Supreme courts displeasure over the pension case of a 90year old lady.

    It has been recently reported in a section of the press that the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over the “shabby” treatment of a war widow by the government in what was attributed to be the case of “a 90-year-old war widow of an Army officer being paid a measly monthly pension of ` 70.” It was further mentioned that Ms. Pushpawanti was running from pillar to post making representations for enhanced pension but her efforts proved futile. She claimed that after the latest pay revision she was entitled to about `27,000/- per month, denied to her by the authorities. 

    The Minister of Defence Shri AK Antony promptly asked for an immediate inquiry into the matter and the redressal of her grievance if any. The Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare subsequently ascertained the facts and found gross anomalies in the media reports. Firstly, Ms. Pushpawanti cannot claim to be a War Widow. Her husband, Major Dharam Chand died on March 1, 1967. His widow did indeed represent for grant of Special Family Pension which was not found suitable and she was granted Ordinary Family Pension (OFP). Her appeal before the Appellate Committee was also found inappropriate since the officer died of a disease which was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service. 

   As regards her pension, the CGDA initially notified an OFP of ` 80 pm from March 2, 1967, vide PPO No.M/1685/67, which was revised to ` 216 pm, vide PPO No.M/1686/1967. After the Fifth Pay Commission, her pension was revised to ` 2,438, vide PPO No. M/V CPC/3112/1998 and to ` 3,840 vide Corr PPO No.M/MODP/9784/99. Following the Sixth CPC recommendations, the PDA, SBI, Meerut revised her pension to ` 8,679 pm as per MoD’s letter dated November 11, 2008. She has last drawn a pension of ` 11,717 pm as on August 30, 2010 (including Dearness Relief @35 percent). Ms. Pushpawanti was further granted an additional Family Pension of Rs.1,736 pm @20 percent from January 01, 2006 to February 28, 2010 and ` 2,604 pm @30 percent from March 1, 2010 on account of her old age. Arrears amounting to ` 1,57,694 have been credited to her bank account in Sepember 2010. 

   The erroneous representation of facts in the media has created a wrong impression regarding the welfare measures of the government, particularly those related to the Ex-Servicemen. The facts as placed above may be published to convey the correct picture to the public at large. 
 


Source- PIB