TERMINAL BENEFITS TO NOK

TERMINAL BENEFITS TO NOK ON DEATH OF OFFICER AFTER RETIREMENT 

FAMILY PENSION 

1.       Ordinary Family Pension. Ordinary Family pension is entitled to the widow and after her death, to eligible children, in case of death of the officer who was in receipt of pension. A son is entitled for Family Pension upto 25 years of age/marriage or earning more than Rs. 3500/- per month. Unmarried/Widowed/divorced daughters are entitled to family pension for life, or till their re-marriage/earning more than Rs. 3500/- per month. The PPO issued to an officer on retirement includes family pension admissible to the widow of officer in case of his death. In such cases, the widow is only required to intimate the death of her husband to the Pension Disbursing Authority

(PDA).  She has to open a separate Single Bank Account. The pension will be deposited in her account. However, where such an endorsement does not exist, the widow has to submit application for Family Pension as per Appendix 'S' to PCDA (P), Allahabad, in duplicate to enable them to sanction Family Pension.

2.       Entitlement. The widow is entitled to draw Ordinary  Family Pension after  death of her husband at the rate of 30% of last pay drawn by the officer ie 60% of the pension drawn by the pensioner.

3.       Ordinary Family Pension at Enhanced Rate.  In case the officer dies within 7 years of retirement or before completing the age of 67 years, the widow.is paid Family Pension at enhanced rate, which is 50% of the last pay drawn, for a maximum period of 7 years or till the officer would have attained the age of 67 years, whichever is earlier.  W.e.f. 01.01.2006 in case of death in harness, enhanced pension will be granted for 1O years.

4.       Ordinary FamilyPension on Re-marriage.  W.e.f. 01.01.2006 Ordinary Family Pension in case of childless widow will continue after remarriage.

5.       Special  Family  Pension .Admissible   in   case   of   death   of   an   officer   on   account   of causes attributable to  or  aggravated  by Military service. The widow is entitled to  special  Family Pension at the uniform rate of 60%  of reckonable emoluments last drawn by the deceased officer,  subject  to a minimum of  Rs.7,000/-.

6.       Authorisation of Special Family Pension  to  pre-  01.01.1996  re-married  widows.  Special Family Pension has been authorized to pre 01.01.1996 re-married widows vide Government of India letter No. 1(1)/2001/D (Pen/Policy) dated 20 January 2009 whose Special Family Pension was stopped on re-marriage.  (The provisions of  GOI  letter of  31 January 2001  did not cover  pre 01.01.1996 re-married widows and their Special Family Pension remained discontinued till now).

7.    Additional Family Pension to old Family Pensioners. The quantum of family pension available to the old family pensioners shall be increased as follows :

Age of Family Pensioner	Additional Quantum of Family Pension
From 80 years to less than 85 years	20% of basic family pension
From 80 years to less than 90 years	30% of basic family pension
From 90 years to less than 95 years	40 % of basic family Pension
From 95 years to less than 100 years	50% of basic family pension
100 years or more	100% of basic family pension

ALLOWANCES RELATED TO GALLANTRY AWARDS

8.                Payment of Monetary Allowances in Respect  of  Gallantry  Awards.   Monetary  allowances entitled to gallantry award winners shall continue to be paid to NOK after demise of  the award winner. (Auth :- GOI, MOD letter No 3(6)/93/d (ceremonial) dated 31 Jan 1995).  However, Dearness Allowance is not admissible on monetary allowance for gallantry awards.

                 Rates  of  Monetary   Allowance   for   Gallantry  Awards.  The  current

              rates  for  monetary allowance for gallantry awards are as under :-

	Param Vir Chakra Ashok Chakra	Rs 10,000/- Rs 6,000/-
	Maha Vir Chakra Kirti Chakra	Rs 5,000/- Rs 4,500/-
	Vir Chakra Shaurya Chakra Sena Medal(G)	Rs 3,500/· Rs 3,000/- Rs 1,000/-

9.           AGIF  Extended  insurance Scheme    The Extended Insurance Scheme of AGIF covers erstwhile members, in case of death up to a specified period after retirement I release. Officers who retired after 1 Jul 1999 are covered up to Rs 3 lakhs in case of death up to 20 years after retirement I release or up to 72 years of age, whichever is earlier. Towards this end, a deduction Is made from the maturity benefits at the time of retirement and an Extended Insurance Certificate is issued.

        10.             With effect from 30 June 2009, the Extended Insurance Cover has been increased to Rs   lakhs . The scheme has again undergone revision from 31 Jul 2010, whereby the one time subscription will be refunded without interest to surviving members after a period of 26 years after retirement or 75 years of age, whichever is earlier. Members who have retired prior to 31 July 2010 will continue .to be covered under the scheme as mentioned in their Extended Insurance Certificate and refund of one time subscription will not be applicable to them.

