Anti-military bias of the 7th Pay Commission increases the trust deficit between the Indian Govt. and its military

Three military chiefs’ joint memorandum to defence minister on pay commission report sends disquieting signals.

The public debate over the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission report has focused on its financial implications and likely impact on the government’s fiscal deficit target. Little attention has been paid to the issues raised by various Central government services affected by these recommendations. As per procedure, their concerns are considered by a committee of secretaries under the cabinet secretary, which sends the recommendations to the Union cabinet for approval. This method has worked well so far, as it doesn’t deal with the substantive questions or allege an inherent bias in the deliberations of the pay commission. Now, by writing a joint memorandum to the defence minister over the pay commission recommendations, however, the three military chiefs have taken the controversy to a different — and disquieting — level.

Not only is it extremely rare for the three chiefs to jointly sign a memorandum — the seniormost service chief usually signs tri-service letters as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee — but also the issues raised by them point to a complete lack of trust in the commission’s recommendations. The defence services believe that their joint presentations to the pay commission, unlike those made by civilian employees, have been dismissed without even being included in the report. A downgrade of the status of military officers vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts, fixation of hardship allowances at lower rates, and denial of a real non-functional upgrade have been identified by the service headquarters as issues that emanate from the allegedly anti-military bias of the pay commission.

The three chiefs have asked the defence minister to institute an expert committee, with members from the armed forces, to look into these grievances. These issues have also been flagged by the three chiefs informally to the defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, who has asked for a formal presentation this week. It will take more than a presentation, however, to bridge the widening trust gap between the uniformed personnel and the government. The unresolved issue of one rank one pension has already created tensions that are adversely affecting the military. The political leadership needs to actively reach out to the military, redress their genuine concerns and restore their trust in government. Simultaneously, the top military leadership needs to quell the tide of heightened emotions in the defence forces to reinforce the well-established balance of civil-military relations. India is situated in a tough neighbourhood and beset with several internal security problems. It cannot afford to have a disaffected military, least of all over the issue of pay and allowances.

Committee on Ministry of Defence Reforms Calls Army Restrictions on Social Media "Intrusive"

A committee of experts set up by the Ministry of Defence has said that constructive usage of social media must never be discouraged in the defence services and has frowned upon the application forms introduced by the Army recently for permission to use social media calling them “intrusive” and “not in tune with reality”

The Indian Express had earlier reported that the Army had issued detailed instructions severely restricting the use of social media and had in fact brought out a detailed form which asked for all details regarding the use of social media sites to be provided by the personnel.

The committee on reduction of litigation in the Ministry of Defence and improvement of the mechanisms of redressal of grievances that submitted its report to the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, last week, has made some important recommendations related to use of social media and methods of interaction between seniors and juniors in the military.

The committee, comprising High Court advocate Maj Navdeep Singh, Lt General Mukesh Sabharwal (retd), Lt Gen Richard Khare (retd), Maj Gen T Parshad (retd) and war disabled officer, Maj DP Singh, has recommended that constructive usage of social media should be encouraged while “immature usage” should be discouraged.

Sources say that the committee has stated that the thumb rule should only remain that operational and strategic issues must not be discussed on social media. The committee has disagreed with the ‘application forms’ introduced by the Army for ‘permission’ to use social networks by underlining that such formats are “intrusive and not in tune with reality” and are not prescribed for any other service or employees.

The Committee has rather stressed upon issuing advisories in the form of ‘Do’s and Dont’s and capsule courses in military academies to sensitise about responsible usage of social media. The members of the committee have stated that usage of social media must never be discouraged and has endorsed proactive use of social media by official bodies to counter rumour-mongering or disinformation.

In another suggestion, out of the total 75 recommendations, the panel has observed that senior commanders must maintain participative and interactive blogs with proper security checks to provide a grievances outlet to the rank and file since physical interaction at times becomes difficult in the military due to long distances and a stratified structure. The Committee has asked all services to emulate the blog of the GOC-in-C, Western Command in this regard.

