Army: 40% Army of f icers retire with disability pension | India News

NEW DELHI: As many as 36%-40% of officers who retire every year get disability pension, which is much higher than the normal one, while only 15%-18% of the jawans get it. Moreover, the percentage of medical officers retiring with disability pension is “significantly higher” at 44-58% as compared to other officers in the 12-lakh Army.
Citing these statistics in its latest report tabled in Parliament, the CAG has asked the MoD and Army HQ “to assess the reasons” for such a high percentage of officers, especially medical officers, being granted “the disability element” on being discharged from service. “Further, 22% and 13% of the disability pension cases granted to the officers and PBORs (personnel below officer rank), respectively, were exclusively on the ground of lifestyle diseases (hypertension & Type-2 diabetes),” the CAG said.

From ’15-’16 to ’19-’20, 38% of 6,388 retirees got disability pension: CAG
The CAG has asked the defence ministry and the Army HQ “to assess the reasons” fora high percentage of officers getting disability pension.
“The ministry may ensure the complete database with all the relevant information is maintained to carry out an analysis of the main reasons of disability, including lifestyle diseases among the defence forces, for possible corrective action,” it further added.
After examining the records from 2015-16 to 2019-20, the audit watchdog said 2,446 officers (53 invalidated, 2,393 discharged on retirement) of the 6,388 total retirees in the timeframe were granted disability pension. For PBORs, the corresponding number stood at 48,311 (18,412 of them were invalidated ) of the total 2.98 lakh.
The CAG had sought a reply from the MoD whether it had carried out any “root cause analysis” regarding the higher percentage of officers and medical officers being granted “the disability element” and whether any measures had been taken to address the issues. “The response was awaited as of January 2023,” it said.
Many soldiers do suffer injuries, undergo tremendous stress and strain while serving in high-altitude areas and relentless counter-insurgency operations among other deployments in far-flung areas. But, the Army headquarters in 2019 had also acknowledged the disability pension provision was being misused by some, with a few officers even getting disability certificates days before their retirement to get higher pensions.
“On average, the disability pension is 20% to 50% higher than a normal one. A proper analysis and corrective action should be done to prevent the misuse of the system by some personnel. Most cases are genuine and should not be penalized,” a senior officer said.
The 7th Central Pay Commission, had also questioned the significant jump in disability pension cases, especially in senior ranks.