Tuesday, September 13, 2016

7CPC: PLAYING WITH FIRE - BY MAJ GENL S.G.VOMBATKERE, VSM (RETD)


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

MYSURU: News of the unhappiness of the Armed Forces (Fauj, for short) with the bureaucracy is old hat. The contempt in which the bureaucracy holds the Fauj is also old hat, reflected most recently in the 7CPC making the already unfavourable position of the Fauj even more unfavourable.

When the 7CPC recommendations were to be implemented for all government servants, all the three Service Chiefs went to THE government and asked the existing pay anomalies be rectified before the 7CPC recommendations were implemented for the Fauj.

That is, the 7CPC award was unacceptable to the Fauj as it was unjust. This move by the three Service Chiefs was in their understanding of the widespread outrage among the rank-and-file and the officers, that the 7CPC had given them a raw deal.

This outrage had already gone viral on social media, and the signal from Service Headquarters informing All Ranks that the matter has been referrred to government and that they should patiently await the outcome, was to pre-empt any overt demonstrations of outrage, which would go against military discipline.

Now the outcome of the Service Chiefs' approaching the government is that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has overruled them and directed them to implement the 7CPC award for the defence services. This has created a very grave situation, in which there can be three possible outcomes, which we will consider along with the repercussions.

One, the Service Chiefs follow Parrikar's directions. If this is done, they will have to face the fallout of their decision among the rank-and-file and the officers, who are already keyed-up with anger at continuing injustice from the Sarkar (the combination of politicians and bureaucrats). This is wholly unpredictable, and if the worst happens, it will have extremely serious repercussions on military functioning.

Two, if the Service Chiefs argue with the Defence Minister and insist on having anomalies are attended to before implementing the 7CPC award, it will amount to disobedience of orders. This would be a constitutional crisis of hitherto unseen magnitude, and in the worst case, may result in dismissal of the Service Chiefs.

Three, the Service Chiefs have the option of tendering their resignations. (One may presume that all three would do so, in the present circumstance). If government accepts their resignations, the officers next-in-line to take their places would be faced with the same situation.But if on the other hand, the government does not accept the resignations, it will possibly require a resignation from the Defence Minister.

In any of the three contingencies, the nation's defence preparedness will be irretrievably compromised. All this is at the end of many happenings ... Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promises at Rewari when he addressed Veterans in the run-up to the 2014 election, and his subsequent promises after he assumed office, to get more for the military, have all been proven false.

PM Modi has probably not understood that the soldier is not a fool, and also that the Fauj is the nation's instrument of last resort.

Defence Minister Parrikar's contempt for the defence services is a matter of discussion within the serving and retired Fauji fraternity, who noted that he inspected a military guard of honour wearing chappals, that he “saluted” at the Amar Jawan Jyoti with his vest showing, and that he attended the International Fleet Review in February wearing casual clothes, whereas he dresses appropriately when he is abroad.

Parrikar’s peremptory direction to the three Service Chiefs to implement the 7CPC award without delay is the latest itdisplay of his dismissive approach to the Fauj. It is being said that both the Prime Minister and his Defence Minister are jointly responsible for the present contretemps.

(Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired as Additional DG Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ AG's Branch)


14 comments:

  1. Sir,chiefs have the option either to surrender or to resigns.surrender by GENERALS REVIVES THE memories of great Gen J S ARORA SAHIB VS NIYAJI.OPTION 2 may be historical leaves a shadow of goodwill.

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  2. General sahab don't say that military preparedness for war will hamper if all three Chiefs give resignation absolutely there will be no effect on the morale of our jawans they can fight hungry also for their country not like officers Jo itna chilla rahe hai ration money band hone par. And moreover ye to is country ki irony hai Jung ladte hai jawans aur jeet ka sehra bandhta hai chief or officers ke sir pe. Sahab logo ko to AIR COMODORE, BRIGADIER ke above bhi MSP chahiye to jawano ko kyo nahi.

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    1. Mukesh yadav...bilkul sahi bola apne... Usse pata chalta hai ki humne ap jaise logo ko army me srf paise ke lye rakha tha...na ki desh ke lye... Do dande padte to blkul samjh jate ap...

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    2. Shri Yadav,Your reply is not in good taste.The leadership is important.An army of sheep lead by a lion is more effective than an army of lions led by a sheep.It is important to consider civil-military relationship in the society we live.Army deserves an edge over police and civilians.