It has also recommended that an online forum, on the lines of one introduced by the Indian Air Force, be adopted by all three services on which personnel can seek answers to queries related to official policies. The committee has recommended such forums to be introduced on the IAF intranet initially and not on open internet. It has been observed that such interaction would provide better catharsis to the rank and file.

According to sources, the panel has also observed that disinformation campaigns must be countered effectively rather than imposing restrictions which may wrongly project the defence services as having outdated ideas. Creation of interactive mechanisms such as twitter handles has also been recommended for all offices dealing with public grievances such as Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) and even Record Offices and Veteran Cells. Appointments of “Grievances Officers” or “Public Grievances Officers” have also been recommended in Record Offices.

Source: The Indian Express

First The OROP, Now The 7th Pay Commission, When Will The Armed Forces Get Their Due?

By Kudrat Dutta Chaudhary: 

I wasn’t a keen follower of the OROP initially to be very honest, and stood at a moral ground of the rational apathetic until September. This is ironic because all the men in my family have served in the army and today I stand as a proud beneficiary of the same institution.

Illustration by Maitri Dore

Why OROP Makes Sense

I remember as I enjoyed my rickshaw ride to the Ministry of External Affairs one day, the rickshaw puller got lost and took me to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the way to which crossed the Jantar Mantar. Being from Chandigarh, I had heard and read quite a lot about its significance and historical importance and how the monument till date stands for progressive thinking and an outlook towards a better future. Right in front and around the monument, I saw retired officers and soldiers, both old and young sweating yet standing tall, fighting for the rights of every man who pledges to serve our nation. There were so many of them with placards, many of their wives and children were present too, it was scorching hot and I wished that they’d be more comfortable, but then their resilience to their cause was a big enough reason for them to endure the roasting weather.

But my empathy, was interrupted with the thought that, those weren’t just ‘any men’ who’d crib at the slightest instance of being uncomfortable but rather those were the men some of who had served at the most severe temperatures, ranging from that at the Siachen Glacier to the dreary sands of the Thar desert to defend our country from forces, committed to ruffle the peace of it.

That was my moment of awakening and I developed a penchant towards the cause.

The demands were simple, One Rank One Pension, irrespective of one’s tenure, for a country that’s GDP has gone up in the recent past and a country where crores are embezzled over building states structures, it wasn’t an unfair cause, which the Indian soldiers were fighting for. In fact, the quest for implementing the OROP started with the promises that were made by the Government at power, before being elected. So the soldiers were just asking their due, in fact, their right that originated from the assurances given by the elected party at the centre.
But we have seen, how their commitment has been at a dilly-dally stance, where they have agreed to implement it but wouldn’t extend the provisions of the same to the officers who take premature retirement after 2013. Thus leaving the positive benefits of the wholesome implementation of the scheme in a limbo.

The Reality Of The 7th Pay Commission

Now let’s move on to the 7th Pay Commission, which to a layman would serve as an evidence of the fact that the government is doing way too much for the Indian Armed Forces. But I wish that was true. The Seventh Pay commission is a counter-incentive in the garb of a perfectly drafted report, providing the Indian Armed Forces with everything that they could ever imagine.

But this is far from true, to start with the Seventh Pay Commission has cancelled free ration in peace areas.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, the actual deal is this, the hardship allowance of an army officer has been fixed lower than that of a civil servant, which has always been the case. So if an army officer is posted in Siachen glacier, the highest battlefield of the world his hardship allowance would be 31,500 vis a vis an IAS officer’s hardship allowance which shall be around 70,000 for being in Jammu, which is a full-fledged area.

