1. Many disabled soldiers who are drawing Disability Element (DE) are asking me to work out their DE in 7^thCPC after issue of Circular 596 of PCDA (Pensions) Allahabad. Some are working out their own DE and asking me to confirm whether their calculations are correct. I am not in position to work out DE for all such individual disabled soldiers or check your calculations due to non-availability of time. I will however show what is DE /WIE and how it is to be worked out. I therefore request disabled Officers to understand these simple calculations and then help disabled JCOs /OR to tell them what is their DE / WIE when they approach them.
2. Disability Element (DE). DE sanctioned for disabilities suffered by serving soldiers which are attributed to military service in peace or field areas. The DE is assessed by duly constituted medical boards in Military Hospitals (MHs) or Base Hospital (BHs) or Army Research & Referral Hospital, New Delhi and such institutions in Indian Navy and IAF. DE is sanctioned only if percentage of disability is minimum 20%.
3. War Injury Element (WIE).It is of two types as under for injuries sustained in war or war like operations by soldiers in areas declared as Operational areas by Govt of India like in J & K and North East:-

(a)      WIE for soldiers retained in Service.
(b)      WIE for soldier invalided out of service.

4. DE. DE is related to Last Pay Drawn of a disabled solider. Therefore higher the last pay drawn higher is the DE. For 100% Disability assessed by Medical board and approved by competent authority the DE is 30% of Last Pay Drawn or 60% of Pension sanctioned. For lesser percentages it is proportionately reduced. For example if a disabled soldier draws Rs 20,000  as Last Pay drawn and his pension is only Rs 10000 pm then his DE on retirement is Rs 10000 x 0.60= Rs 6000 for 100% disability. If his percentage is 50% then his DE is Rs 6000 x 0.50 = Rs 3000 pm + Dearness Relief (DR).
5. WIE Retained. For war injured soldiers the WIE is 60% of Last Pay Drawn or 120% of Pension sanctioned for 100% and for lesser percentages it is proportionately reduced. If Last Pay Drawn is Rs 20,000 then pension is Rs 10,000. WIE for those soldiers retained in service WIE is = Rs 10000 x 1.20  = Rs 12,000 pm. For 50% WIE is Rs 12,000 x 0.50 = Rs 6,000pm + Dearness Relief (DR).
6. WIE Invalided. For those war injured soldiers who are invalided as their services cannot be utilized due to their disability then it is 100% of Last Pay Drawn or 200% of pension sanctioned for 100% of Disability. For war injured solider invalided if disability suffered is 60% and if his Last Pay Drawn is Rs 20,000 then his pension is Rs 10,000. The WIE is Rs 10000 x 2.0 = Rs 20,000 pm for 100% disability and Rs 20000 x 0.50 = Rs 10,000 pm for 50% invalidment + Dearness Relief (DR).
7. PPO for Disability and War Injury Element.All such disabled / war injured soldiers are given a second PPO in addition to their service PPO.
8. Misconceptions of Disability.I see a number of Disabled and war injured soldiers appear to have some misconceptions. These are :-
   (a)      DE is more in Field Areas and Less in Peace Areas. There is no difference in amount of DE whether it is in field area or peace station.
   (b)      Wives of Diseased Disabled Soliders. DE is authorized to the disabled soldiers or war injured soldiers. It is not passed on to wives of diseased soldiers. Therefore wives of such deceased disabled or war injured soldiers are NOT eligible for DE or WIE.

9. Broad Banding. Circular 596 states the DE or WIE is of three bands w.e.f. Jan 2016:-

(a)      DE upto 49%                     –         50%
(b)      DE from 50 to 75%            –         75%
(c)       DE from 76% to 100%       –         100%.

10. Note: The percentages from 20 to 100% stand abolished w.e.f. Jan 1996 but the Government of India as on date gives this benefit of broad banding only to Post – 1996 invalid soldiers forcing others to knock the doors of AFTs.
11. Sample Calculations.I am sure with the above explanation on DE, disabled or war injured officers are now quite clear as to how to calculate the DE and also help disabled JCOs/OR to work out their DE or WIE. However I am working out for Last Pay Drawn for Rs 20,000 or Pension of Rs 10,000 from 20% both disabled soldiers and War injured soldiers. Officers are requested to work out for other Percentages.
12. For example the DE for 20% Disability is Rs 2,628 of a disabled soldier whose pension as on Dec 2015 is Rs 10,000. The calculation is very simple as explained below :-

(a)      DE for 20% with pension of Rs 10,000= Pension  x 0.60 (for 100% Disability) x 0.20 (for 20% disability) x 2.19 (DR being 119% from Jul to Dec 2015)
= Rs 10000 x 0.60 x 0.20 x 2.19 = Rs 2,628
(b)      DE as on Jan 2016 = Pension x 0.60 (for 100% Disability) x 0.50 ( for 20% Disability) x 2.57 (as on Jan 2016) = Rs 7,710
(c)      DE as on Dec 2017 with DR of 5%  = 7710 x 1.05 = Rs 8,096 pm
(d)      DE for 80 year old soldier as on Dec 2017 = Rs 8096 x 1.20 = Rs 9,715 pm

13. If your Pension is Rs 25,000 then simply multiply the above figures with 2.50 and you will get to know what is your disability element as on Dec 2017. The DR for the period Jan to Jun 2018 is not yet announced by the Government of India. If it is 7% as expected then factor 1.07 be used instead of 1.05 (used in above calculations for DR of 5% for the period Jul to Dec 2017).
14. In the same way the calculations for War Injured (Retained in Service) and War Injured (Invalided out of Service) are given in the table attached.
15. With this simple explanation of Disability Element (DE) and War Injury Element (WIE) I expect all disabled officers to not only calculate their own DE /WIE but also help any JCO /OR disabled soldier to reduce my work load.

2018 FEB 26 DE FOR VARIOUS PERCENTAGES

Warm regards,

Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd)

040-48540895