Advani hits back, questions PM's assertion on army pension -Governance Now

Advani hits back, questions PM's assertion on army pension

Ex-servicemen say no jawan or JCO has received any orders for pension hike

PTI | March 4, 2010

Senior BJP leader L K Advani today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assertion about implementation of enhancement of pension of army personnel has been contested by ex-servicemen.

Addressing the BJP Parliamentary Party, Advani said he had got a letter from Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) stating "till today no jawan or JCO has received any orders for enhancement of pension".

Advani had yesterday expressed satisfaction over the PM's statement in Lok Sabha that government's promise of enhancing pension of retired army personnel has been implemented.

The letter, which BJP claimed was sent to Advani after his spat with the PM during the Presidential Address debate, is written by Vice Chairman IESM, Maj Gen (Retd.) Satbir Singh.

IESM has cited the government order of July 6, 2009 on enhancement of pension of ex-servicemen and maintained that even enquiries from Service Headquarters have confirmed orders for the same have not been received.

"It is a very serious matter of impropriety by the person no less than the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on the floor of the House," the letter states.

Briefing reporters after the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said Advani told them that the Prime Minister should have studied the matter and then spoken about it. .

"This matter should be taken seriously....The Parliamentary Party will see how the matter can be taken up further as it involved intervention of the Prime Minister. We demand the government to respond," Naidu said.

The Prime Minister had intervened several times yesterday, including on the issue of enhancement of pension to ex-servicemen, when Advani was attacking the Government.

Advani claimed that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had specifically said he had accepted Rs 2,100 crore increase in expenditure per year for the purpose. "I am told that it has not been implemented, it has not been done," he said.

When the Prime Minister argued that it does not "behove for anyone in this House to create a rift between the services and the government of the day", Advani had refuted this saying he was not creating a rift.

The PM told the House that whatever the Finance Minister had stated in his budget speech has been implemented.

Upon this, Advani had expressed satisfaction saying, "Well, if it has been implemented, I am very happy. But I can tell you that this is not the feeling that I got from the ex-servicemen.

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