11.              In case of re-employed officers, the El Cover remains suspended during the re-employed service and they are covered for insurance benefits as other serving officers. On cessation of re­ employed service, the pro-rata premium on account of El Cover for the suspended period of service, is refunded along with Maturity Benefits for the re-employed service. The El Cover becomes operative for the ·amount and upto the date admissible in accordance with El Certificate issued initially.

AOBF Platinum I Demise Grant

12.            With effect from 1 Aug 1997, the Octogenarian I Demise Grant has been increased to Rs 50,000/-                                            ·and the age of payment reduced from 80 years to 75 years.  It   has also been re-designated as Platinum I Demise Grant. It will now be paid at 75 years of age, or demise of the officer, whichever is earlier.  The payment is to be made on a sliding scale linked to service rendered by  the officer as under :-

(a)    Below 5 yrs of service                                                   NIL

(b)    5 to 10 years of service                                                 12500

(c)     15 to 20 Years of service                                             25000

(d)     20 years or moree of commissioned service   --     50000

(e)          NOK of the  Officers dying in harness and Officers boarded out will get the full amount on completion of 75 years of age.  Rs 20,000/- from AOBF and Rs 30,000/· from ACWF.(Auth :- SAO 2/S/98)

 Life Time Arrears.

13.               Life Time Arrears (LTA} is nothing but the amount of pension, or other service entitlements, which are I become due to the pensioner I family pensioner, but could not be paid to the ·pensioner I family pensioner due to his I her death .  The   LTA is considered as the estate of the deceased and is payable to the legal heirs. The LTA generally includes :·

a.       Broken period of the month for which pension is due ( eg., if the  pensioner has

expired on 10/8/2010, his pension for the period 1/8/2010 to 10/82010 will be paid as LTA).

b.      Arrears of pension due to increase in DA, Pay Commission, Court Judgements etc.). Kendriya Sainik Board

14.            Various types of financial assistance for financially distressed NOK, concessions and education reservations are available from Central and State Governments. The details of available schemes and application procedures can be viewed at the DGR Website at:­ http://www.dgrindia.com/directorate/kendriya.html

15     AWWA also has provision for financial assistance under certain circumstances. Details can be viewed at the AWWA website at http://awwa. in/index.php

Canteen Facilities

16.            Widows .of officers are entitled to purchase of canteen stores. They are als9 authorised to draw 5 bottles of Liquor per month.(Auth : Army HQ, QMG'S Br. DDGCS letter No 95286/SG/DDGCS dt 26 Sep 12).

 

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HOW EAST PAKISTAN SURRENDERED - 1971

How east Pakistan surrendered               BY   Lt Gen JFR  Jacob.   

  Though no war goes completely according to plan, this one went  off reasonably well, and on December 13, we were outside Dhaka.

The advance from the north went off well, and though the move of the two brigades was delayed the paradrop took place as planned. By December 13, we had about 3,000 troops outside Dhaka.

Meanwhile the American fleet was moving into the Straits of Malacca. Some in Delhi were panicking. The radio signals we were intercepting from Islamabad to the Pakistani forces in the east said "Fight on, you are getting help from yellow (China) from the north, and white (America) from the south."

The 1971 War: 35 Years On

                                                     आगे पढ़ने के लिए नीचे क्लिक करें 

Niazi believed this.

On December 13, there was an American resolution at the United Nations, which was vetoed by the Soviet Union. The Soviets said no more vetos. (Then Chief of the Army Staff S H F J) Manekshaw reacted and sent us an order to capture "all the towns in Bangladesh except Dacca." Listing every single one that we had bypassed.

We were outside Dhaka, still no mention was made to capture Dhaka!

Not only that, he copied the order down to the three corps. So we rang the corps to tell them to ignore these orders.

(Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh) Aurora (then General Officer Commanding Eastern Command) came agitated into my room, showing me the signal and saying this was was all my fault because he wanted to capture the towns, and I did not support this view. Further, I had opposed operations to capture Sylhet, Rangpur and Dinajpur and other towns in East Pakistan.

So I got hold of Niazi on the wireless that night and explained that our forces outside Dhaka were very strong, a Mukti Bahini uprising was imminent, ethnic minorities would be protected and that they ( the Pakistan army) would be treated with dignity if they surrendered.

On December 14, I got an intercept that there was a meeting at the Government House in Dhaka. There were two government houses in Dhaka, so we took an educated guess, and fortunately it was the correct one. The Indian Air Force bombed it within two hours. The governor of East Pakistan resigned.

