Despite the 7th Pay Commission's award which gave 33 lakh
government servants and 14 lakh defence personnel (with 54 lakh retirees and 18
lakh veterans) salary and pension hikes from August 1, 2016, defence forces
personnel and veterans have been angry.
Independent Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a member of Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence and tells Nalin Mehta why he thinks armed forces have been treated unfairly and why this matters:
Independent Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a member of Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence and tells Nalin Mehta why he thinks armed forces have been treated unfairly and why this matters:
What are the armed forces' problems with the 7th Pay
Commission award?
All public servants are not the same. Those in the armed
forces who serve, sacrifice and give their lives and limbs at times are a
different kind of public servant. The angst of the armed forces, which is
slowly converting into anger, goes back to 5th Pay Commission.
It has less to do with the exact money and more to do
with the status of armed forces vis-à-vis other central government services.
This status is not like politicians understand it or about lal battis but about
status in the hierarchy of service and command.
In what way has the status of armed forces gone down?
It is a reality that over the last 15-20 years the armed
forces have slowly declined in stature and relative importance and positioning
vis-à-vis police and IAS.Most of the angst of the military serving and
veterans has to do with this. There is absolutely no doubt that IAS and IPS
because of their proximity to the political powers have over successive pay
commissions given themselves sweeter and sweeter deals and left the military
out in the cold. This is indisputable because the military has never been
represented in these pay commissions.
Any normal Indian citizen who has even the remotest
feeling of care for armed forces will ask why?
Is it true that there are allowance anomalies: like a DIG
of paramilitary forces serving in Shillong will get an extra Rs 73,000 but an
Army Brigadier there will get zero allowance?
That is precisely the point. In all these cases, they
will be serving in close proximity. In Leh for example a Brigadier and DIG
would be serving in the unified command.Why would you take a Brigadier or a
soldier and put him down in the hierarchy below what his predecessors in the
armed forces were? What is the logic?
If government has an explanation for this they should make it. If IAS or pay commission has a reason for this why are they not putting it out in public domain?
If government has an explanation for this they should make it. If IAS or pay commission has a reason for this why are they not putting it out in public domain?
This is about much more than just preserving the
civilian-military balance?
We in India are very proud that the military is
subordinate to the civilian and political administrative hierarchy but
subordinate does not mean disadvantaged or subservient. Why are we making this
institution of ar med forces get a feeling that they are getting discriminated
against?
What are the national security implications?
The risk profile of our nation is only worsening. There
is asymmetric warfare imposed on us. You want a motivated armed forces not a
group of people who feel they are being done in.
There are grouses like non-functional upgrade (NFU) given
to civilian bureaucrats and three extra increments which defence forces don't
get? Why?
There are no answers. For every question that an armed
forces man or family asks, the nation owes an answer.The answer need not always
be yes. But we must give an answer 46 anomalies from 6th Pay Commission and
36 from 7th Pay Commission remain unresolved and there is no legitimate answer
given on why their requests are being turned down. This is something government
and ministry of defence must learn to do.
Are legitimate demands of military put aside in name of
civilian supremacy because politicians don't necessarily understand the detail?
The power of a bureaucrat to say no is not a unilateral
power with no accountability. It is okay to say no, but you have to accompany
that with a why .
Is there an appetite to find a solution?
There is an appetite to do right by armed forces in
Parliament and government. Our armed forces should not feel for one minute that
they are taking bullets despite an ungrateful nation. The occupation of armed
forces has a much higher risk profile than their peers. This should be
recognised in the pay matrix. I am sure nobody in Delhi will oppose it.
On one rank one pension, nobody ever said no, except that
nobody understood how to do it. It took the PM and defence minister to cut
through the problems and in the end you got something. The same thing must be
done now.
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COMMENTS
(Source- TOI)
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COMMENTS
the armed forces personnel in india are being treated in the same way as in british rule as nowadays also the gap between a soldier and officer is same as was before independence. i can understand the earlier rule as that time officers were the british and soldiers were indian. now both officer and soldiers are indian but the gap and treatment is same as it was earlier. secondly the cruelty of the netas and the babus have sent the dignity of faujis to dogs. as whole india know the victory over pakistan in 1971 by our armed forces. was there any ias, ips or neta participating on any front?-the answer is a big _no- . but still what was the award given to armed forces is to reduce their pension from 70% to 50% and increase the same for civilian from 30% to 50% means the entitlement of armed forces transferred to civilian.than why not the duties of soldiers to be transferred to civil babus?. so many people barking about the death in kashmir people but no one talk about the faujis dying for kashmir are they not the people of india? are they not human being as not one is raising questions on their human rights. i want to suggest the govt if the civil supremacy is granted for pay and allowances than why they are not being sent at borders also let them show their supremacy there other wise keeping the armed forces above all they should be benefited most as if they sacrifice their lives no one help their family except throwing few pennies as pension, and if disabled will be removed from service where as in the case of a civilian, if he is physically unfit, he is being paid full salary even not going to his office and without doing anything for the nation. and the act of degrading the armed forces is being continued by all govt now also. on the death of a defence personal netas will just complete the formality by saying "uski sahadat ko hum naman karte hain" and nothing after this and even some traitors used to say that " fauji to marane ke liye hee hote hain". than what we faujis should expect from such netas and civilian. also while the process of orop one babu challaned like "orop on my dead body" , may i know why that stupid has not committed suicide now? i joind defence proudly but sorry to say this was my biggest mistake for such ungrateful nation.
