Army's 36-point mantra for men to avoid retirement blues

The Indian Army has come up with 36 pearls of wisdom for its officers and men, to be learnt by heart before retirement, to avoid unnecessary hassles regarding their rights and entitlements.

The move comes as thousands of veterans and the family of members of martyrs and injured personnel end up running from pillar to post at regimental centres to know about their rights.

"We have found that many officers, personnel and their family members are unaware of their rights and entitlements, and face problems before and after retirement," Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand told IANS.

In many cases, officers and jawans after getting injured during operations leave the force, but their family members were found unaware of their rights. "After analysing these issues, the army has compiled a list of things officers/personnel must know before retirement," said Anand.

The army personnel must notify correctly the particulars of spouse or other family members in their pension payment Order. The gallantry or distinguished awards should also be notified in the pension payment order. They must also mention whether the state governments had recognised the award in terms of monetary payments or land allotment.

The army wants personnel, who are about to retire, to open a joint pension account with the next of kin and also publish names of children in Part II order, a document published to make any action legal.

The death or divorce of first spouse and subsequent re-marriage should also be notified in the Part II order and the pension payment Order.

The family should notify if it's getting liberalised/special/ordinary family pension as per the authorisation and check if it's getting enhanced pension up to 10 years in case of death in harness, and 7 years or 67 year in case of death post-retirement.

In case of death of personnel post-retirement, the next of kin need to know that they will have to claim the extended insurance from the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF).

"In case of classification of death as Battle Casualty, the family should know to claim the children education grant from the Ceremonial and Welfare Directorate. The next of kin must be counselled that the children should study in the best possible schools as the expenses are paid for by the government," Anand said.

In case of death being classified as the Physical Casualty (PC), the children education grant should be claimed from the Zila Sainaik Board and the Directorate of Indian Army Veterans.

The personnel should know the pensioner, including the next of kin, is entitled to 20 per cent additional pension on attaining 80 years, 30 per cent on 85 years, 40 per cent on 90 years, 50 per cent on 95 years and 100 per cent on 100 years.

The personnel must declare the nominee in the bank account and for life-time arrear. In case of two pensions earned by the ex-servicemen, they have to check whether the next of kin are getting the dual family pension or not. The personnel and their family members must check whether the 'one rank, one pension' is being correctly implemented by the bank or not.

From employment of the deceased's son to care of handicapped or orphan kids, the army provides all facilities to their men.

"We will ensure that all servicemen know these 36 things. We are also approaching the retired personnel and their families to make them aware of their rights and entitlement," Anand said.IANS