This has irked many in the forces, who expected a bridge of parity to be brought between civil servants and the forces. But because this inequality is perpetually maintained, it goes on to show how the ‘lal batti‘ is favoured more than the olive green uniform. In fact the 7th CPC’s bombshell recommendation, tucked away on Page 151, is that this relative advantage enjoyed by the IAS/IFS should be extended to the IPS and the Indian Forest Services, leaving the military out in the cold. Effectively, IAS, IPS and IFoS officers will get six additional increments by the time they complete 13 years of service. The military gets nothing, apparently in the continuing belief that its functions are not as complex, difficult and critical as the other four All India Services.

Maximum Risk, Minimum Gain

To many, the demands of the army officers have been irrational, some have called them greedy, but I ask you, would you ever do anything, anything at all if it required maximum risk and minimal gain? The businessmen might point the flaw in that question and state, “maximum risk goes with maximum gain.”

Now, what is this risk these army men withstand? Because to many, all they do is create destruction and go on raping women and misusing AFSPA.

I won’t spin yarns of praises of this institution because I have always felt that the working of the Indian Armed Forces was flawed at certain areas. But if there is anything at all for which the State is unprepared, be it the ghastly 26/11 attacks, or Prince slipping in a manhole or the floods that hit any State of our nation, or even relief operations, it is the army that is contacted. This is the same army, whose one-day salary is compulsorily cut if there are floods in Kashmir or an earthquake in Nepal.

They too wish that aman and shanti (peace and harmony) could exist and they too yearn that everyone got their own due and that everyone gets whatever they want.

For all that they do, I think they should be the highest paid, men should get incentives to join the armed forces. The number should go up and not come down. It is these men, whose due needs to be given and it is these men who are ensuring that you’re safely reading this.

Courtesy: Youth Ki Awaaz

Highlights of 7th Pay Commission report

Following are the highlights of the recommendations made by the 7th Central Pay Commission, headed by Justice A K Mathur, which submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today:

* 23.55 per cent increase in pay and allowances recommended.

* Recommendations to be implemented from January 1, 2016.

* Minimum pay fixed at Rs 18,000 per month; maximum pay at Rs 2.25 lakh.

* The rate of annual increment retained at 3per cent

* 24 per cent hike in pensions.

* One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees on line of OROP for armed forces.

* Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh; ceiling on gratuity to be raised by 25 per cent whenever DA rises by 50 per cent.

* Cabinet Secretary to get Rs 2.5 lakh as against Rs 90,000 per month pay band currently.

* Financial impact of implementing recommendations will be Rs 1.02 lakh crore – Rs 73,650 crore to be borne by Central Budget and Rs 28,450 crore by Railway Budget.

* Total impact of Commission’s recommendation to raise the ratio of expenditure on salary and wages to GDP by 0.65 percentage points to 0.7 per cent.

* Military Service Pay (MSP), which is a compensation for the various aspects of military service, will be admissible to the defence forces personnel only.

* MSP for service officers more than doubled to Rs 15,500 per month from Rs 6,000 currently; for nursing officers to Rs 10,800 from Rs 4,200; for JCO/ORs to Rs 5,200 from Rs 2,000 and for non-combatants to Rs 3,600 from Rs 1,000.

* Short service commissioned officers will be allowed to exit the armed forces at any point in time between 7 to 10 years of service.

* Commission recommends abolishing 52 allowances; another 36 allowances subsumed in existing allowances or in newly proposed allowances.

* Recommendations will impact 47 lakh serving govt employees, 52 lakh pensioners, including defence personnel.

The 7^th Central Pay Commission Report can be downloaded by clicking here.

The OROP "Gift" Lowers Military Morale, National Security Compromised

Pradhan Mantri (PM) Modi celebrated Diwali with army troops at Dograi and reportedly announced that OROP was a Diwali gift to military veterans. Perhaps he was not aware that veterans are critical of this tainted “gift”, since it is a version of OROP seriously diluted by bureaucratic machinations. This includes a proviso that OROP benefit will not extend to soldiers who retire prematurely (PMR) in the future – “No-OROP-for-PMR”. Perhaps Mr.Modi does not know that troops would not have raised the PMR question because they are disciplined, but why he didn't himself tell veterans of his Diwali gift is not known.

