CDS proposes new manpower reforms, retirement age to be increased

According to new reforms related to manpower in the armed forces proposed by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, the retirement age of Colonels and equivalents in Air Force and Navy to 57 from the existing 54. Brigadiers and their equivalents are now proposed to retire at the age of 58 from the existing 56 and they would get two additional years.

New Delhi:In a slew of new reforms related to manpower in the armed forces initiated by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, the retirement age of officers and jawans from technical branches is proposed to be increased.

As part of the initiatives, the Department of Military Affairs under General Bipin Rawat has also proposed that in order to retain highly-skilled manpower in the defence forces, pension entitlements of the officers taking premature retirement would be revised.

"All these proposals are being initiated to make the optimum use of the manpower in the armed forces," government sources told media.

The proposal envisages enhancing the retirement age of Colonels and equivalents in Air Force and Navy to 57 from the existing 54. Brigadiers and their equivalents are now proposed to retire at the age of 58 from the existing 56 and they would get two additional years.

Major Generals would retire at the age of 59 from existing 58. The retirement age of Lieutenant Generals would remain at 60 only and has not been touched. The retirement age for junior commissioned officers and jawans in logistics, technical and medical branch has been increased to 57 years and this would include the EME, ASC and AOC branches of the Indian Army too.

As per the proposed revision in pension for personnel taking premature retirement, men retiring after 20-25 years service would get 50 per cent of entitled pension while it would be 60 per cent for those retiring after 25-30 years service.

Men retiring after 35 years service would be entitled for their full pension. Sources said there would no revision in pension entitlement for personnel to retire due to battle casualties or medical reasons.

Gen Rawat would also be bringing in more proposals to support these initiatives and provide better avenues for officers who are boarded out due to lesser vacancies and service restrictions. Sources said the reason for these initiatives is that there are several specialists and super specialists who are trained for highly skilled jobs in the armed forces and leave it to work in other sectors.

"Such loss of highly skilled manpower results in a void in the services skill matrix and is counter-productive to the armed forces. In this view, it was decided to review the pension entitlement of the personnel taking premature retirement," the sources said.

The plan is to implement these proposals at the earliest after due deliberations and discussions with the people concerned, the sources said.

ANI Report