About 4 pm that afternoon, Niazi and Major General Farman Ali went to see Spivack, the American consul general, with the following proposals:

Ceasefire under the United NationsWithdrawal under UNHandover of the government to the UN, andNo war crimes trials and other stipulations

I got to know about it through one of the embassies. So I informed Manekshaw, who spoke to the American ambassador in India, who didn't know anything about it. That same day, the American embassy in Islamabad sent it to New York, and it was given on December 15 to (then Pakistan foreign minister) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He refused to accept it. The Americans then gave it to us.

On December 15, the ceasefire was ordered.

A resolution by Poland, part of the Soviet bloc, was introduced at the UN on December 15 evening in New York, which was the morning of December 16 our time. Bhutto tore it up in rage, because it did not condemn India as an aggressor.

On the morning of December 16, Manekshaw phoned me and said: "Go and get a surrender."

"On what terms?" I asked. "I have already send you a draft surrender document. Do I negotiate on that?"

"You know what to do, just go!" he replied.

Then I made a mistake. I told him that when I was talking to Niazi, he had invited me for lunch, and I forgot about it. On the staircase, I met Mrs Aurora, and she told she was going to Dhaka with her husband. "My place is beside my husband," she said.

I was changing helicopters at Jessore to get to Dhaka, when a man came running to me with a signal from Army HQ. I opened it, thinking good, now I have some orders.

I was unarmed, and carrying the document which I had typed and sent to Delhi. A staff officer was with me, that's all. I opened the letter, and it said: "The government of India has approved of General Jacob having lunch with Niazi." Who wanted their permission?

Anyway, I landed at Dhaka still carrying this paper which I had sent to Delhi. On my arrival, I was met by the UN representatives who said we are coming with you to arrange the withdrawal of the Pakistani army and the takeover of the government.

I said thank you very much, I don't need your help.

Fighting was going all around Dhaka between the Pakistani troops and the Mukti Bahini. A Pakistani brigadier met me at the airfield to guide me to Niazi.

En route, We were stopped by a unit of the Mukti Bahini, who refused to let us proceed. We are going to attack Niazi's headuarters, they said. "He is surrendering, please let me go," I said. The Time magazine reporter who was there said I threatened to shoot them. I said no such thing. I didn't have a weapon to shoot them with!

A long argument took place with the Mukti Bahini, until I said, "Look, your new government is coming in tomorrow, and Niazi wants to surrender, for God's sake let us go!" Finally they let us go. I arrived at Niazi's headquarters, where I had the draft surrender document read out to him.

This is an unconditional surrender, he said. "You have only come here to discuss the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the Pakistani army."

"General," I replied, "this is not unconditional, I have worked on this for some time. I had put in it that we would protect ethnic minorities, that we would ensure the safety of them and their families, that they would be treated with dignity as officers and men according to the Geneva Convention. So it is not unconditional. Where would you find all these conditions laid down?"

But he said no.

I had thought he had 25,000 troops in Dhaka. He told me had 30,000.

I listened to the arguments for some time. His aides like Farman Ali were advising him not to surrender.

Finally, I told him, "Look general, you surrender, I will ensure your safety, the safety of your families, ethnic minorities, everyone. You will be treated with respect. If you don't I am afraid I can take no responsibility for what happens to you or your families. What is more, we will have no other option but to order the immediate resumption of hostilities. I give you 30 minutes."

I walked out.

Aurora was supposed to land soon to sign the instrument of surrender. I fervently hoped he was bringing what we had sent Manekshaw. I was alone in a very hostile environment.

The BBC and others were there, and they were all asking me questions. I didn't know what to say.

The Hamidur Rehman report says 'there was General Jacob, calmly puffing his pipe pacing up and down.'

And I was thinking, suppose he doesn't surrender, what do I do? He has 30,000 troops, we have 3,000, he can fight for three weeks at least!

The Hamidur Rehman report also says when they asked him why did you surrender, Niazi told them 'General Jacob blackmailed me! He threatened to hand us over to the Bahini, and that they would bayonet us.'

All rubbish. I did put pressure on him, but I didn't say I would hand him over to the Mukti Bahini for them to massacre. I said I would not be responsible. I never said I would hand them over. That's a lie. In fact, in the Hamidur Rehman report, one of the officers who was present said Jacob never used the word bayonet.

Anyway, I was wondering what was going to happen as I walked back after half an hour. The paper I gave him was lying on the table.

"General, do you accept this paper?" I asked.

He kept quiet, he didn't answer. I asked him three times.

