The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, approved the revision of the pension of Armed Forces pensioners and family pensioners under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, effective July 1, 2019, at an annual additional expenditure of Rs. 8,450 crores and arrears of Rs. 23,638 crores.
- Pensions of former retirees would be revised based on the average of the minimum and maximum pensions of Defence Forces retirees of the same rank and service period in the calendar year 2018.
- According to the appropriate dearness relief (DR), arrears will be paid from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, for a total of about Rs. 23,638 crores.
OROP entails a uniform pension for personnel based on rank and duration of service, regardless of the date of retirement.
Background
On November 7, 2015, the Government of India (GoI) announced a historic decision to implement OROP for Defence Forces Personnel/family pensioners and released a policy letter for pension revision effective July 1, 2014.
- The aforementioned policy letter stated that the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years in the future.
- The expense of implementing OROP in eight years has been around Rs. 57,000 crores, or Rs. 7,123 crores every year.
After initially petitioning the Supreme Court in June 2022, asking for three months to compute and pay, the GoI filed a second petition in December 2022, seeking for an extension to pay the arrears.
Beneficiaries
i.Armed Forces personnel who have retired as of June 30, 2019, with the exception of those who have retired prematurely as of July 1, 2014, will be subjected to this revision.
- This will benefit over 25.13 lakh armed forces pensioners and family pensioners, including over 4.52 lakh new beneficiaries.
ii.The benefit will be extended to family pensioners, including war widows and disabled pensioners, and pensions for individuals earning above-average incomes would be protected.
iii.Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments.
- However, all family pensioners, including those receiving special, liberalised family pensions and gallantry medal winners, would be paid in a single instalment.
Annual Expenditure by the GoI
i.The estimated annual expenditure for implementing the revision is roughly Rs. 8,450 crores based on 31% Dearness Relief (DR).
ii.Based on DR of 17% for the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2021, and 31% for the period from July 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, the arrears from July 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, have been estimated to be over Rs. 19,316 crores.
CCEA Approves MSPs for Copra For 2023 Season
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by PM Narendra Modi, has approved Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for the 2023 season.
- The decision was based on recommendations from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) as well as the perspectives of key coconut-growing states.
In order to procure copra and dehusked coconut under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) would continue to serve as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs).
Key Points:
i.The MSP for fair Average Quality milling copra is Rs. 10860 per quintal for the 2023 season, and Rs. 11750 per quintal for ball copra.
- This is an increase over the previous season of Rs. 270 per quintal for milling copra and Rs. 750 per quintal for ball copra.
ii.This would guarantee a margin above the weighted average cost of production for all of India of 51.82 % for milling copra and 64.26 % for ball copra.
iii.According to the announcement made by the GoI in the 2018-19 budget, the MSP for copra for the 2023 season will be fixed at a value that is at least 1.5 times all India’s weighted average cost of production.
Recent Related News:
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for per Kilogram rates of Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) for various Nutrients viz. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potash (K – Kalium) and Sulphur (S) for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers for Rabi Season/Winter Planting Season 2022-23 i.e. from October 10, 2022, to March 3, 2022.
About the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED):
NAFED is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act. It was established with the goal of promoting cooperative marketing of agricultural products to help farmers.
Managing Director (MD) – Rajbir Singh Panwar
Established – 2nd October 1958
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
