New Delhi. 31 March 2025. The Government has taken appropriate steps to ensure adequate pension and employment opportunities for ex-servicemen in the country, as per extant rules. Additionally, the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme seeks to bridge the gap between the rates of pension of current and past pensioners retiring in the same rank with the same length of service. Various Re-settlement / Skill Development Training Courses, Employment and Self-Employment Schemes are also being facilitated by the Government to provide job opportunities to the Ex-Servicemen in Government Organizations, Public Sector Undertaking, Corporate Houses, Private Sector, Central Para Military Forces etc based on their requisition for employment of Ex-Servicemen.
Further, there is a reservation of 14.5% vacancies in Group ‘C’ and 24.5% vacancies in Group ‘D’ posts for Ex-Servicemen in Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) and Public Sector Banks.
The reservation for Ex-Servicemen in Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) and Public Sector Banks includes 4.5% vacancies for disabled Ex-Servicemen and dependants of service personnel killed in action.
Vacancies are reserved for widows of Ex-Servicemen and Wards/Children of Battle Casualty in Officer Selection of Indian Army. Additionally, 5% vacancies in Short Service Commission for women are provided to widows of Defence personnel, who have died in harness. The wards of Widow/Ex-Servicemen are being enrolled by respective Regimental Centres and are given bonus marks in Online Common Entrance Exam for recruitment under Agnipath Scheme and Regular Cadre.
In case of soldiers who died in service due to causes attributed to military service, Special Family Pension or Liberalised Family Pension as due has been sanctioned. Additionally, Ex Gratia /Gratuity as due has also been sanctioned. The same has been done in a time bound manner.
The total number of ex-servicemen in the country, State/UT-wise are as follows:
| Census Data of ESMs as on 31.12.2023 | ||||||
| Sl. No. | States/UTs | Army | Navy | Air Force | Total | |
| 1. | Andhra Pradesh | 63,574 | 6,665 | 7,673 | 77,912 | |
| 2. | Arunachal Pradesh | 980 | 5 | 1 | 986 | |
| 3. | Assam | 38,316 | 914 | 2,732 | 41,962 | |
| 4. | Bihar | 100,849 | 15,746 | 16,931 | 133,526 | |
| 5. | Chhattisgarh | 6,746 | 334 | 411 | 7,491 | |
| 6. | Goa | 1,113 | 1,030 | 202 | 2,345 | |
| 7. | Gujarat | 27,315 | 1,141 | 5,019 | 33,475 | |
| 8. | Haryana | 154,153 | 9,258 | 12,226 | 175,637 | |
| 9. | Himachal Pradesh | 121,637 | 4,343 | 2,596 | 128,576 | |
| 10. | Jharkhand | 25,680 | 1,666 | 2,747 | 30,093 | |
| 11. | Karnataka | 78,579 | 3,089 | 12,335 | 94,003 | |
| 12. | Kerala | 143,296 | 14,506 | 23,734 | 181,536 | |
| 13. | Madhya Pradesh | 53,344 | 1,566 | 2,118 | 57,028 | |
| 14. | Maharashtra | 167,788 | 15,533 | 13,166 | 196,487 | |
| 15. | Manipur | 8,397 | 150 | 197 | 8,744 | |
| 16. | Meghalaya | 2,830 | 56 | 86 | 2,972 | |
| 17. | Mizoram | 5,394 | 51 | 61 | 5,506 | |
| 18. | Nagaland | 3,221 | 45 | 24 | 3,290 | |
| 19. | Odisha | 40,067 | 4,383 | 7,887 | 52,337 | |
| 20. | Punjab | 335,328 | 9,767 | 14,369 | 359,464 | |
| 21. | Rajasthan | 193,825 | 8,264 | 7,434 | 209,523 | |
| 22. | Sikkim | 1,000 | 63 | 12 | 1,075 | |
| 23. | Tamil Nadu | 104,533 | 4,015 | 11,975 | 120,523 | |
| 24. | Telangana | 19,455 | 1,532 | 7,213 | 28,200 | |
| 25. | Tripura | 2,357 | 43 | 128 | 2,528 | |
| 26. | Uttar Pradesh | 349,880 | 29,534 | 41,731 | 421,145 | |
| 27. | Uttarakhand | 132,576 | 3,470 | 3,315 | 139,361 | |
| 28. | West Bengal | 83,542 | 5,906 | 14,745 | 104,193 | |
| 29. | Andaman & Nicobar (UT) | 803 | 178 | 100 | 1,081 | |
| 30. | Chandigarh (UT) | 6,189 | 458 | 2,513 | 9,160 | |
| 31. | Delhi(UT) | 46,831 | 5,748 | 10,766 | 63,345 | |
| 32. | Jammu & Kashmir (UT) | 74,940 | 789 | 895 | 76,624 | |
| 33. | Leh and Ladakh (UT) | 6,313 | 11 | 30 | 6,354 | |
| 34. | Pondicherry (UT) | 1,864 | 134 | 471 | 2,469 | |
| Total | 2,402,715 | 150,393 | 225,843 | 2,778,951 | ||
