You’ve been sparshed

Deepak Sinha

A veteran paratrooper and consultant with the Observer Research Foundation, Deepak writes on matters of military and broader security concerns. His blog Para Phrase will seek to unravel issues in the security domain without fear or favour, mainly from a military perspective.

If one is a military veteran, then one would be aware they have been sparshed, or are about to be. It appears that just like death and taxes, this too is inevitable. For those unfamiliar with this term, it is an acronym for “System for Pension Administration (Raksha)”. The Principal Controller Defence Accounts (Pensions), or PCDA, claims it is “a comprehensive pension package, an end-to-end Online System facilitating and easing every aspect of Defence Pensions from Initiation to Disbursement and more……. that will include all the processes and functionalities needed in the Pension processing life cycle i.e. Initiation to Disbursement facilitated through a Single source of Truth”.

If one were not at the receiving end, and did not know better, one could mistakenly believe this was the path to attaining Moksha! Undoubtedly, this is the bureaucracy’s way of striking back at Prime Minister Modi’s famous  dictum “Minimum government, maximum governance”. They have done so by substantially enhancing their strength and centralising the system of disbursement, on the dubious grounds of saving money for the exchequer. Contrary to their claims, neither have financial savings accrued, nor has there been an appreciable increase in efficiency from the earlier system, which involved direct interaction through banks where individuals had their accounts. 

Not all changes are necessarily for the better, and by no stroke is this one. By all accounts, automation should logically have led to reduced numbers, but our Defence Accounts mandarins, adept at the numbers game, have instead flourished.  Ofcourse, may be that this new system allows for tighter control of disbursement to veterans, especially troublesome ones, is something that the powers that be may appreciate, though one could be accused of being paranoid.

Be that as it may, the truth is that the PCDA and its information technology partners have done a terrible job of migrating pensioners to this system. They have left thousands in out in the cold and in utter despair at suddenly finding their pensions halted for no fault of theirs, and then having to run from pillar to post to recommence it. Till date, incompetence coupled with poor planning and an utter lack of empathy for those affected has been the hallmark of the PCDA’s efforts. One hopes they sink no further, but that is always a possibility one faces. 

It also does not seem to have sunk into their collective conscience or wisdom that their basic premise for introducing this new system, the efficient utilisation of ICT architecture, is deeply flawed. They have not taken into consideration that the vast majority of pensioners are unable to access the system because of a variety of reasons. For example, many live in remote rural communities that lack basic infrastructure, and then there are those who because of either their advanced age, literacy levels or lack of IT skills, are unable to utilise the internet proficiently. Earlier they visited their bank and were assisted by the staff there, but now, for the most part, are required to deal with faceless entities with little accountability, that is, provided they are lucky enough to connect to the Call Centres, in the first place.  

One cannot help but conclude that while the PCDA and its accountants may find favour with the political establishment for reasons beyond our ken, their motives are suspect, and to quote Marcellus from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Indeed, this seems to be especially borne out by the deliberate manner in which they have sabotaged OROP and are turning cartwheels over the issue.

As most would know, Mr. Modi promised to implement the long-standing demand by the military veteran community for “One Rank One Pension” when he campaigned prior to the General Elections in 2014. Incidentally before that, Mrs Indira Gandhi, following the military’s sterling performance in the 1971 Conflict, was so moved that she rewarded them by reducing their pensions from 75% to 50%, while simultaneously bringing the bureaucracy and police up to par. After all, they were to be her hitmen in the Emergency years.

Mr. Modi, however, despite numerous roadblocks was true to his word and sanctioned OROP. While it did not meet the aspirations of all, by and large most veterans were satisfied with what had been granted. There were some genuine anomalies which needed correction, for which a committee was established under Justice Narsimha Reddy. It submitted its report to the government in October 2016, but unfortunately, has yet to see the light of day. It  has recently been in the news as the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in December 2022, gave the government four months to decide on its recommendations. Whether the government will abide by these directions is ofcourse a matter of conjecture.

However, the OROP saga does not just end there. As per the government orders issued at the time of sanctioning OROP, the PCDA was required to carry out equalisations of pensions every five years. The last equalisation was due in July 2019, but for reasons only known to itself, the CGDA awakened from its slumber just days prior and approached the Ministry of Defence with the plea that it was too complicated and it required more time to carry out the necessary revision. Now, no one expected babus with calculators to work this out, and in any case banks do far more complicated calculations in a day than the CGDA does in a year. 

As is the case with such matters, nothing moved and veterans were forced to approach the Hon’ble Supreme Court to receive justice. Tragically, in the interim over four lakh pensioners were reported to have died without receiving their dues. After having given the Government a number of extensions, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in December 2022, directed the Government to disburse arrears of OROP by end March 2023. However, the Government, as per the Court, “took the law in its own hands” and decided to disburse the dues in four six-monthly instalments, on the specious plea that it did not have the requisite funds. 

Their actions, resulted in the Supreme Court taking umbrage to the Ministry’s deliberate refusal to follow its directions and cancel the offending letter. Events have now taken on a life of their own with the Government’s actions becoming farcical. First, it cancelled the offending letter following the Court’s displeasure, then it cancelled the letter cancelling the letter, and if that were not enough, repeated the cycle once more. As a result, forget the pensioner, one is doubtful if the Government knows where it stands. 

Undoubtedly, the military veteran will continue to face further hardship till the disbursement actually takes place, and subsequently as well. The calculations made by the PCDA have been so shoddily done that many are likely to find themselves receiving lesser pensions that they were already drawing. What is however truly tragic is that despite his commitment and efforts not only has Mr. Modi’s image and credibility been deeply dented, but what is far worse, so has the country’s image been damaged. How can it be that a government that is able to waive off thousands of crores owed by large private entities, cannot find a few thousand crores to pay the legitimate dues it owes its military? Does it truly believe this will not impact morale or our national security, or does it really not care? We will know shortly.