The PM has never met veterans nor responded to their request for a meeting, though he has scored brownie points more than once when addressing serving soldiers regarding OROP. After assuring veterans of OROP during his election campaign, as PM Mr.Modi questioned the definition of OROP even though the Koshiyari Committee stated it explicitly. When he stated at Faridabad that he would transfer funds meant for the poor to meet the demand of funds for OROP, he effectively stated that veterans demand for OROP would be at the cost of the poor of India. Veterans see this as a slight and as a blatant attempt to gain political advantage, unbecoming of a PM from whom veterans and much of the country had great expectations.

Raksha Mantri (RM) Parrikar for his part, made several statements which have muddied the OROP waters already made murky by bureaucrats, and angered veterans. First he said that veterans should not expect 100% of their OROP demand. Then he said that India has not fought a war for decades, implying that soldiers need to hone their fighting skills and not bother about pay and pension. Most recently, he has gone to the extent of saying that veterans agitation and protest is “not soldier-like”. This is very much in keeping with the present government's practice of denigrating protests which oppose or criticize its policies, decisions or actions.

The Diwali 'gift'

Government's notification of OROP is a seriously diluted version of the concept of OROP on seven major counts. But the single most important issue which affects the demography of the military and consequent efficiency is the mischieviously introduced concept of premature retirement (PMR) as a means to deny OROP for veterans of the future, that is, today's serving soldier.

The effect of “No-OROP-for-PMR” is to encourage an “older” military which will be physically and motivationally less able to withstand the rigours of military service in the field. The numbers of disgruntled men and officers will increase as they stagnate in their rank and wait to reach the age of retirement in their rank, so as to not lose the benefit of OROP. Obviously, whenever possible, such soldiers will avoid hard training and diligent work. Disciplinary cases will multiply, and the negative loop will gain speed at the cost of preparedness for battle. Battles and wars cannot be fought, leave alone won, when the man-behind-the-gun is sullen, unhappy and demotivated due to the way his Service and his government treats him. The soldier who has taken an oath to fight for his country even at risk of death or disabling injury, will ask himself if he was mistaken.

The whole country was shocked at the police manhandling peacefully agitating veterans at Jantar Mantar on 14 August. From this pre-meditated humiliation by government, veterans understood that the government would surely prevaricate on the OROP demand, and their fears have come true. The veterans' peaceful and dignified agitation has crossed 150 days, and its leaders are increasingly hard put to control hotheads among them who are advising a more confrontational and aggressive approach. But what perhaps has irrevocably hardened the veterans' stance against the politician-bureaucrat nexus is PM Modi's treatment of veterans' decades-old demand of OROP as a Diwali 'gift'. Much worse, No-OROP-for-PMR has caused much discussion among serving soldiers of all ranks. They will remain silent because of the constraints of military law, but their disappointment and anger will inevitably translate into lowered morale and lowered battle efficiency, and compromising national security.

Civil-military relations

The seed of distrust of the politician-bureaucrat nexus among serving and retired faujis was sown and germinated during PM Manmohan Singh's watch. This seedling has been growing vigorously in the past year. The fact that the army's adjutant general has been meeting veterans in order to coax them to accept the diluted OROP formula, displays the supine attitude or worse, of the present top military leadership. Serving soldiers are critical of the equivocating role of their Service chiefs, who have effectively degraded the trust of subordinate ranks in the higher command structure.

The political class appears to remain ignorant of the organic link between military veterans and serving soldiers. What affects the soldier affects the veteran and vice versa, and today's soldier is tomorrow's veteran. Especially in the army, the largest of the armed forces, the Jawan and junior officer actually face the enemy, and in situations of extreme peril, rely entirely on mutual trust, team-work and training for individual survival and operational success. The morale of the fighting man is the glue that cements trust with team-work. Low morale spells botched operations, casualties, discipline problems and lost battles. The effect on serving soldiers of government's “gift” of OROP, is in the womb of time.

