I have edited it for brevity. This part of the article makes interesting reading:
"We are the only Cadre who do not have a Gp B Sp Service/ Cadre. We therefore need to do away with SSC entry & instead have Gp B entry for about 50% Offrs at Nb Sub level who would rise up to the level of Lt Cols/ Cols. We need to turn our SSC Academies into JCOs Academies. We need to drastically reduce the strength of our Commissioned Offrs cadre. This is what Govt has been expecting from us since long. Consequently, lot of our Cadre mgt issues will automatically fall into place."
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A bit long article received as written by someone else. Kindly do read it through carefully! ________________
This clearly defunct the Army Chiefs Claim of we being of higher status than civilians.
There is a message floating around giving Positives of 7 CPC. Unfortunately most of the allowances therein are waiting orders. It is imperative that the Army Chief should prove his point by tabulating and showing how our status is higher than civilians.
The Positives are a mere comparison of gains of 7 CPC over 6 CPC. That is not enough. We need a edge over them and that needs to be shown via a table.
Is the Army Chief willing to do that?
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Only for Fauji Gps
Dust having finally settled on 7 CPC notifications, here is a summarized analysis of implications of 7 CPC on Pay & Status of Def persons. Little long, but a must read for all Def personnel, so as to remain aware of issues involved.
There is no denying the fact that we all are being handsomely paid by the Govt. However, two questions that need to be answered are - Firstly, whether we are being paid comparatively similar emoluments in equal No of years of service, and secondly, whether our Status/ Equivalence based on Pay has been protected or otherwise.
Let us first analyze the emoluments.
The 7 CPC has universally multiplied the existing 6 CPC Basic Pays of all Central Govt employees by a factor of 2.57, without any exceptions. Overall there is a net increase of approx 14.5% in salary of all employees. However, instead of resolving the existing 6 CPC anomalies, the 7 CPC created certain additional anomalies for Defence personnel, thereby adversely affecting their pay & status. Of these additional anomalies, only three which were legally untenable have been resolved -- one related to disparity in Disability Pensions, second related to Maj Gens getting lower pay than Brigs and third Def Pay Matrix having max 24 stages in comparison to 40 for civilians, which was resulting in stagnation of direct entry Havs & JCOs.
Negatives:
1. The definition of MSP has been altered to our disadvantage.
2. JCOs have not been given their entitled MSP of Rs 10,000. NFU has been declined to us.
3. The change of IOR for Level 13 from 2.57 to 2.67 benefits civilians more as they will now get an additional jump of over 4000 when they move up from Level 12 to 13. Since we move to Level 13 via 12A, to stages higher than the entry cell, our entry Pay in 13 will remain almost same with minor adjustments.
4. Xxxxx
5. There are so other many allowances which are not mentioned in CPC Reports indicate they have been granted to civilians through admin orders.
6. While civilians are entitled to claim all applicable Defence allowances, reciprocity of civil allowances has not been extended to Def personnel, thereby depriving us of a number of such allowances. To name a few, HQ Allowance, Laptop Allowance, Mobile Allowance, Spl Duty Allowance, Spl Area Allowance, Briefcase & Newspaper Allowance (made applicable to us only in Delhi), Spl Allowance, Local Allowance, Furniture Allowance, Domestic Servant Allowance, Grade Allowance, Tour Allowance, and so on. Most of these are linked to Grade Pays/ Pay Levels. We hope that Allowance Committee takes care of some of these issues.
7. Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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9. Our 7 CPC Pay Rules have been signed by the same gentleman who signed the 18 Oct 2016 letter comparing a Principal Director with Maj Gen, Brig with Director, Col with Jt Director and Lt Col with Dy Director (lowest Gp A designation). This status Equivalence is the unstated reason why our JCOs have been given MSP equal to Sepoys.
