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We need a permanent solution to this tussle over emoluments so that the armed forces need only confront the enemies of the nation, says T.R.Ramaswami
In the continuing debate on pay scales for the armed forces, there has to be a serious and transparent effort to ensure that the country is not faced with an unnecessary civil-military confrontation.That effort will have to come from the netas, who are the real and true bosses of the armed forces and not the civil bureaucracy. A solution may lie in what follows. This country requires the best armed forces, the best police and the best civil service. In fact that is what the British ensured.. By best one means that a person chooses which service he wants as per his desires/capabilitie s and not based on the vast differential in prospects in the various services.

How much differential is there?

Take Maharashtra, one of the most parsimonious with police ranks thus still retaining some merit -

The 1981 IPS batch have become 3-star generals, the 1987 are 2-star and the 1994 1-star.

In the army the corresponding years are 1972, 1975, 1979. – ie a
differential of 10-15 years. While the differential is more with the
IAS, the variance with the IPS is all the more glaring because both are uniformed services and the grades are "visible" on the shoulders.

First some general aspects. Only the armed forces are a real profession – ie where you rise to the top only by joining at the bottom. We have had professors of economics become Finance Secretaries or even Governors of RBI. We have any number of MBBSs,engineers, MBAs, in the police force though what their
qualifications lend to their jobs is a moot point. You can join at any level in the civil service, except Cabinet Secretary. A civil servant can move from Animal Husbandry to Civil Aviation to Fertilisers to Steel to yes, unfortunately, even to Defence.. But the army never asks for Brigade Commanders or a Commandant of the Army War College or even Director General Military Intelligence, even from RAW or IB. Army officers can and have moved into organizations like IB and RAW but it is never the other way round. MBBS and Law graduates are only in the Medical or JAG Corps and do nothing beyond their narrow areas. Every Army Chief - in any army - has risen from being a commander of a platoon to company to battalion to brigade to division to corps to army.In fact the professionalism is so intense that no non-armoured corps officer ever commands an armoured formation – first and possibly only exception in world military history – General K. Sunderji. Perhaps it is this outstanding professionalism that irks the civil services.

Next, one must note the rigidity and steep pyramid of the army's rank structure. In the civil services any post is fungible with any grade based on political expediency and the desires of the service. For example I know of one case where one department downgraded one post in another state and up-graded one in Mumbai just to enable someone continue in Mumbai after promotion!

You can't fool around like this in the armed forces. A very good Brigadier cannot be made a Major-General and continue as brigade commander. There has to be a clear vacancy for a Major General and even then there may be others better than him. Further the top five ranks in the army comprise only 10% of the officer strength. Contrast this with the civil services where entire batches become Joint Secretaries.

Even the meaning of the word "merit" is vastly different in the army and the civil services. Some years back an officer of the Maharashtra cadre claimed that he should be the Chief Secretary as he was first in the merit list. Which merit list? At the time of entry more than 35 years before! The fact is that this is how merit
is decided in the IAS and IPS. Every time a batch gets promoted the inter-se merit is still retained as at the time of entry. In other words if you are first in a batch at the time of entry, then as long as you get promoted, you continue to remain first! This is like someone in the army claiming that he should become chief because he got the Sword of Honour at the IMA. Even a Param Vir Chakra does not count for promotion, assuming that you are still alive. In the armed forces, merit is a continuous process - each time a batch is promoted the merit list is redrawn according to your performance in all the previous assignments with additional weightage given not only to the last one but also to your suitability for the next one. Thus if you are a Brigade Commander and found fit to become a Major General, you may not get a division because others have been found better to head a division. That effectively puts an end to your promotion to Lt. General.The compensation package must therefore address all the above issues. In each service, anyone must get the same total compensation by the time he reaches the 'mode rank' of his service. "Mode" is a statistical term – the value where the maximum number of variablesfall.

In the IAS normally everyone reaches Director and in the IPS it is DIG. In the army, given the aforementioned rank and grade rigidities and pyramidical structure, the mode rank cannot exceed Colonel. Thus a Colonel's gross career earnings (not salary scales alone) must be at par with that of a Director. But remember that a Colonel retires at 54, but every babu from peon to Secretary at 60 regardless of performance. Further, it takes 18-20 years to become a Colonel whereas in that time an IAS officer reaches the next higher grade of Joint Secretary, which is considered equal to a Major General.These aspects and others - like postings in non-family stations - must be addressed while fixing the overall pay scales of Colonel and below. Thereafter a Brigadier will be made equal to a Joint Secretary, a Major-General to an Additional Secretary and a Lt. General to a Secretary. The Army Commanders deserve a new rank -Colonel General - and should be above a Secretary but below Cabinet Secretary. The equalization takes place at the level of Cabinet Secretary and Army Chief.