The PM, as executive head of government, needs to take responsibility for present nose-diving civil-military relations, which affect national security. This cannot be shrugged off as collective responsibility of the BJP as done for its Bihar defeat. But taking responsibility is one thing and doing something about it is another. With his post-Bihar vulnerability within his own party, PM Modi seems unlikely to do either.

National security

The deficiencies of equipment, weapons and ammunition from UPA days persists, with no improvement since May 2014. It is piquant that the deficiencies were boldly pointed out by then-COAS Gen V.K.Singh, the world knows how he paid for his “insolence”, and was driven into the arms of the BJP on retirement. Though he is a minister in the ruling dispensation, India's military capability remains degraded.

India's military has fought and won battles “fighting with what we have” (especially 1965 and Kargil 1999), because the morale of the soldier was high, and he placed value on his oath to defend and serve his country even at the risk of life and limb. India's military proved that with high morale and rigorous training, the man-behind-the-gun could compensate for lack of military materiel. But now, the morale situation worries anybody with concern for national security. Thus today, the nation's military suffers triple disadvantages, namely, failing trust in the political leadership, severe deficiencies in materiel, and lowered morale of the fighting man and his leaders.

The shenanigans of the politician-bureaucrat nexus regarding OROP adversely affecting the morale of India's armed forces will be appreciated if not celebrated with crackers by Pakistan's military. The strategically ignorant, chronically myopic, blatantly arrogant politician-bureaucrat nexus has irreversibly harmed India by harming its own armed forces. India's political sovereignty and territorial integrity are at risk, as governments' last bastion for both domestic governance and external security is being knowingly or unknowingly emasculated. PM Modi has much to think about.

Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired in 1996 as Additional DG Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ AG's Branch. He holds a PhD degree in Structural Dynamics from I.I.T, Madras. He is Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Iowa, USA, in international studies. With over 450 published papers in national and international journals and seminars, his current area of interest is strategic and development-related issues. E-mail: sg9kere@live.com

The Ministry of Defence Letter granting One Rank One Pension (OROP) has been issued. The same can be downloaded and accessed by clicking here.

One Rank One Pension (OROP) notified

Salient features of OROP notified today:

Pensions based on live data of 2013 calculated at average of minimum and maximum pensions of individuals who were discharged in the said year. Pensions shall be equalized every 5 years.

If any person is in receipt of pension higher than the above amount, that shall stay protected. Pensioners with lower amount shall be upgraded.

Arrears with effect from 01 July 2014, to be paid in four installments but recipients of family pension shall be released arrears in one installment. Gallantry awardees also to be paid in one single installment.

Voluntary retirement clause removed for all past retirees but the negative stipulation shall be imposed on future retirees who opt for premature retirement or discharge at own request from today onwards. This shall apply to those who opt for release under Rule 13(3)1(i)(b),13(3)1(iv) or 16B of the Army Rules 1954 and pari materia rules of the other two services.

Judicial Commission will be constituted to iron out the anomalies which shall submit its report in 6 months.

OROP tables based on 2013 data shall be made available very soon.

Courtesy: Major Navdeep Singh

Happy Air Force Day

Celebrating Indian Air Force Day: Salute the guardians of our skies!

The Dimensions of Veterans’ Disillusionment and Ire

By: Major General S. G. Vombatkere

Mainstream, 28 September 2015

The Government of India (GoI) finally announced its version of One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP) for military Veterans. This was welcomed only in part by the Veterans, because there were important sticking points which were not included or inadequately included in the announcement. Fortunately, the Veterans who were on fast-unto-death were persuaded to end their fast, but the Veterans’ resolve to remain on protest until the outstanding points were settled to their satisfaction, resulted in planning a “Sainik Ekta Rally” on September 12 at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

But reverting to the GoI’s OROP announce-ment, obviously at the instance of the bureau-cracy, it included a hitherto unmentioned stipulation that soldiers who opt for VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) would not be entitled to OROP. When the GoI was informed that there was no concept of VRS in the defence services, the same stipulation was shifted to soldiers who took premature retirement. This has angered Veterans because many soldiers take premature retirement since promotion avenues are severely limited, or because there are problems in distant homes, or they try their luck at some job in civvy street since there is no job assurance on retirement anyway. Today, Veterans are waiting for the GoI’s signed document on OROP since they have been repeatedly cheated and have long since ceased to trust the spoken word of politicians and bureaucrats.

