Interim Orders of the Supreme Court on voting rights of defence personnel

As many readers would be aware, the Supreme Court is looking into the aspect of effective voting for armed forces personnel, including voting at their places of posting.

The problem originates from the fact that the Election Commission of India by way of an order has ordained that only personnel with more than 3 years of residence at their place of posting would be permitted to register as general voters at the said place. Of course, this 3 year rule does not find basis in any statute.

The case was listed today and it seems that the Apex Court has directed in its interim directions that armed forces personnel would be allowed to be registered as voters without insisting on the 3 year clause in all those constituencies where the poll process has not yet commenced. The main petition remains pending and may be decided by a larger bench.

Readers may like to view an opinion on the subject on StratPost.

More when the Supreme Court order is made available.

Courtesy: Major Navdeep Singh

IAF aircraft C-130J Super Hercules crashes near Gwalior, 5 killed

NEW DELHI: A recently acquired C-130J transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed 72 miles west of Gwalior airbase on Friday morning, killing at least five personnel on board. The IAF has no official word yet on how many personnel were aboard the aircraft. The crash of the four-engine US made aircraft has baffled experienced pilots, given its safety records and extreme agility. One senior air force pilot said the accident was "bizarre", and speculated that either the crew was incapacitated or a fire broke out aboard the plane.

Rescue operations are underway at the crash site, air force sources said. "The aircraft was airborne from Agra at 10am for a routine flying training mission. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the cause of the accident," the IAF said in a statement.

 
 The crash took place in Karauli district in Rajasthan, some 72 miles from Gwalior, where it was due to land.

The IAF started inducting C-130J in February 2011 and has half a dozen of them in service. It is also set to induct another six of them.

The C-130J is among the most agile aircraft in service today, and has an impressive safety record. The transport aircraft is meant for an array of operations including movement of Special Forces, and difficult landings. It was highly effective in rescue operations in Uttarakhand after the flash floods, and has proven its capability to carry out landings on remote airstrips close to China border. Both these have exhibited the flexibility and capability of the American aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

Starting its history sometime in the 1950s with the US military, C-130 is among the world's most recognizable military aircraft that has participated in numerous military campaigns and in service with several militaries.

Though several C-130s have crashed during Vietnam war, the aircraft is reputed for its reliability. Last time South Asia saw a C-130 crash was when a C-130 aircraft of the Pakistan air force carrying Pakistani dictator General Zia-ul-Haq and the US ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel were killed when it crashed on August 17, 1988.

Courtesy: Times of India

Political leadership betrayed our soldiers

More than 50 years after India's debacle in the 1962 war with China, the Henderson Brooks Report, kept under lock and key in the Defence ministry's South Block office in Delhi, has been leaked.

The report, which looked into reasons for India's defeat, has been kept away from the public as a classified document for half a century, for reasons not difficult to speculate. Over the years many people who played important roles during those years have gone public and talked about the failure of the political leadership that led to the events of 1962.

This should come as no surprise – because why else would successive governments keep this report classified and refuse to declassify it? In 2008, when I raised the question in Parliament, the UPA government said the report could not be declassified as it was a secret document – that, from a government that claims to have introduced transparency and "given people access" to government functioning.

All major democracies declassify documents after the lapse of time, and encourage discussion and debate on issues with the help of new insights provided by the private papers of political leaders and also cabinet notes. Indian governments have habitually shied away from doing so, and traditionally used the garb of "national security" to keep secret those reports that expose their failures.

The leaked portions of the Henderson Brooks report once again show how India's brave soldiers were betrayed by the political leadership. Unfortunately little has changed since. In the 1962 war the political leadership, completely cut off from reality, forced our under-equipped soldiers to fight in bitter winter at great heights without clear direction. Their failure to face the reality of Chinese troops crossing the McMahon Line led hundreds of our soldiers to sacrifice their lives for what was a result of complete absence of political leadership. Our soldiers were betrayed.

Over the years our soldiers continue to face political apathy and bureaucratic delays. In recent months a spate of accidents in the Indian Navy have once again shown that our armed forces personnel will remain at the mercy of MOD bureaucrats who, sitting in their comfortable offices, scuttle or delay requests for refits and repairs.

We do not need any evidence to prove the patriotism of our brave men and women in uniform. As a disciplined force they continue to perform their duty in trying circumstances. Declassifying the Henderson Brooks report will once again focus attention on the failure of the political leadership to stand by our soldiers while at the same time also allow us, hopefully, to learn lessons from a debacle that casts a shadow on our collective psyche.

