According to details provided by Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt to Lok Sabha, 6,851 personnel received disability pensions in 2016, while the number rose to 10,554 in 2017 and 12,321 in 2018. .
Bhatt was responding to a question on the subject.
A total of 12,971 staff members benefited from a pension extension in 2019, 12,149 in 2020 and 4,344 in the current year.
The minister said that disability and service pension cases are handled in a timely manner as per established policy.
“As per current policy, military personnel who are disabled from service due to a disability attributable to or aggravated by military service receive a disability pension,” he said in his written response.
Bhatt said that before January 4, 2019, a minimum of 10 years of qualifying service was required to be eligible for the pension.
“Prior to January 4, 2019, a minimum of 10 years of qualifying service was required for disability pension eligibility for military personnel discharged due to a disability that is neither attributable nor aggravated (NANA) by military service,” he said.
“Now the 10-year qualifying service requirement has been removed, effective January 4, 2019,” he added.
To a separate question, he said that there is no official information that India is one of the major importers of military equipment in the world, as no country officially reveals information about its imports of defense equipment.