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  3. Regarding 7th CPC implementation ,there seems to be no more manoeuvring space left for Defence Forces or Service Chiefs.After repeated Representations to all who mattered; MOD,DM 7TH CPC,EMPOWERED COMMITTEE,MOF/FM,DM/PM etc. no justice could be delivered to the soldier silently guarding the National Borders and streets of J&K.DM now instead of dictating Services to implement lame recommendations of 7TH CPC should rather inform/educate the Soldier as well as this Nation that why the Govt has failed to deliver justice/rightful dues to him, despite the best efforts by Service Headquarters.He should accept his failure Of being unable to carry his weight/conviction within MOD,MOF/FM,PMO/PM and now spare the prestige of brave Defence Services of this Mighty Nation.He would be well advised to go to his home; relax and spare the Services any further agony.

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  4. dear army personal, i feel shame to read the comments of very senior retired defence officers blaming bureacracy and politicians for 7cpc recommendations. First of all you are only bothered for officers whether for NFU or STATUS. so don't call yourself a rep of fauj. you are only rep. of officers. secondly you are not update on NFU terms and conditions. it is not going to give you much benefit. one must hold selective rank to get salary of next higher grade after put up no. of years of service as per YOUR RR for the post. You were granted PB4 for Lt.Col whereas civil counterparts did not get it in previous pay commission. Unlike military we have cadre associations and fought the issue with the govt. Govt. didn't agree. What is big fuss now if something in your opinion is due but was not granted.
    Thirdly my father served 9 Jat and fought all three wars after independence and i too served IAF for 15 years among the ranks before getting into bureacracy.
    You want everything in your way. that is not possible in democracy.Democracy means majority and not necessarily righteousness.
    Fourthly, though i don't belong to elite cadre IAS but to organised group a service, i have observed closely the life of DM. I urge you to spend one day in the company of DM. A small sarpanch/mla/counsler misbehaves badly with a person who could get into IAS after a lot of hard work. You people don't face such problems and lives like a king except a few who are posted on borders. The kind of exam you faced while entering into military and those into civil services speaks a lot about diffrences . so stop comparing. Every service has some good things.
    It is a common sense that in democracy civil authoriry has superiority over military. only in banana repulic or autocratic/dictatorship countries have military superiority

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    1. This individual need to be sent to j and k and give him an orientation program for 6 months. Dear friend after serving in IAF for 15 years are u thrown out or taken discharge voluntarily.

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    2. Dear anonymous, I second your comments. It is not heard that Chiefs refuse to implement CPC orders accepted by the Govt. They must implement CPC recommendation 1st and fight for anomalies, if any, next. They have no mandate to hold back pay of others. And what injustice and parity they are talking about?? They want to become AF of the British Raj again??? Armed Forces during British Raj definitely was enjoying edge over other services. Those days have gone and it should be understood by every stake holder.

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  5. Is the RM walking in the street or reviewing the ceremonial parade. I think there should be dress code for the dignitaries attending & reviewing the parade of Soldiers. It is not Tamasha but ceremonial parade where Guard of Honor is given & no one should have the preveledge to to dishonor this occasion.

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  6. Nothing will change. All the chiefs will be led by nose to implement the 7 CPC as it is where it is. They are soon going to retire. They will be offered posts like LG or or some High commission/commission and everything will end up in smoke.

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  7. Dear satish@ ahuja.nothing harm on steps taken by chiefs.Let it be failed.But a small jhatka to jumlas politico.

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  8. Dear satish@ ahuja.nothing harm on steps taken by chiefs.Let it be failed.But a small jhatka to jumlas politico.

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  9. Dear anonymous..u say that u have served for 15 years in IAF.., still cant correctly write "army personnel" and write "army personal".OK.Then you call General as representative of odficers..how foolish you can be dear.He is not fighting for NFU or 1 particular anomaly...please have a thorough knowledge before you challenge ..go through all anomalies which have been raised..it caters for all the ranks and files..Then you compare jobs of DM and army personnel.haha..Firstly..their domain is totally different and their is no comparison at all.And if at all u want to compare..u can very well ask DM(who you assume to be exceptional in all traits)to replace the jawan roaming in the streets of poonch..and note the response.Anyways..since the profiles of both the jobs are different..their can not be any comparison between two..(for those who are educated enough).My friend, I dono in which Air force you have served or in which civil office you are currently serving, but I request you that please dont write such non sense and create disparities within the armed forces..

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  10. I recently heard a debate on ndtv. To my surprise even the retd.foreign secretary and the member of seventh pay commission could not give one explanation on the issues raised by defense. In fact their hollow essential was shameful for the post they held. This also Boldens me to suggest that we should have open debate with them and let the public know their hollowness

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