Counting of former service in respect of Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs)/ ECOs of Army/Navy/Air Force who have died/dies prior to exercising option

Counting of former service in respect of Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs)/ ECOs of Army/Navy/Air Force who have died/dies prior to exercising option: DESW Order dated 03.06.2022

No. 1(7)/2015/D(Pen/Pol)
Government of India
Ministry of Defence
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare
D(Pension/Policy)

Room No.222, B-Wing, Sena Bhawan,
New Delhi-110011
Dated: 8th June, 2022

To
The Chief of Defence Staff
The Chief of the Army
The Chief of the Navy
The Chief of the Air Force

Sub: Counting of former service in respect of Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCOs)/ Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs) of Army/Navy/Air Force who have died/dies prior to exercising option/making claim/filling form for counting of pre-commissioned service rendered in ranks, towards Commissioned Service.

Sir,

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s letter No. 1(2)/88/D(Pens/Sers) dated 09.01.1990 wherein it has been decided that w.e.f. 01.01.1986, as in case of Regular Commissioned Officers, service rendered in the ranks prior to grant of Emergency or Short Service Commission will also be counted in full towards Commissioned Service. Consequent to this change, requirement of exercising the option prescribed under AI 6/S/65 has become redundant. Further, AO 14/2018/AG/PS-5, for processing the case for counting of former service of SSCOs/ECOs at the time of commission has also been issued on 24.09.2018 relating to the procedure for counting of pre-commissioned service in respect of SSCOs/ECOs.

2. Instances have come to the notice of this Ministry that there is no provision for counting of former pre-commissioned service (rendered in ranks) in respect of Short Service Commissioned Officers/Emergency Commissioned Officers who died/dies prior to exercising option/making claim/filling form for counting of pre-commissioned service and in the absence of such provision, the eligible next of kin of such deceased officer face difficult situation in claiming pensionary benefits.

3. Taking into consideration the difficulties faced by such aggrieved families, it has been decided that immediate necessary action may be taken for counting of pre-commissioned service (rendered in ranks) towards pensionary benefits as per MoD’s letter No. 1(2)/88/D(Pens/Sers) dated 09:01.1990 in respect of such eligible SSCOs/ECOs who have died/dies prior to exercising option/making the claim/filling up the form for counting of their pre-commissioned service (rendered in ranks) towards Commissioned Service and release the pensionary benefits to the eligible NoK of such SSCOs/ECOs accordingly. For the purpose of counting of pre-commissioned service in above mentioned circumstances, a simple and speedy Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) may also be adopted, detailing eligibility conditions etc.

4. This issues with the approval of competent authority and with the concurrence of Finance Division of this Ministry vide their ID No 10(01)/2017/Fin/Pen dated 20.01.2021.

5. Hindi version will follow.

Yours faithfully,

(A K Agrawal)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India

Copy to:
All concerned as per standard list.
Controller General of Defence Accounts.
MoD(Finance/Pension), MoD.

Source: DESW