Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Defence Minister A.K. Antony Wednesday called for streamlining the pension system for the armed forces personnel, saying he had received complaints of many ex-servicemen not getting their dues.
“I am getting a lot of complaints from people that they are not getting pension… Considering the past, things have improved, but even then complaints are there still… So you must take all steps possible so that they get their dues at the earliest,” Antony said.

The minister was addressing the inaugural session of the three-day conference of defence accounts department here.

The minister noted that the capital expenditure of the ministry allocated last year had been utilised fully - “an all-time record” - for procuring weapons and systems.

Emphasising the “transparent, timely and judicious use of defence expenditure”, Antony said the government has tried to infuse more transparency in the huge defence outlay that is over Rs.1.52 lakh crore for the current financial year.

“Defence expenditure and procurement issues are complex and time-consuming and have a direct bearing on our national security. We have tried to infuse more transparency and efficiency into our procedures and systems. It is my firm belief that expenditure of public money must have an appropriate system of checks and balances,” he stressed.

Chief of Army Staff Gen. V.K. Singh and scientific advisor to the defence minister V.K. Saraswat were present at the inauguration of the biennial conference.

In his address to the gathering, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said the defence pension courts were an effective mechanism for grievance redressal.