Dept of Military affairs proposes increase in retirement age of senior military officers

New Delhi, Nov 06: The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)-led department of military affairs has initiated a proposal to raise the retirement age of senior officers in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

A letter issued by the department proposes for an increase in the age of retirement. It said that the retirement of officers upto colonels will be increased to 57 years from the existing 54 years. In the case of brigadiers, the retirement age will be raised to 58 from the current 56. For major generals, the retirement age is proposed at 59 from the existing 59.

Similar increases have been proposed for the Navy and Air Force. The retirement age of JCOs in logistics, technical and medical branches will be 57 years. A draft government sanction letter will be processed for the perusal of Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat.

In case of "premature release" (PMR) from service, the "pension entitlement" of those in service for 20-25 years will be cut by 50 per cent. Those who had 26 to 30 years of service will get 60 per cent of their entitled pension and those with 31-35 years in service will get 75 per cent of the entitled pension in case of PMR. Only those with above 35 years of service will get a full pension. There will be no change in the pension entitlements of "battle casualties," the letter said.

The letter also said that the loss of such high-skilled manpower results in a void in the service skill matrix and is counterproductive. There are several specialists and super-specialists who are trained for high-skilled jobs and they leave the service to work in other sectors.