See My ‘Palatial House’: Retd Army Men Hit Back at MoD for Snub

MoD told SC that army officers lived in ‘palatial houses’ & weren’t eligible for non-functional upgradation.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Retired army officers and their families have taken to social media to post photos of their service time accommodations – in response to the Ministry of Defence’s claim that they lived in “palatial houses” and thus are not eligible for non-functional upgradation (NFU).

The NFU is a financial upgrade given to the Centre’s group ‘A’ employees, who have completed a certain length of service, and the armed forces are not classified under it. A plea was filed by Colonel (Retd) Mukul Dev seeking NFU for the armed forces.

While the Armed Forces Tribunal has ordered in the forces’ favour, the apex court has reserved its verdict, reported The Tribune.

The Ministry of Defence, in response to the plea, submitted that the armed forces are given facilities that are not available to the civil services, including “palatial houses,” and hence, they are not eligible for the NFU.

Retired Major DP Singh, who was wounded in the Kargil war, hit out at the ministry’s response and posted a photo of mud bunker.

“Do I deserve NFU? No way,” he wrote sarcastically.

Many others took to Twitter to post photos of dilapidated temporary accommodations, stating that they had to live in those structures for their entire tenure.

‘So Envious of Our Palatial House’

Colonel Tekpal Singh Kang, posted a picture of a ‘palatial house’ from Punjab’s Salaria Vihar and asked if the politicians were ‘ashamed.’

Officers also shared photos of them living in bunkers, in Leh and the Siachen glacier.

Veteran Rohit Agarwal took a dig at the ministry, saying that they got company cars, along with “palatial” bungalows.

(With inputs from The Tribune.)