Ekta Rally

It is learned that the GoI had “advised” Veterans not to hold the “Ekta Rally”. But the rally on September 12 was a huge success, with thousands of Veterans from all over India converging at Jantar Mantar, exceeding the expectations of the organisers. When TV crews present were asked as to why the rally was not being screened, on condition of anonymity they revealed that the GoI had “advised” the TV channel managements not to air the event. It has also come to light that buses crammed with Veterans were stopped at the Delhi border to deter Veterans (all old and many infirm) from reaching Jantar Mantar.

It is abundantly clear that the GoI has tried, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to make the “Ekta Rally” fail. But Veterans, even some in wheel-chairs, have spoken with their feet; the discomfiture of the GoI is complete. One Veteran even asked whether the GoI’s strategem of breaking the Veterans’ unity was a harbinger of the days to come. Serious rumblings! And what would be the thoughts of the serving soldier on his cold vigil on the Himalayan and trans-Himalayan heights?

The World Watches

It has already been brought out how apex-scale-pension retired bureaucrat Avay Shukla’s article titled “The Bitter Truth About OROP”, in which he argued that OROP is “inherently flawed”, “cannot be limited to the armed forces only”, and is “neither fair nor possible”, was being gleefully discussed in “Pakistan Defence”. <http://defence.pk/threads/the-bitte...> The whole world, and especially India’s neighbours, are well aware that the GoI’s intransigence on the OROP issue is affecting the morale of the serving soldier who guards our frontiers. However, the GoI, under the thrall of an obstinately self-serving and strategically myopic civil service, appears to be oblivious to the rapidly worsening situation. It has escaped nobody’s attention that PM Narendra Modi, ordinarily a self-confident and loquacious person, has not spoken with Veterans since the agitation began, and speculation of the reason is rife. The unfortunate gap in civil-military relations having widened to a chasm is apparent.

The Veterans’ agitation at Jantar Mantar, starting on June 14, 2015, moving on to relay fast and finally some Veterans undertaking fast-unto-death to force the hand of the GoI to announce OROP, is undoubtedly being watched by intelligence agencies worldwide, and especially by Pakistan and China. Its effect on serving soldiers would inevitably be carefully assessed.

Military Capability

It is well to note that the weapons, ammunition and equipment deficiencies—which were revealed by the then Army Chief, Gen V.K. Singh, to the consternation and annoyance of the UPA Government—have not yet been made up. It is not known whether the National Security Council (NSC) has consulted Gen V.K. Singh, since retired, who is a Union Minister in the present GoI, on this critical issue.

It is wisely said that the quality of the man-behind-the-gun is at least as important as the availability and quality of the gun itself. Indeed, the GoI is commemorating 50 years of the 1965 war against Pakistan, during which Pakistan’s designs were soundly defeated by motivated Indian soldiers using dated arms and equipment pitted against Pakistan’s superior Patton tanks and F-86 Sabre jet aircraft gifted by the USA. But today, 50 years later, the man-behind-the-gun is unhappy due to persistent injustices and indignities heaped upon him over the decades by the bureaucrat-politician nexus. And India’s military capability is further degraded by shor-tages of weapons, ammunition and equipment.

Joining the Dots

It is for the NSC to consider whether the increase in ceasefire and LOC violations by Pakistan, and the Pakistan Army Chief’s belligerent statements, are actually Pakistan testing India’s political will and military capability.

