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

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Sanjay Seth in a written reply to Shri Devesh Shakya in Lok Sabha today.