10. As per various MoD communications, which we failed to take cognizance of, our JCOs have been declared non-gazetted and equivalent to Gp C employees, despite an Act of Parliament (Sec 3 (xii) of AA 1950, DSR Para 151), according them Gazetted Gp B Equivalent status. In Services HQ, they have been issued with Grey Colour identity SLICs which are applicable to Gp C employees. Even civilian Assistants (Gp B Non-Gazetted) are now being issued with Pink Colour SLICs giving them higher status than our JCOs. While the Pay Scales/ Gde Pays of Assts and Section Offrs (SOs) were increased twice by Govt after 5 CPC & 6 CPC Gazette Notfns based on JCM representations, our JCOs & NCOs stood stagnated & degraded in their notified pay scales. Sadly, we failed to take cognizance of these aspects and cried hoarse only for Offr related issues. So, status wise, there is no doubt that 7 CPC has further degraded the Def pers.
Reasons, why are we not getting what we perceive as justified?
I think we are failing to address the root cause and ending up panting our anger against CPCs. Though our Pay Cells have put in earnest efforts, but the underlying causes are too complex and beyond their mandated charter. We need to first identify and address the root cause of all our anomalies, rather than keep fighting with CPCs every time. As Pay & perks of Central Govt employees are directly related to their status in Govt hierarchy, the root cause lies in our degraded Status Equivalence which has defacto been established within MoD & its various organs. Equivalence is also linked to our cadre restructuring issues, cadre restructurings of civilians and handling of other aspects related to inter-sé functional relationships with civs. It is a sad narrative that these issues do not specifically form anyone’s charter of responsibilities in any of Services HQ/ HQ IDS. PPOC which has been mandated to deal with these issues have no permanent structures to function effectively. Setting up of temp Pay Cells has not helped the cause. Add to it the short tenures of our Gen offrs, during which they are busy either plotting their own careers or post retirement rehabilitation, with no vision/ concern/ involvement for real issues affecting Services, while civs continue to entrench themselves deeper and deeper. The situation gets further compounded by the attitude of our Senior offrs who think that since they have come up by climbing a greased malkhamb pole, why should their juniors be provided with an alternative ladder? And the thought process of upwardly mobile middle level offrs who think why should they ruffle the settled feathers and burn their fingers, let someone else do it for them!! As a result, we haven’t done our Cadre Restructuring for decades, while Civ cadres are doing it almost every five years.
Is there a way ahead? Yes, there always is.
1. Firstly, we need to set up one separate permanent Dte in each Services HQ/ HQ IDS (Why not a Joint cell?) which specifically deals with our Pay issues, Equivalence aspects, WoP, our Cadre Restructurings and issues of Civ cadre, as all these five aspects are very closely inter-linked. None of these issues can be handled in isolation/ separately in a justifiable manner. The COSC & PPOC need to enforce their mandate and exercise the authority vested in them by Cabinet on various issues listed in their Charter, instead of shying away from decision making due to some strange apprehensions.
2. The COSC needs to interact directly with PM to ensure early setting up of HPC for defining Equivalence, for resolution of outstanding anomalies and for restructuring of MoD as well O/o JS (E) & CAO.
3. MoD needs to have min of 1/3rd Def Offrs. Xxxxxxxxx
4. Xxxxxxxxx
5. Xxxxxxxxx
A word about our overall Offrs future cadre structure.
We are the only Cadre who do not have a Gp B Sp Service/ Cadre. We therefore need to do away with SSC entry & instead have Gp B entry for about 50% Offrs at Nb Sub level who would rise up to the level of Lt Cols/ Cols. We need to turn our SSC Academies into JCOs Academies. We need to drastically reduce the strength of our Commissioned Offrs cadre. This is what Govt has been expecting from us since long. Consequently, lot of our Cadre mgt issues will automatically fall into place.
Is all above possible?
Yes, I think it is very much possible, provided we keep ourselves aware and contribute to the issues in whatever manner possible, wherever we are. Every voice makes a difference. And, if issues get stuck up in bureaucracy/ own senior hierarchy, parallel cases for seeking redress through Judicial means need to be explored without any delay.
Awareness is already spreading. I am sure things will definitely turn positive in future.