If this is financially a problem I have another solution. Without increasing the armed forces' scales,reduce the scales of the IAS and IPS till they too have 20% shortage.

Done?

Even India 's corruption index will go down.

If the above is accepted in principle, there is a good case to review the number of posts above Colonel. Senior ranks in the armed forces have become devalued with more and more posts being created.But the same pruning exercise is necessary in the IAS and more so in
the IPS, where Directors General in some states are re-writing police manuals – one is doing Volume I and another Volume II!

Further the civil services have such facilities as "compulsory wait" – basically a picnic at taxpayers cost. And if you are not promoted or posted where you don't want to go they seem able to take off on leave with much ease. In the army you will be court-martialled. Also find out how many are on study leave. The country cannot afford this.

Let not someone say that the IAS and IPS exams are tougher and hence the quality of the officers better. An exam at the age of 24 has to be tougher than one at the age of 16. The taxpaying citizen is not interested in your essay/note writing capabilities or whether you know Cleopatra's grandfather.

As a citizen I always see the army being called to hold the pants of the civil services and the police and never the other way round. That's enough proof as to who is really more capable. Also recall the insensitive statements made by the IG Meerut in the Aarushi case and the Home Secretary after the blasts. Further, when the IAS and IPS hopefuls are sleeping, eating and studying, their school mates, who have joined the army, stand vigil on the borders to make it

possible for them to do so. Remember that the armed forces can only fight for above the table pay.

They can never compete with the civil services and definitely not with the police for the under the table variety.

Finally, there is one supreme national necessity. The political class – not the bureaucracy - which represents the real civil supremacy better become more savvy on matters relating to the armed forces. Till then they are at the mercy of the civil service, who frequently play their own little war games. At ministerial level there are some very specialized departments – Finance, Railways,Security (Home), Foreign and Defence, where split second decisions are necessary. It is always possible to find netas savvy in finance, foreign relations and railways. Security has been addressed in getting a former IPS officer as NSA at the level of a MoS. Is it time that a professional is also brought into the Defence Ministry as MoS? The sooner the better. In fact this will be better than a CoDS because the armed forces will have someone not constrained by the Army Act or Article 33 of the Constitution.Of course the loudest howls will come from the babus. The netas must realize that a divide and rule policy cannot work where the country's security is concerned. Recall 1962?

Our army, already engaged in activities not core to their functions, including rescuing babies from borewells (!), should not have to engage in civil wars over their pay scales.I only hope our defence minister or anyone who would take a reasonable stand for defence forces ever gets to see this article.
It would definitely affect any person with an iota of integrity

The writer is a former banker who was with the SBI Group and DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd.

EX-SERVICEMEN CONDEMN THE DEFENCE MINISTER ’S STATEMENT

PRESS RELEASE

EX-SERVICEMEN CONDEMN THE DEFENCE MINISTER ’S STATEMENT ON ONE RANK ONE PENSION

The Defence Minister , Mr A k Antony had submitted a written statement in the Parliament on 19 April that the govt would not be able to meet the One Rank One Pension demand of the Ex-Servicemen fully due to ‘’administrative , financial and legal grounds’’ . He cited the recommendations of various Pay Commissions in support of the decision of the govt . He conveniently forgot that the Parliamentary Committee on Defence , consisting of 44 MPs belonging to all parties , in its 20^th Report had strongly recommended implementation of One Rank One Pension. It clearly shows that the govt has no regard to the recommendations of the elected representatives of the people but gives credence to its own nominated bureaucrats . It is a very clear example of the bias of the govt against the Ex-Servicemen

It is shocking that the Defence Minister has not given any details of the administrative, financial and legal grounds stated by him against the One Rank One Pension . He should know that all the all the Hon'ble Supreme Court judges , MPs , Ministers , MLAs , DGPs , almost all the secretary , Lt Gens etc get One Rank One Pension . So where is the legal problem , unless the govt uses two set of rules , one for its elite and other for the Ex-Servicemen ? Also all Central Govt employees , retire at 60 and get to the top of their grade and as such get near the One Rank One Pension. If there is no administrative problem for them why for the Ex-Servicemen ? .

