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| GoM to look at demands of para-military forces | | | Jammu / New Delhi | Feb 3
The demand for separate hardship and counter-insurgency allowances to para-military personnel will come up for fresh scrutiny at a meeting later this month of a Group of Ministers (GoM).
The GoM, headed by Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will meet at New Delhi on February 11 to consider the demand of the central para-military forces to treat them at par with the army, whose personnel are treated differently in matters pertaining to their post-retirement benefits.
They want their pension scheme to be commensurate with their difficult service conditions.
The last meeting of the GoM was held on August 31, last year but no decision was taken in this regard. It was only decided that the present pension benefits would continue till further orders.
Facing the brunt of terrorism and insurgency in several states, paramilitary forces CRPF and BSF have sought grant of special allowances for their personnel to compensate the risk factor.
The demands are among a host of proposals submitted by the forces, engaged in counter insurgency operations in the North-East, Jammu and Kashmir and Naxal-hit states, before the Sixth Pay Commission.
The suggestions, aimed at attaining parity with the Army, include increase of disability pension for injured personnel, hike in percentage of family pension paid to widows and change in pension rules.
The BSF has sought hardship allowance amounting to 40 per cent of the basic pay to personnel posted in ''extreme hard areas'' like Jammu and Kashmir and 35 and 30 per cent respectively for those deployed in very hard and hard areas.
The Force says its men posted in border areas face all sorts of hardships like ''isolation, natural hazards, limited facilities and adverse climatic conditions.'' It views North-East as a ''very hard area'' and the western frontier as ''hard''.
Significantly, an internal survey conducted by the BSF has found that satisfaction levels among its personnel posted in border areas with regard to accommodation and working hours is just 12.5 per cent.
Similar demand has also been made by the CRPF which wants 10 per cent of the basic pay as hardship allowance to its personnel deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, which will in effect cover 86 per cent of the Force.
It has also sought a hike in compensation package for its personnel dying in action to Rs 30 lakh from the present Rs 7.5 lakh besides increase in the pay-scale and provision of a pension scheme for them.
Both the forces are of the view that inclusion of its personnel who have joined the service on or after January one, 2004 in the new contributory pension scheme launched by the government was unfair.
These personnel are deployed in high-risk areas and their pension in case of death amounts to almost nothing as they hardly have two years service, they said and demanded that all personnel should be covered under the Pension Rules, 1972.
BSF also demanded payment of 35 per cent of the basic pay as counter-insurgency allowance to personnel engaged in anti-terror operations and 20 per cent of the basic pay as internal security duty allowance whenever they are called for performing tasks like election duty.
Other demands of BSF include increase of family pension to widows from 60 per cent to 75 per cent and allowance to fully disabled personnel from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
It seeks increase in pay scale by four times, restoration of the ranks of Lance Naiks and Naiks and separate pay scale for the rank of Additional Director General, who at present carries the same scale of feeder post commandant.
CRPF sought increase in various allowances like those given to gallantry medal winners while BSF wants restoration of ration money during leave periods and their exemption from the purview of income tax.
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