swoop, Govt.  changed the game by targeting subsidies on the basis of nutrients. Thanks to policy change, farmers will look to nutrients other than urea. This will increase yields dramatically. Urea-based fertilisers were once good and Govt. policies championed their use. Over the years, it became clear that they had passed the point of diminishing returns. Everywhere in the world, Govts. have promoted suplhur-based and other nutrients in the mix to increase yields and protect the soil. With all noise about food inflation, the Govt. has pointed to the exploitative role of middlemen in the journey farm products make from the fields to the market. In recent times,the FM has made several references to the need for organised retail in the grocery business, most recently at the CII national meeting in Delhi. Coming to taxes, the FM cut individual taxes while increasing some indirect levies. The idea is sterling: put more money in the hands of middle-class families and let them decide what they can or cannot afford. If I am considering buying a car and it costs a few thousand rupees more, it is my call. By putting economic decisions in the citizens hands, the Govt. has been making a major paradigm shift. Emphasis on infrastructure is also welcome.     Roads, ports, airports and railroads are being built. The trouble is that modern infrastructure is at the disposal of government agencies and citizens with zero ethics or civic consciousness. Thus, it gets caught up in bottlenecks caused by lackadaisical enforcement and citizens who habitually violate the law. For instance, many cities now have modern airports. They are like white elephants because, the minute you step outside, there is total chaos.Its the same thing for highways. We recently travelled to Chandigarh from Delhi. The road is work-in-progress and there are significant flyovers and wide pavements.But there is total traffic chaos. Even as you rev to the top speed of 90 km per hour, you find yourself having to deal with vehicles going the wrong way, underpowered trucks, three-wheeled vehicles, bullock carts, cycle rickshaws,handcarts, herds of cows and sheep and, scariest of all, dare-devil pedestrians trying to cross the highway. They make the journey a nightmare. There is simply no policing, no signage or other facilities that go with modern highways. Its almost as though modern amenities are made available to citizens with a pre-modern mindset by officials with no clue about modernity.

The tragedy is that the police have no authority to enforce the law. Even worse, they dont even know the law. Just recently, I stopped a police car on the spanking new expressway that connects Delhi -Gurgaon to airports. I told the police officer that the unchecked use of the expressway by 2/3 wheeled vehicles was a major traffic violation and that there were signs that these vehicles were not allowed. He told me to mind my own business. The government needs to show its hard-headedness in such matters as much as it is doing with the Maoists in central India.

Talking of internal security, the government has made major moves. It has taken on the Maoist movement with force. True, there are complaints of security forces riding roughshod over the ultras. But then, the Maoists are not known for grace and diplomacy either. A tough approach will not only contain the insurgents but also send a clear message that this is a hard government that will not stomach violent agitations.

On national security, the government has embarked on a new course. Even while initiating talks with Pakistan, it authorised a major air force exercise sometime ago in the Rajasthan desert to demonstrate its fighting capabilities. It was a brilliant move to invite most defence attaches of diplomatic missions, leaving out the representatives of China and Pakistan. The idea was to exhibit hard power. To reinforce the Govt. hard line, the PM went to Saudi Arabia and urged its authorities to weigh in with Pakistan to control terrorist groups operating from there. It is clear Pakistans government has neither wherewithal nor the will to rein in various terrorist groups with a free run within the country's borders. A Saudi nudge could go a long way to boost the crippled civilian government against rogue elements within the army and intelligence agency.

In the end, however, you have in India an enlightened government beset by a crude political class, a malignant bureaucracy and a pre-modern citizenry. Also, the ship of state seems unable to deal with casteism, communalism and corruption. Bureaucrats blame crass politicians and the ignorant citizenry. Politicians castigate the bureaucracy. Citizens berate politicians and bureaucrats. Its a sort of beggar-thy neighbour view that enables the entire system to elude responsibility. If everyones to blame, nobody is accountable. Whats clear is that citizens have to take on responsibility; blaming the government and politicians is not enough. (The writer is a public affairs commentator.)
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(sour ce-toi)

All veteran brothers may be pleased to note thhat the PCDA had issued a circular to all Pension Disbursing Agencies  to implement the orders of MOD d/d 8.3.10, vide their circular d.d 10.03.2010. The time limit specified for implementation is 2 to 3 months.
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Please click below to see the orders.

ORDERS FOR REVISION OF PENSIONS AS PER CoS COMMITTEE (MOD ORDERS DT.8.3.2010) : BY BANKS WITHIN 2 TO 3 MONTHS

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CLICK HERE FOR SOME OTHER COMPLETE DETAILS

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     So, one month had already passed by. We may get the revised pension alongwith this month pension or  by May 2010 pension positively.