Massive! Govt revises risk and hardship allowances for forces
Last year in July, Asianet Newsable reported about the anomaly linked to the existing difference in Risk and Hardship allowance between the Indian Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces.
FollowIndian Army's three-year struggle has finally paid off now with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announcing a revision of their risk and hardship allowances, which had been entangled between bureaucracies of the defence and finance ministries.
The announcement comes during the Indian Army's top echelons brainstorming session over a raft of issues pertaining to administrative, logistic, Human Resources, modernisation, border issues and the Russia-Ukraine war that ended on April 21 in the national capital.Â
Asianet Newsable in July 2021: Report on risk allowance gathers dust, heartburn among Army ranks
Last year in July, Asianet Newsable reported about the anomaly linked to the existing difference in Risk and Hardship allowance between the Indian Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces. The allowances have been brought at par with their paramilitary counterparts.Â
In 2019, the defence ministry had set up a committee to study the disparity of compensation amounts between them despite having similar risks and hardships. The committee submitted its report in February 2021, but the file was dangling between two ministries since then.Â
Besides, the NCC units, training centres, BRO, MES and other static units will also get the benefit of an increase in the allowance at one level lower as admissible to the combatant troops.Â
Also, 40 per cent of the personnel deployed to the Strategic Force Command will be paid risk and hardship allowance in the revised structure which is Rs 10,500 for Officers and Rs 6,000 for Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks.
"In case if there is any reduction in the revised allowance in any particular location then the existing allowance would continue," sources in the defence establishment said.
As per the sources, the allowance will be admissible retrospectively from February 22, 2019, and the approximate cash outgo for the government is Rs 10,000 crore.
The committee was set up in view of the Pulwama attack in 2019, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force were killed in a terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir.Â
Sources had then told Asianet Newsable that the committee recommended bringing uniformity in allowances for both forces.Â
After the Pulwama attack, the Union Home Ministry had upgraded the areas in the risk and hardship matrix for the CAPF, including the Border Security Force, which led to Indian Army troops getting lesser allowances despite facing the same situation. Â
There are different categories of risk and hardship allowances. The troops of CAPF and the Indian Army posted in Kashmir Valley, Rajouri, Ramban, Kishtwar, and Shopian, among others, are facing similar risks and hardships, but their allowances were different.Â
The officers and jawans of CAPF deployed in these areas get monthly allowances of Rs 25,000 and Rs 17,300, respectively, while the Indian Army's officers and jawans receive Rs 16,900 and Rs 9,700.
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