It is agreed that there would be some financial effect of giving One Rank One Pension to the Ex-Servicemen but it will be drop in the ocean of all the scams which occur with sickening regularity , the IPL case being the latest where in the govt lost tens of thousands of Crores of rupees due to tax evasion. A few months back , ministers and MPs were asked to o travel economy class and with in those 3-4 months the govt saved Rs 2000 crores . If the govt is so economy conscious why did it withdraw those orders as the travelling time remained the same and the comfort level did not vary too much? Is the economy only applicable to the defence personnel ?

The Defence Minister and the so called committee of secys do not know the condition in which the soldiers serve . It is therefore suggested that all those decision makers be made to serve in the high altitude area even for a few days so that they become aware of the horrible and horrific conditions under which the soldiers operate . Then and only then will they know what soldiering is and why the One Rank One Pension is justified . Such irresponsible statements that too by the Raksha Mantri affect the morale of the serving who too will be Ex-Servicemen one day.

With Warm Regards,

Yours' Sincerely,

Brig Harwant Singh (Retd)

President, The All India Defence Brotherhood (Regd)

91+98144  32554 and 91+172- 2270154.

PENSION CASES CAN NOT BE DELAYED

‘If delayed, pay compensation for it, pay for the mental agony and stress…….’ Orders Consumer Forum.

Udupi District (Karnataka) Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum

[Case Nos. CC 134/2009 and CC 138/2009.]

Judgement delivered on 22-3-2010.

Case history:

BSNL Corporate office issued orders on 29-5-2008 for merger of DA in pay of employees with effect from 1-1-2007. Those who retired on or after 1-1-2007 should get its benefit in pension also. BSNL authorities at Udupi and Mangalore as well as the CCA office at Bangalore took their own time to merge DA and revise the pension. Udupi District P&T Pensioners’ Association took up the matter, wrote many letters. But authorities did not care. Finally, 13 BSNL pensioners and 6 family pensioners approached the Consumer Forum on 2-11-2009 against the delay and seeking compensation. Shri George Samuel, Secretary of Udupi District P&T Pensioners’ Association is the first complainant in both the cases. When the authorities came to know about the cases they woke up and merged the DA in pay of the complainants and revised their pension accordingly. But the case continued.

The Consumers’ Disputes Redressal Forum considered the following aspects:

1. Whether the pensioners are consumers? The Forum decided Yes.

2. Whether the delay in merging DA in the cases amounts to deficiency in service? Forum declared Yes. The delay can not be condoned.

3. Whether the complainants are entitled to reliefs? Forum said Yes.

After hearing the arguments of complainants and the Opposite Parties (CGMT Karnataka, CCA Karnataka Circle, PGMT Mangalore and Area Manager at Udupi) the Forum passed the following order:

“The complaints are allowed. The Opposite Parties are directed to pay to the Complainants in both complaints, interest @ 9% since and after 1-7-2008 till date of payment of the claim amounts (since paid) alongwith Rs 2000/- each Complainant in both the cases as compensation (except the complainant No. 1 in both cases) for mental agony and a consolidated amount of Rs 10000 each towards cost of proceedings in each complaint. The Opposite Parties shall pay the above amounts within a month from the date of this order. The OPs shall pay the above amounts to the Complainants and may recover the same from the employees who are responsible for delay in releasing the revised Pensionary benefits…”

Changes in pay fixation rules on re-employment

The DoPT has notified some changes in the rules of pay-fixation for government employees who opt for re-employment under the central govt after their retirement / release.
These changes are even more pertinent for those officers (including military) who opt for re-employment on appointments (and pay-bands) lower than the ones from which they retired.
The Central Civil Services (Fixation of pay of re-employed pensioners) Orders, 1986, stand amended to the extent mentioned in the ibid letter.
The new provisions can be accessed by clicking here.

Message from Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement

IESM COMPLETES TWO YEARS ON 27 APRIL 2010

Dear Veterans,

1. The Indian Ex Servicemen Movement (IESM) was formally launched on 27 Apr 2008 by placing a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate. IESM is apolitical Movement with an aim of getting Justice for the Defence Forces. The event on 27 Apr 2008 at India Gate was replicated on the same day at other cities throughout the country. It is to our credit that inspite of the deep resentment within the Military Veterans, the Movement has been peaceful and dignified, this inspite of provocations by some mischievous elements. It is with some satisfaction to note that we have been able to achieve reasonable success by highlighting the Injustices done to the Defence Forces to the public at large and also the powers that be in the Govt.

