March 10, 2025
Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose’s supplementaries to her starred question on why the Defence Ministry routinely challenges Armed Forces Tribunal judgments in favour of veterans with respect to disability pensions and on making the SPARSH portal more user-friendly for pensioners
Sir, my first supplementary is this. There are numerous cases of litigation on claims of disability pensions by veterans and jawans. The Ministry of Defence has appealed against many cases where veterans have asked for disability pensions. The Supreme Court has repeatedly recorded its displeasure against the Ministry of Defence for litigation on disability pensions. Will the hon. Minister kindly answer why the Ministry of Defence routinely challenges virtually all Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) judgments in favour of veterans when it comes to granting disability pensions. Sir, I thank the hon. Minister but that was not really an answer to my question. It seemed he was busy making a political speech. Maybe, he should prepare better for questions relating to the Defence Ministry. My question was about why the Defence Ministry keeps challenging petitions of disability. My second supplementary question is this. The Government has shifted pension dispersal to the SPARSH portal. However, this portal suffers from repeated glitches and elderly veterans are placed in a great deal of inconvenience. Is the Ministry planning to make the SPARSH portal more user-friendly for pensioners and by when can we expect these improvements?