sad state of affairs. being part of elite organisation must share the present feelings of its members. morale which is the back bone of any disciplined professional army has genuinely got affected with the unabated step motherly treatment meted out by civil heirarchy & political masters to the members of indian armed forces over the last few years. the officers do talk about their diminishing status viz a v their civil counterpart. the josh/ jazba which is one of the major element required in a soldier in order to protect/guard the motherland from any external aggression is slowly wading away.the feeling that he is unwanted child in the family is creeping in the minds of young soldiers & men which is extremely disastrous not only for the organisation but the nation as a whole. demotivated force can only bring defeat / miseries, however, the cost which the nation has to pay is anormous. also, our senior heirarchy has miserably failed to protect the rights & privilege of its men as the selection process to higher ranks is rotten. an officers who are genuinely concerned for the welfare of their men or subordinates get deprived of more brass on shoulders & the self centric officers who plans his courses & postings well rise to higher ranks. most of this lot is not concerned about the well-being of the organisation & they are only concerned about their promotions, financial gains & post retirement avenues. nowdays, we have reached to a situation where our service heads has no major say in decision / policy making in mod as the civil babus know their pulse, capabilities & ineptitude attitude. our 3 star generals are always looking for an opportunity to appease the addln/ jt sect in mod. my only request to our political heads n beauracrats is to either resolve the long pending discrdiscrepancies in regards to last few pay commissions in order to restore the lost pride & morale of the force as a whole or else make paramilitary forces better equipped/ trained so that they can offer some kind of resistance to adversaries in an eventuality of war. with the present state of morale...the anguished army may not be able to delivery as expected out of it. wake up nation..we are on the verge of losing the only potent force once you to be proud of serving the nation or people.
every. people. are. dis. satisfied. do. you. one. section. of. people. should. get. whole. revenue. of. country. p m. has. to. look. whole. country.
desh drohi foreign forces choose our collegium judges . . .every time our uniformed men risk their lives and arrest terrorists , naxals and separatists - -our collegium melords who are afraid of jew noam chomsky save them . . ..we do not want judiciary to play god in india . . india is the only nation on this planet , where collegium judiciary elects judges . .they scuttled njac . . .before 1947 almost all our judges were in the payroll of jew rothschild . . .indian laws are being made and broken at will by a mere pil filed by desh drohi trojan horse ngos . . though judges do not have the powers to legislate laws. .. we know collegium judges have foreign support when their legislate , do extreme judicial overreach . . . . . . our collegium judiciary burnt midnight oil to open chamiya bars ( wh0re houses in mumbai ).....breadwinners of thousands of families have been awiting justice as undertrials for decades . . .bharatmata is racing to be this planets no 1 superpower in 17 years --before that the new world order wants india to implode. .. . . . . . . pm modi can be abused left and right and called psychopath --the collegium melord judge said - - it is normal - - - because there were no violent riots -- . .the grave implication is, we collegium judges control india. . . almost all media barons run their own foreign funded ngos and they can trigger violent riots and then get the collegium judge to act and jail anybody . .when did you last see the benami media/ collegium judiciary/ new world order controlled rajya sabha supporting the watan ? . .stop the salaries of the judges who break the constitution and withdraw their security . . . read all 7 parts of the post below - punch into google search -- -. . . . . . .. .. . . .foreign funded trojan horse ngos , pil, judicial overreach, unholy nexus vadakayil .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .capt ajit vadakayil
how sad the situation is! the law makers mps/mlas , even with distinctly different ideologies , when talk about their own remunerations , unanimously come together to vote for 100%/200% /300% increase in packages for themselves, by keeping aside all their political differences. but when it comes to giving a thought to brave soldiers, benefits , they take decades to decide on any proposals. very unfortunate that the present govt is required to prove its concern for all , attending and resolving the issues in a very short span of time. all these discrepancies and unresolved issues are legacies of congress led upa govt who did not have any heart for the soldiers and veterans . hope with strong representations in the appropriate forums the shortcomings are addressed and the dues are given to the armed force personnel for the greater sacrifices they make for the country.