2. The focus of our Movement is not only confined to rallies and holding meetings, but we are taking the fight for justice to the legal recourse and we have achieved a degree of success for which we should pat ourselves on the back. Certain AFTs and SC judgements have not only been favourable to us but the courts have passed strong strictures against the Govt and have given time bound judgements. It will be befitting the event if we go all out to commemorate the start of the Movement on 27 Apr 2010. The following suggestions are made:-

(a) On 27 April 2010, ESM across the country to hold meetings/rallies/ discussions/ seminars at village, block, tehsil, city, district and state levels as per the local situation and as decided by the local IESM convenors and motivators. These events be given maximum publicity through extensive media coverage. All ESM organizations across the country are requested to join in to create the desired intensity and visibility through out the country.

(b) I have requested the NDTV to replay the coverage of the event on 27 April 2010 a number of times during the day and hold panel discussion on the Movement, its events and outcomes. We will write to other media both print and electronic to cover the event. Let us hope the media plays up. All ESM who have contacts with the media, to please chip in and assist in organizing discussions and publishing articles.

(c) Veterans who have flare for writing to please write articles on Defence Forces, OROP, treatment of military over the years, current security scenario both external and internal, Indian military strength, security challenges, military leadership and challenges, making Military carrier attractive, civil military relations at its nadir causes and retrieval strategy, military pensions and any other contemporary topic. Maximum articles may please be published in National media to draw attention of the people of India . These articles should also be put on the internet on various blogs operating in the country.

(d) ESM organizations and individual ESM to interact with MPs, CMs and MLAs through out the country and solicit their support to our cause. OROP must be sanctioned at the earliest. Separate Pay Commission which has already been accepted by the Govt, should be set up now and all anomalies of earlier Pay Commissions be tasked to it to resolve in a given time frame say one year.

(e) Writing letters and seeking audience with PM, UPA Chairperson, RM and Supreme Commander. Impressing upon these functionaries the need to grant Justice to the Defence Forces. The Govt should be magnanimous enough to accept all the judgements passed by the Armed Forces Tribunals and the Supreme Court and implement at the earliest.

(f) Effecting Unity amongst all ESM Organisations and ESM. ESM Cells of various political parties to shed their baggage and join with the Movement to get our demands met.

(g) All out efforts be made to get signatures in blood and medals from volunteer ESM. Irrespective of the ESM organizations, we belong to, every one should join for the common cause of getting Justice to the Defence Forces. A very large numbers of signatures and medals should be deposited with the Supreme Commander the next time. Gen Raj Kadyan our Chariman has written a letter to the Supreme Commander today.

4. Let us rise to the occasion and All together Heave to get our demands met.

With kind regards,

Jai Hind

Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM

Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement

Mobile: 9312404269, 0124-4110570

MNS Officers entitled to service privileges of regular officers : AFT

In a well reasoned decision, the Hon’ble Principal Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has held that MNS officers are also commissioned officers and are authorised to the privileges of their respective ranks.
The decision comes in the backdrop of the refusal of authorities to allow a Major General of the MNS from sporting stars and flying a flag on her official car.
The order has settled the controversy once and for all, but the issue makes one wonder as to why were stars and flags refused to such officers in the first place ? When an officer is holding a particular military rank, then it makes no sense to deny the ceremonial ancillaries of the same. It is the rank that is entitled to such privileges and not the service or the person who is wearing that uniform. When there is no bar on sporting the ‘stars’ on the collars, then in my humble opinion there should be no reason as to why a bar should exist on sporting the same very stars on the car !.

PAN become must for all transactions from 1st April 2010

Pan card has to be submitted for financial transactions. otherwise, tax burden will go up. The start of this new financial year requires additional effort from tax payers, as they need to be vigilant about their tax deduction at source ( TDS ). For some years now, there have been efforts made to ensure a particular procedure is followed for TDS and this includes disclosing the permanent account number (PAN).

Starting April 1, the punishment has been changed to a higher tax deduction for those who do not disclose PAN.

Tax at varied rates is deducted for various incomes and then the net payment is made to the beneficiary. The nature of income or earning, the person or entity receiving the income, determine the rate at which the tax is deducted. For instance, when a bank pays interest in excess of Rs 10,000 to an individual at a single branch, the tax is deducted at source from the interest earned. The individual will take a tax cut at the rate of 10 per cent plus an education cess.

As per the new guidelines applicable from financial year 2011, if a deposit holder does not provide the PAN, there is an obligation on the bank to deduct 20 per cent from the interest he earned, that is, double the rate applicable under normal circumstance. Here are some cases where the tax burden can suddenly jump higher for an individual. For better, easier understanding, the education cess is not taken into account.

