Defence minister admits he receives complaints on pension for ex-servicemen; urges his officers to expedite process

IN A serious bid to ensure timely disbursal of the revised pensions and arrears for retired Armed Forces personnel, India’s defence minister AK Antony has asked the defence finance officials to expedite and streamline the pension system. While inaugurating the controllers’ conference of the defence accounts department in New Delhi on Wednesday, he further said, “Even now, I am getting a lot of complaints from people that they are not getting pensions... 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,”. He also said that how the government had made an attempt to infuse more transparency in the huge defence outlay, which is over Rs1.52 lakh crore for the current financial year itself.

Secretary of defence finance Ms Indu Liberhan (In Picture with AK Antony) stressed the need for continuing institutionalized interaction between the defence finance and the three Services. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, a 1972 batch IAS, also addressed on the occasion.

Anil Ambani meets TKA Nair

ADAG chairman and younger of the Ambani brothers, Anil Ambani, on Wednesday held a separate meeting with Principal Secretary to the PM, TKA Nair for about 10 meetings before he met with the PM. Mr Ambani lost the recent case Supreme Court case on gas disputes to his elder brother and RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. The government was also a party to the case. What transpired in the meeting is not known.

Action and Appointments

a) Mr Rajiv, an UP cadre IPS officer of 1975 batch, has been appointed as Director General of National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence (NDRFCD).

b) Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Brijeshwar Singh said that achieving the target of building 20 km road every day would be possible with speedier acquisition of land for which chief secretaries of the states have been taking monthly meetings.

c) Anti-corruption wing of the Orissa government registered a criminal case against a 1995 batch IAS officer B P Sethi among others. He was allegedly involved in financial irregularities when he was a director of animal husbandry and veterinary service two years ago.

d) Secretary (Border Management), ministry of home affairs (MHA), AE Ahmed (In Picture) spoke at the annual conference of relief commissioners and secretaries of the department of disaster management of states and UTs, 2010, in New Delhi on May 12, 2010.