why should the salaries of one profession be compared with that of another ? every service should focus on its own compensation scales.
no wonder the armed forces and para-military are taking their anger out on the unarmed people of kashmir and killing them and maiming innocent people.
you joker why do you bark one side. and for your information stone is also a weapon and i think you are also one of them who are called terrorist other wise you should have not said them innocent. before you open your dirty trap realise what they were doing against their forces.the people who support the enemy of country should simply to be killed and they came in the support of the terrorist burhan vani. the treatment of army is correct even they should shoot these cronies.
it is very serious matter. a demotivated armed forces can have serious implications for our national security. politicians and bureaucracy should immediately address this. army has been quite disciplined and subseverint to govt till date. but this kind of continued degradation to thier ijjat and self esteem might result into something really serious for the nation.
dear sir, i am very glad that at least there is one mp who is seriously concerned about the welfare of our brave soldiers. this independence day, i went to see the flag hoisting ceremony at isro and had a privilege to talk to an ex serviceman. after introducing each other and knowing well being, i asked him if one rank one pension really got implemented. it seemed to be as if i touched one of the sensitive nerve. he told me some of the ground realities and finer details of current orop scheme. it appears that ex servicemen are still at disadvantage as compared to their other central government peers. i brought out this point because i believe that it is the duty of the civilians to fight for the rights and welfare of our soldiers. i would kindly request you highlight the problems with current orop scheme so that the government takes the matter seriously and correct it so that every ex serviceman gets his well deserved due.
just think of pakistan attacking and army going on stroke like all other central government services
(Source- TOI)
Thank you sir, for highlighting yet again the continued wrong being done to the uniformed defense services. You have done this before also. The million dollar question remains if the decision makers are going to use their own head or still set up yet another committee of Babus to find a solution to this critical national issue. Despite PM being sympathetic and honest to the soldiers, as long as there are ministers and short sighted political leadership / parties (Congress included as the chief culprit) with the mindset of our current FM, the Babus can manage to run the show as per their Will. I wish I am proven wrong and you succeed in getting the wrong done right.
ReplyDeleteThe entire episode of insulting and degrading armed forces seems to be hidden design of some one at the helm to help the enemies of the nation with in and from outside
ReplyDeleteEnemies of the nation is with in the babudom and politicians
ReplyDeleteAll views r nice
ReplyDeletePl don't fret, we all are in the same boat. The idiotic hierarchy of equivalence is still preserved hence rat race w/o blinking, at what cost. Question of status is for the Institution of Armed Forces, 99% of which is, we all know and we in simple feel deprived of respect and of sheer neglect and unwanted. The nation and its people must be made to understand that we also do something worth.
ReplyDeletePl don't fret, we all are in the same boat. The idiotic hierarchy of equivalence is still preserved hence rat race w/o blinking, at what cost. Question of status is for the Institution of Armed Forces, 99% of which is, we all know and we in simple feel deprived of respect and of sheer neglect and unwanted. The nation and its people must be made to understand that we also do something worth.
ReplyDeleteThe Def officers are very selfish they are fighting only for them . There is no comparison for JCO's/OR's with civilian counter parts .
ReplyDeleteAlways compare with IAS/IPS . What about NFU about JCO's/OR's. There is no representation of 95% Strength of JCO's/OR's. Officers are not the representative of 95% Strength of JCO's/OR's. They are commanders only. The representative of 95% Strength of JCO's/OR's are HAV , sub and SubMaj only and they never asked .
Sir, Pl note that 1.De linking of 33 yrs of service cum grant of full pension wef Jan 2006 to 30-6-2014 again revising circuar 547 is not emerging.
ReplyDelete2.Award of 2nd instalment of OROP in the month of August 2016 is awaited.
3.7 CPC PCDA circular for armed forces pensoners ( uniformed ) is not issued on the plea of anamoly and etc.
4. When every civil pensioner including defence civil pensioner ,are to be paid updated 7 CPC pension on or before 31-8-2016. Vetrans looks up the govt for necessary action.
5.MOD , DESW and Pension ministry must not delay no longer.
No, sir , now no anomalies. Govt have cleared all payment instr well before 12th of this month. Keeping anomalies alive who is going to pay you the arrears thereof?
DeleteYes Sir we all agree that we defence personal are getting step mother treatment from the Government. I think there is a solution for this, the Indian civil services such as IAS and IPS etc should be filled by defence officers or these posts should be filled by the ex service men only
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with Basant Soni Sir
ReplyDelete