So I picked it up, and held it high, and said, "I take it that it is accepted.

There were tears were in his eyes. There were glares from the other Pakistani generals and admirals.

I had no advice, no orders, other than to get a surrender. I didn't know what was going to be signed.

What came to be signed had to be re-signed in Calcutta two weeks later. The signed document was wrong.

I will surrender in my office, Niazi said.

I said no, I have already given instructions that you will surrender at the racecourse, in front of the people of Dhaka.

"I made my own modalities for the surrender.

This surrender is unique, the only public surrender in history where a

ceasefire was converted into surrender and signed in four hours. Niazi had the capacity to fight on for two to three weeks, and the UN was in session.

He was taken to task by the Hamidur Rehman report, which said not only had he agreed to surrender but he had shamefully agreed to a public surrender and guard of honour when he could have fought on for some weeks, enabling the UN to intervene.

Then there was that lunch which Gavin Young (of the Independent, London, who won the IPC's International Reporter of the Year Award for his coverage from Dacca of the 1971 War) described as the Surrender Lunch, with all the silverware laid out.

Khara (my staff officer) and I stood aside, we didn't touch anything, not even a drop of water.

After that, while we were going to the airport in Niazi's car, the Mukti Bahini stopped the car and jumped on it. Fortunately my staff officer Khara was a Sikh, he put his turbaned head out, and shouted at them.

Near the airport, I saw a few of our troops trickling in. I saw two para boys in a jeep and I took them with me. When I got to the airport, Tiger Siddiqi turned up with a truckload of Mukti Bahini. I don't know why, but I felt he wanted to shoot Niazi.

If Niazi was killed at the airport, there would be no surrender.

I told the two para boys to shield Niazi, walked up to Siddiqi -- I told the two para boys to point their rifles at him -- and ordered him off the airfield.

Then Aurora and his entourage, including his wife, landed. I was supposed to travel with Niazi and Aurora, but I was told to make way for Mrs Aurora. She was more important. Since everyone else had gone, and this was the last car, I hitched a ride in a truck.

After the signing, the crowd was wanting to lynch Niazi. We had very few troops there. So we had put a cordon around Niazi, put him in an army jeep which whisked him away.

We lost 1,400 men; 4,000 were wounded. The credit for our victory should go to the officers and men who fought gallantly against stiff resistance by the Pakistanis.

Due credit must go to Indira Gandhi who displayed courage and determination throughout the crisis. She stood up to (US President Richard M) Nixon and the UN, and led the country to its greatest victory.

We took 93,000 prisoners. The rifle and bayonet at the Amar Jawan memorial in New Delhi belong to an unknown soldier who gave his life in the Jessore sector.

Let us not forget their sacrifice.

बेक होम BACK HOME
                                                                                   http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.in

LAST POST लास्ट पोस्ट

The story behind The Last Post is not commonly known,  how very sad.
If any of you have ever been to a military funeral in which The Last Post was played;
This brings out a new meaning of it.
Here is something everyone should know.
Until I read this, I didn';t know,
                                                   आगे पढ़ने के लिए न्नेचे क्लिक करें 

We have all heard the haunting song, ';The Last Post.';
It';s the song that gives us the lump in our throats and usually tears in our eyes.
But, do you know the story behind the song?
If not, I think you will be interested to find out about its humble beginnings.
Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the American Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison';s Landing in   Virginia   ..  The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.
During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field.  Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment.
When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead..
The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock.  In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier.. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out.  Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted.
The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral.
The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate.
But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician.
The Captain chose a bugler.  He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth';s uniform.
This wish was granted.
The haunting melody, we now know as ';The Last Post'; used at military funerals was born.
The words are:
Day is done.
Gone the sun..
From the lakes
From the hills.  
From the sky.
All is well.  
Safely rest.  
God is nigh.
Fading light.
Dims the sight.
And a star.
Gems the sky.
Gleaming bright.  
From afar..  
Drawing nigh.  
Falls the night..
Thanks and praise.  
For our days.  
Neath the sun  
Neath the stars.  
Neath the sky
As we go.
This we know.  
God is nigh
I too have felt the chills while listening to ';The Last Post';
But I have never seen all the words to the song until now.
I didn';t even know there was more than one verse .
I also never knew the story behind the song and I didn';t know if
You had either so I thought I';d pass it along.
I now have an even deeper respect for the song than I did before.
Remember Those Lost and Harmed While Serving Their Country.
Also Remember Those Who Have Served And Returned;
And for those presently serving in the Armed Forces.
Please send this on.
do it for our soldiers...please don';t break it. 
  I didn';t!

Brig Narinder Dhand (Veteran)
http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.in