 

By: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP

Soldier and Seventh CPC - Way Ahead

Soldier and Seventh CPC - Way Ahead
 

SEVENTH PAY COMMISSION FOR THE ARMED FORCES
 

The Government  has recently approved composition of Seventh Central Pay Commission. In keeping with past practice it will consist of a retired judge as chairman and one IAS bureaucrat as member and secretary expenditure Government of India as Member-Secretary.
 

In UK soldier’s pay is fixed by Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body (AFPRB), which is an independent body of distinguished men and women from public life and industry.  They visit Army headquarters and units each year to assess reaction to their reports at firsthand and seek out ‘grass roots’ opinion on the issue of the day.  They use the job evaluation scores, MOD evidence and information gathered during visits, to recommend to the Prime Minister the rates for basic and additional Service pay, some allowances and charges for food and accommodation.  The AFPRB Report is produced annually .
 

In US the pay of soldiers is based on the Employment Cost Index (ECI) which is a quarterly measure of changes in labor costs. It is one of the principal economic indicators used by the Federal Reserve Bank. The following are some of the main features of the data:
 

· Shows changes in wages and salaries and benefit costs, as well as changes in total compensation

· Presents data as a total for all workers and separately for private industry and for State and local government workers

· Reports changes by industry, occupational group, union and nonunion status, census region and division, and 15 large metropolitan areas

· Provides seasonally adjusted and unadjusted data

· Presents historical data on changes in labor costs

· Uses fixed weights to control for shifts among occupations and industries.
 

The Congress (equal to Indian Parliament) annually decides the raise in pay of soldiers, which is accepted by the President and in case of disagreement; it is the writ of Congress which prevails.
 

Common factor is both US and UK system is professionalism. In both cases the pay scales are being recommended by a body of experts who have domain knowledge on the subject and are free from the control of government of the day. But strangely in case of India the pay commission is composed of bureaucrats with vested interest to perpetuate hegemony of their cadre and this group is headed by a judge who has no domain knowledge on the subject of Pay and Allowances, however he has been Government advocate in Rajasthan from 1969 till 1985 and a judge thereafter till his retirement in 2008 as Supreme Court Judge and employed in Armed Forces Tribunal since 2008 to 2011. Apparently such a body cannot be expected to do justice to soldiers.
 

Moot question is, what are the Armed Forces to do in the given circumstances?  They have to safeguard their interests . Which is only possible if the armed forces are able to project a justified and coherent case before the Seventh CPC. Some of the suggestions are listed in succeeding Paras.
 

Cadre Management
 

One of the primary reasons for army’s failure to attract and retain talent is poor cadre management policies, which result in short tenures and earl retirement for nearly 94 per cent of All Rank. Thus there is an urgent need is to streamline and restructure, both officer and JCO & OR Cadres of the Armed Forces, especially the Army.
 

Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Rank (OR) to get 33 years of service. 

JCOs and OR make up more than 94 per cent of the Army. They retire young due to severely limited growth opportunities with a low pension. Consequently soldiering today has become last option amongst the eligible and only reason recruitment quotas are still being met is high levels of unemployment. The problem stem from poor career management. There is an immediate need to ensure 33 years of service for every person who enrols in the Army. This will put a soldier at par with his civilian counterpart and can be easily achieved through simple internal restructuring of JCO and OR Cadres, through two concurrent in-house measure.
 

· Only one category of Sepoys.  All entries will be at Sepoy level in X Category and specialisation would be offered to Sepoys/ Naiks at appropriate stage of service.
 

· Intake through Combat Arms/ Combat Support Arms.  Direct recruitment into Corps of Signals, Logistics Services and Minor Corps to be stopped and their requirement ought to be met with ‘mid-career transferees’ from Combat Arms and Combat Support Arms.
 

Officer Cadre. The following needs to be done:
 

· Induct all as Short Service Commissioned Officers (SSCO) for initial seven years followed by review and retention of 30%. This will provide level playing field.
 

· Make severance after seven years attractive by providing:
 

Ø Pay and allowances of SSCO be exempt from income tax.

Ø Allow leave encashment up to 300 days at annual maximum of 40 days for first six years and 60 days in seventh year of service.

Ø Lump sum grant equal to seven of years pay calculated on last pay drawn net of taxes.

