The Centre on Saturday said that retired defence personnel would continue to be paid their disability pension based on a percentage system till a committee investigating a new slab-based system submitted its report. This came after the government was criticised for introducing the newer system recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, PTI reported.

The matter was referred to the Anomaly Committee by the defence ministry after the slab system was introduced for military personnel, even while the percentage system was retained for civilians. The introduction of the new process for the disbursement of post-retirement income meant that retired military personnel would be paid less than their civilian counterparts.

Under the old system introduced by the 6th Pay Commission, disabled soldiers were getting their pensions based on a percentage of the last salary they drew, according to the Business Standard. Under the new system notified on September 30, however, they would be paid flat rates according to slabs recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. A final call on the matter will be taken after the Anomaly Committee submits its report.

The slab system was criticised by military personnel as well as political parties. On Friday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he was “saddened” by the actions of the government in the matter as they had caused soldiers “pain and hurt”. Gandhi said the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations would “further exacerbate the disparity between them and civil employees”, according to India Today. Gandhi also said the roll-out of the 'One Rank, One Pension' scheme did not “fully meet the genuine demands of our ex-servicemen”.