It must be recalled that soon after Narendra Modi assumed office as the PM, he sat cordially with Chinese President Xi Ping on a “jhoola” on the banks of the Sabarmati. At that very time, Chinese troops had made incursions near Depsang-la across the LAC in Ladakh. Today, on September 12, the ominous breaking news is that Chinese workers have started constructing permanent defences near Burtse (not far from Depsang-la), and when the Indian troops objected, Chinese troops have moved in.

One must recall that the attack by China in 1962 began in October, the month when Indian troops begin to experience increasing mobility difficulties in the Himalayan terrain as winter progresses, while Chinese troops have little or no such mobility constraints and are today further advantaged by firm logistics of the railway link to Lhasa. In 1962, as now, India’s soldier was ill-equipped and there was a huge gap in civil-military relations. But today the situation also includes a sense of disillusionment among the serving soldiers, which did not obtain in 1962.

PM Modi, and the NSC which he heads, may have to think and act very quickly to assess the real-time joint Pakistan-China threat. In any case, they would do well to urgently create a single-point-of-military-advice by appointing a military officer as the National Security Advisor (as NSA-External) in addition to the existing NSA who would advise on internal security. This writer hopes and prays that his apprehen-sions of external threat are unfounded.

Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired in 1996 as the Additional DG Discipline and Vigilance in the Army HQ AG’s Branch. He holds a Ph.D degree in Structural Dynamics from IIT Madras. He is the Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Iowa, USA, in international studies. With over 450 published papers in national and international journals and seminars, his current area of interest is strategic and development-related issues.

Irresponsible Chain Mails on pensions of Jawans and JCOs

By: Major Navdeep Singh

Though the instant post was not ideally required, but I feel compelled to throw light on a subject, which, since the last few days has led to a massive disinformation campaign fuelled by irresponsible chain-mails regarding pensionary benefits of ranks other than Commissioned Officers.

As was brought out in the last post on this blog, the Government has issued the sanction order implementing the Supreme Court decision on removal of a pensionary anomaly with effect from 01 Jan 2006, that is, the date of implementation of the 6^th Central Pay Commission (6^th CPC) recommendations. There have been mails floating around and queries raised that the benefit as granted to Commissioned Officers and Civilians on 24 Sept 2012 has now been applied from 01 Jan 2006 but similar benefit has not been extended to ranks other than Commissioned Officers. Some mails have been nauseatingly abusive towards the Government and some have raised needless irresponsible conspiracy theories.

Let me attempt to clarify this issue for the benefit of readers.

When the 6^th CPC recommendations were implemented, the pensions of pre-2006 retirees were fixed at 50% of the minimum of the applicable pay band with effect from 01 Jan 2006 rather than the pay within the pay band for each rank according to fitment tables. This was implemented for all Central Govt pensioners, irrespective of rank or service. This was objected to by pensioners and led to massive litigation since as per pensioners, the pensions were to be based on minimum of pay within the pay band for each rank/grade and not the minimum of the pay band itself.

While this controversy was simmering, the Government introduced a new system of pension calculation for ranks other than Commissioned Officers wherein they scrapped the system of minimum of the pay band but initiated a system of calculation by taking the maximum of the 5^th CPC scales fitted notionally into the new 6^th CPC pay bands and alongwith enhanced weightages. This new system came into force on 01 July 2009. The weightages were further enhanced with effect from 24 Sept 2012. Hence, the controversy of minimum of pay band vis-a-vis minimum of pay for each rank/grade within the pay band became redundant for ranks other than Commissioned Officers with effect from 01 July 2009 but the said anomaly continued to hold field for Commissioned Officers and Civilians. Ranks other than Commissioned Officers who were now fixed on notional top of the 5^th CPC scales w.e.f 01 June 2009 were however hit by the minimum of pay band vis-a-vis minimum of pay within the pay band anomaly from 01 Jan 2006 till 30 June 2009.

