Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 5

The Ministry of Defence has restored the ‘technical allowance’ paid to thousands of officers and jawans who work on the engineering side responsible to keep military equipment in running condition.The 7th Central Pay Commission had recommended abolition of the allowance. The services had represented to continue this to which the MoD has agreed and issued a detail order on eligibility.The allowance will be paid at Rs 3,000 per month for those who are B Tech-level and Rs 4,500 per month to those who are qualified at M Tech level.The weapons and equipment like submarines, fighter jets, radars, UAVs and missiles among others, need technical support. The Army has full-fledged Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), a separate Corps for Signals. The Navy now recruits only science students at its training academies and all officers pass out as B Tech. The Indian Air Force, the fleet of planes and copters need engineering support and full-fledged maintenance command exists.