INSTANCES

Many times, an individual has the PAN but does not disclose it. Like in case of a professional who has worked for, say, Rs 35,000. This could be a one-off service to a new client and in such a case, the PAN might not have been provided at the time of payment.

In this case, the entity making the payment would ensure that instead of 10 per cent, the tax is deducted at 20 per cent for not getting the person’s PAN. As a result, the individual’s net pay for his service is reduced to Rs 28,000.

Such a situation is likely with a large one-off transaction or even when the person does not normally come under the taxable limit. But, due to some extra payment, the tax is deducted at a higher rate.

THE VULNERABLE

Senior citizens are likely to get trapped in the higher TDS situation because they often have deposits with a bank or have invested in Government of India bonds, where the interest earned is more than Rs 10,000. Since the elderly have a basic exemption limit of Rs 2.4 lakh, their earnings may not come under the taxable limit. In that case, they can submit Form15H with the bank and avoid the TDS . However, if they fill the form but fail to mention the PAN, then they could be slapped with a tax deducted of 20 per cent instead of zero tax.

Usually, families have some deposits or bonds in the name of some members, even if they are unemployed like housewives. They have some deposits or government bonds in their name. Since, they are not working and do not fall under any tax bracket, they can submit Form 15G to the bank and avoid TDS . But, if they fail to provide the PAN in the form, they will be liable for a 20 per cent tax deduction at source.

PROCEDURES

There are often procedures adopted for various business dealings. One of it being quoting a PAN.

Often, when the mistake is realised, efforts are made to stop usage of the old number and replacing it with the correct one. In such a situation, could lead to authorities considering there was no PAN provided. Hence, the beneficiary could face a higher tax deduction.

For example, if there is a rent of Rs 20,000 paid per month to an individual, then the TDS on the amount would be 10 per cent. However, due to a wrong PAN disclosure, there could be some delay in conveying the correct number and in the interim, the tax could be deducted at the higher end.

DEDUCTOR’S MISTAKE

The worst situation is when an individual has provided his PAN to the concerned authorities. But, the there is a mistake committed by the authority. This could lead to either considering the number is misplaced or it is not given. Therefore, the deduction made is at a higher rate.

Example: The rate of tax deduction when a contractor is an individual is one per cent. If the authorities commit mistake with the person’s PAN, he will be slapped a higher tax outgo of 20 per cent. The difference will be huge, having a serious impact on the beneficiary.

WHAT TO DO

In sum, actual work begins even before the payment is made, because the PAN has to be conveyed to the payer. One condition in the new guidelines says the PAN has to be quoted in all correspondence, bills and vouchers exchanged between the deductor and the deductee, which will ensure the number is available with the concerned authorities.

Suppose a higher tax is deducted at source. The total tax to be paid would not increase, instead the individual will have to look for adjusting the deducted tax amount. For some people, this will take place only at the time of filing tax return, especially for a salaried people who might not have any additional tax burden to adjust the deducted amount. In such a situation, the tax return will show that a refund is due but this will take place only at the end of the financial year.

There can be quicker action if the individual has to pay some advance tax and this would be the case for professionals, salaried individuals with additional or other income. In this case, the adjustment will come earlier because they will pay the reduced amount of advance tax on the income after adjusting for the higher TDS made and hence need not wait till the year-end.

Source:Financial Express

IAF’s first forward post in 30 years

Tuesday , April 6 , 2010
IAF first forward post in 30 years

SUJAN DUTTA

New Delhi, April 5: The Indian Air Force will open its first fully equipped Forward Operating Base (FOB) in more than 30 years at Phalodi in Rajasthan tomorrow, about 100km from the border with Pakistan, drawing attention not only to air defence gaps but also to the tardy pace of infrastructure- building in the armed forces.

Phalodi is on the national highway between Jaisalmer, which is a forward base where full squadrons are not deployed permanently, and the South West Air Command headquarters in Jodhpur.

“Phalodi will fill a crucial gap in our air defence in the western sector,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Tarun Singha said today.

Across the border opposite Phalodi to the northwest are two major Pakistani military bases in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan. Air force station Phalodi is set to become operational a decade after the government approved its formation in April 2000.

Phalodi will be the sixth airbase in Rajasthan. The other five were built in the colonial period before 1947 — but have been upgraded — for the Royal Indian Air Force in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Suratgarh and Uttarlai (Barmer). Rajasthan (or Rajputana) was not the focus of military operations by the British before 1947 because the border here was drawn only at the time of Partition.

When Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik opens the Phalodi base tomorrow, he will expect that it will be the first in a series of inaugurals he has to make. The IAF has nearly 70 airbases across the country. The force has taken up an infrastructure- modernisation programme that has been limping.

As part of the programme, five advance landing grounds in the Northeast opposite the China border are being upgraded. Last September, the IAF opened the Nyoma base, also near the China border in Ladakh, and before that two more in Daulat Beg Oldie and Fukche. But in none of these landing grounds can the IAF deploy its assets permanently.

Unlike them, the base in Phalodi is being equipped for two full squadrons (about 40 aircraft) of fighter planes. The aircraft likely to be based in Phalodi would be MiG 21 Bisons that have limited combat power (such as shorter sorties because they cannot be refuelled in mid-air) compared with the more modern aircraft (such as the Sukhoi). The MiG 21 Bisons are tasked for air defence and interception of enemy aircraft, and MiG 29 aircraft are used for combat air patrol and escort duties.

Salary accounts to attract 25 per cent more interest

Salary account holders could see their interest income rise by up to 25 per cent on the back of a new RBI rule from this month, under which banks will compute 3.5 per cent savings interest on daily basis instead of taking the lowest deposit during a month, Crisil Ratings said on Monday.

Crisil said the new method of interest computation will increase the effective interest rate on savings balances, particularly for salary account holders.
"It is estimated that for a salary account holder with a minimum savings balance between 1-2 times of the monthly salary, the increase in interest income will be between 10 and 25 per cent," it said.
The new computation method has taken effect from April 1, 2010. Earlier, banks gave interest of 3.5 per cent on savings accounts on the basis of the least deposit in an account between the 10th and the last day of each month.
The interest is credited in the account twice a year, in March and September.
As for impact on banks, Crisil said the cost of deposit for them will increase by 10-20 basis points (100 bps = 1 per cent), depending on the share and pattern of the current and savings accounts (CASA).
"This will not materially impact their profitability or lead to any significant change in the share of low-cost deposits, that is CASA in the banking system," it added.
Crisil said, however, that the impact is expected to be higher for banks that have a dominant share of salary accounts with highly fluctuating balances.
At the end of February, all the commercial banks had a total deposit of over Rs 44 lakh crore, including savings, current and fixed deposits. The country's largest lender State Bank of India has over 1.56 crore savings bank account holders.
Crisil said the average CASA levels in the domestic banking system stood at 33 per cent, with savings deposits accounting for 22 per cent as of March 2009.
But it added, "The share of savings deposits is estimated to have increased to 25 per cent as on December 2009, which would translate into an increase of 2-4 per cent in CASA levels by March 31, 2020."
While announcing the annual monetary policy for 2009-10 unveiled last April, the Reserve Bank had said, "payment of interest on savings accounts by scheduled commercial banks would be calculated on a daily product basis with effect from April 1, 2010."

Stop treating army men like 'beggars', SC to Government

The Supreme Court has slammed the union government for treating army personnel like "beggars" in respect of emoluments and pension and asked the authorities to adopt a more "humane approach" towards those bravely defending the country's borders.
"If a person goes to any part of Delhi and sits for begging, he will earn Rs 1000 every day and you are offering a pittance of Rs 1000 per month for a man who fought for the country in the high altitudes and whose arm was amputated?
"Is this the way you treat those brave army officers? It is unfortunate that you are treating them like beggars," a bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and A K Patnaik said in verbal comments while passing the order.
The apex court passed the order dismissing the Centre's appeal challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court direction to pay higher pension to C S Siddu, a Short Commissioned Officer whose right arm had to be amputated due to an accident while on duty at the high altitudes on November November 21, 1970.
"The army personnel are bravely defending the country even at the cost of their lives and we feel they should be treated in a better and more humane manner by government authorities, particularly, in respect of their emoluments, pension and other benefits," the bench said in an order.
There was an element of drama in the court when Additional Solicitor General Parag Tripathi pleaded with the court not to use "strong words" in the order like "beggars," "niggardly" "miserly", following which the bench dropped them from the written order.
"We regret to say that the army officers and army men in our country are being treated in a shabby manner by the government. In this case, the respondent,( Sidhu) who was posted at a high altitude field area and met with an accident during discharge of his duties was granted a meagre pension. This is a pittance (about Rs 1000) per month plus D.A.
"If this is the manner in which the army personnel are treated, it can only be said that it is extremely unfortunate, " the bench however, noted in its written order.