Soldiers being paid lower risk allowance than CAPF personnel
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, February 26
Soldiers are being paid lower risk allowance than their counterparts in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) while being posted at same locations.
Disparity persists
- For those posted along the LoC, risk allowance is Rs 17,300 for CAPF personnel at lower ranks and Rs 25,000 for officers
- In the armed forces, risk allowance for the same location is Rs 9,700 for lower ranks and Rs 16,900 for officers
The matter has been internally flagged to the tri-services body that is expected to take up the issue with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
At present, the difference in allowances drawn by the CAPF and armed forces personnel serving in J&K and Northeast works out to be about Rs 13 lakh depending upon rank and pay grade for a 30-month tenure.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had revised risk allowance for the CAPFs in February 2019. Subsequently, the MoD had revised the risk allowance for the armed forces in April 2022. It was then announced that the “disparity has been resolved”.
Sources gave an example of posting along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan in the Jammu-Akhnoor sector. Risk allowance is Rs 17,300 for CAPF personnel at lower ranks and Rs 25,000 for officers. In the armed forces, the allowance for the same location is Rs 9,700 for lower ranks and Rs 16,900 for officers.
CAPF personnel get risk allowance for the Pooh-Sangla and Moorang-Thangi areas in Himachal Pradesh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. The areas are not even listed for risk allowance in an MoD letter for armed forces.
In case of armed forces personnel, risk allowance is not paid for even a day of casual leave, temporary duty or hospitalisation. In case of CAPFs, full allowance is paid for absence up to 30 days.
CAPF personnel are also entitled to “double house rent allowance (HRA)” when serving in J&K, Northeast, island territories and Naxal-affected areas, while armed forces personnel continue to get only “single HRA”.