Ø Provide cost of hostel and tuition fee for a PG course in a Government or Government aided Institute/college net of taxes.

Ø Provide Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) membership at same terms and conditions as others.

Ø Provide life-time CSD facilities.

Ø Life-time Regimental membership in officer institutions and membership of AWHO.

· The officers retained after seven years to be granted Permanent commission and to serve till age of retirement at 59 years except the Chief who will retire at 62 years.
 

NFU and MACP. Non-functional up-gradation be applicable to officers of the Armed Forces and MACP for JCOs and OR.
 

Recommended Pay Scales

Rank	Pay Bend	Basic Pay	Grade Pay	Entry Pay	Military Service Pay @ 25%  of BP + GP	Minimum Entry Pay
Sepoy	PB 1	15600 - 60600	6000	25380	6400	317800
Naik	PB 1	15600 - 60600	7200	29730	7500	37230
Havildar	PB 1	15600 - 60600	8400	34080	8500	42580
Naib Subedar	PB 2	29900 - 104400	12600	40500	10100	50625
Subedar	PB 2	29900 - 104400	13800	51420	13000	64420
Subedar Major	PB 2	29900 - 104400	14400	54450	14000	68450
Lieutenant	PB 3	46800 - 117300	16200	63000	16000	79000
Captain	PB 3	46800 - 117300	19800	76590	19200	95790
Major	PB 3	46800 - 117300	22800	88500	22200	110700
Lieutenant Colonel	PB 4	112000 - 220000	26100	111000	27500	138750
Colonel	PB 4	112000 - 220000	26700	138300	34575	172875
Brigadier	PB 4	112000 - 220000	27300	147300	36825	184125
Major General	PB 4	112000 - 220000	30000	210000	37000	247000
Lieutenant General (Staff stream) (HAG)				225000	37000	262000
DG AFMS/ GOC Corps  (HAG +)				240000	37000	277000
Army Commander (Apex)				250000	37000	287000
Chief				270000	37000	307000

Allowances. It is important that DA be applicable on allowances and Field service and separation allowances be exempt of Income Tax. Some of the allowances specific to the Armed Forces are listed below. Other allowances, as applicable to civilians ought to be available to military as well.
 

· Transport Allowance.          In kind at scale of 30 liters of fuel per car and 15 liters of fuel for two wheelers for all ranks.
 

· Transfer Allowance.    Besides the cost of carriage of household goods it should include cost of changing schools and other incidental expenses.
 

· Entitled Rations.     As hither-to-fore.
 

· Technical Allowances.     May be given with a proviso that these be stopped on the officer reaching the rank of brigadier.
 

· Leave Travel Concessions
 

o Three free warrants per year for the soldiers posted in field area.

o No limit on number of concession vouchers, either for officers or the men.

o Definition of family to include dependant parents.

o Use of private car/taxi and private airlines be permitted on LTC with proviso that maximum permissible claim not to exceed cost of entitled class air/rail fare.

o LTC be permitted at separate stations for self and family.
 

· Compensatory Allowances.
 

Sl. No.	Compensatory Allowance	Allowance (% of Military Pay)
1.	City Compensatory Allowance (Tier-1)	30%
2.	City Compensatory Allowance (Tier-2)	25%
3.	City Compensatory Allowance (Tier-3)	20%
4.	Separation Allowance	50%

· Operational Allowances.
 

Sl. No..	Type of Area and Operations	Allowance (% of Military Pay)
1.	Operationally Active Super High Altitude	100%
2.	Operationally Active High Altitude	80%
3.	Super High Altitude	75%
4.	Operationally Active Highly Uncongenial Field	70%
5.	High altitude	60%
6.	Highly Uncongenial Field Area	50%
5.	Operationally Active Field Area	50%
8.	Field Area	35%

         
 Note: `Operationally Active includes `Counter Insurgency’.

·       
Special Allowances
 

Ser No.	Type of Special Allowance	Allowance (% of Military Pay)
1.	Instructor Allowance	35%
2.	Special Forces Allowance	35%
3.	Flying / Parachute Allowance	25%
4.	Non-practice Allowance/ Technical Pay	20%

Pay Encashment
 

Be permitted for a maximum of 300 days with-in first seven years for officers when serving as SSCO and for JCOs and OR in entire service with proviso that maximum encashment permissible will be not more than 15 days per year.
 

Pension
 

The pension at 75% of last pay drawn when retired on completion of colour service.
 

Courtesy: Yogi