BRIEF ON EX-SERVICEMEN CONTRIBUTORY HEALTH SCHEME

BRIEF ON EX-SERVICEMEN CONTRIBUTORY HEALTH SCHEME
(ECHS)
Preamble
1.This Brief is set out as given below, and is only a preliminary guideline for information of the environment/members joining the ECHS. This Brief provides progress on the ECHS as on 01 September 2003, and must be referred to in conjunction with “Frequently Asked Questions” issued by the Central Organisation ECHS in August 2003. A detailed booklet on the scheme will be prepared in due course, once procedures are formally approved by the GOI/MOD: -

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BDR gets raise, BSF to follow

Bangladesh Rifles soldiers are reported to have got a raise today, just over a week after the mutiny that shook their country and stunned the world, and Indian paramilitary forces are also on their way to getting better allowances.

The Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka today increased the border area allowance for BDR soldiers cutting across ranks, intelligence sources said. “We have received reports that the allowance was raised from Taka 260 to Taka 500,” a source said.

Hasina also agreed to the demand of “full rationing” for the 200-year-old force, bringing it on a par with the army, the sources said. So far, the BDR’s rations would be about 60 per cent of the army’s.

In India, the disparity in rations between the paramilitary forces and the army was rectified by the Sixth Pay Commission last year.

However, some of the demands of the BDR mutineers, who killed the army officers leading them allegedly over disparities in pay and perks, echo those put forward by Indian paramilitary forces.

One that has been repeatedly raised is that of the hard area allowance that army soldiers receive in difficult service conditions but paramilitary men fighting shoulder-to-shoulder do not.

The pay commission approved the hard area and risk allowances for the paramilitary forces, but left it to the home ministry to decide the quantum. The cabinet committee on security also gave its in-principle sanction recently.
Yesterday, home ministry officials sat through a presentation on the issue from paramilitary forces. The Centre has also set up a committee headed by an additional secretary (finance) to look into the issue, sources said.
“It is more or less agreed upon to give the hard area allowance and risk allowance but we are yet to finalise the percentages,” a senior home ministry official said.

However, the ministry will consult the Election Commission before taking a decision since the model code of conduct is in force. The hard area allowance for the army is 15 per cent of basic salary, and the paramilitary forces have demanded the same.

Source: The Telegraph