On the other hand, in the case of Commissioned Officers and Civilian retirees, the pension continued to be based on minimum of pay of the pay band itself and later the Government itself rectified the anomaly with effect from 24 Sept 2012 and provided that from Sept 2012 onwards the pension would be based on minimum of pay for each rank/grade within the pay band. The letter was issued in Jan 2013 with retrospective effect from Sept 2012. Various Tribunals and more importantly the Delhi High Court however ruled that the removal of the anomaly would have to be effectuated from 01 Jan 2006 rather than the future artificial cut-off date of 24 Sept 2012, and the said decision was ultimately affirmed by the Supreme Court.

In implementation of the decision of the Delhi High Court affirmed by the Supreme Court, the Government has issued the implementation instructions under question. For ranks other than Commissioned Officers, the instructions would apply from 01 Jan 2006 till 30 June 2009 since from 01 July 2009 onwards the anomaly stood removed and rendered redundant since all such personnel were as it is fixed on notional top of scales. For Commissioned Officers and Civilian pensioners, the instructions would apply from 01 Jan 2006 till 23 Sept 2012 since the anomaly was only removed on 23 Sept 2012.

Those who are cursing the Government and Commissioned Officers and Civilian pensioners must realize the contours of the controversy before jumping the gun based on half-baked information. It is for the information of all, that pre-2006 retiree ranks other than Commissioned Officers are granted pensions based on notional maximum while Commissioned Officers and Civilians are granted pensions based on notional minimum within the pay band. The Government letter rather protects the enhanced pensions of Jawans and JCOs from 01 July 2009/24 Sept 2012 and this should have brought joy to such pensioners, even if the arrears are not that massive, rather than disaffection.

Please do not go by chain-mails being circulated based on half baked information of self styled experts since reliance on such information leads to needless frustration based on non-existent controversies.

Thank You.

OROP Rolled Out, But Veterans Want More

Fulfilling one of its major election promises in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections of the BJP, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday announced the implementation of the long delayed One Rank One Pension (OROP) for ex-servicemen.

The avowed aim of this announcement, to end the strike by veterans demanding OROP was however hanging in fire with protesting veterans rejecting the “unilateral” announcement as it “dilutes” several core issues from the accepted definition. In an effort to get the veterans on board, Mr. Parrikar met representatives of ex-servicemen later in the day and some understanding has been reached.

“Despite the huge fiscal burden, given its commitment to the welfare of ex-servicemen, the government has taken a decision to implement the OROP,” Mr. Parrikar while announcing the plan, and said the ministry of defence would soon issue a detailed government order.

Government's Offer	What veterans want
Effective from July 1, 2014	April 1, 2014
OROP will be average of minimum and maximum pension scale in 2013	Base for pension should be maximum of the pension scale in 2013
Revision every 5 years	One or two years
One-member judicial commission to submit report in six months	Five-member team under Defense Minister to submit report in one month

Mr. Parrikar said 2013 would be taken as the base year for calculation and it would be implemented from July 1, 2014 the earliest date after the government assumed office. Equalisation of pensions would be done every five years as against the usual practice of once a decade. As per definition OROP implies uniform pension be paid to the armed forces personnel retiring in the same rank and length of service regardless of their date of retirement.

“Under this definition, it has been decided that the gap between rate of pension of current pensioners and past pensioners will be bridged every five years,” Mr. Parrikar said. This has been the key issue of disagreement between the government and the veterans who wanted annual revision in line with the definition. Arrears would be paid in half-yearly instalments, however, all widows would be paid in one instalment.

Another hitch

While OROP would be applicable for the disabled and war widows, those opting for voluntary retirement and not complementing full service will be out of its ambit. This has raised a new point of disagreement between the veterans and the government. Mr. Parrikar said the government would give details on the voluntary retirement in the government order. Asked if the decision would be acceptable to the veterans, Mr. Parrikar said, “I want the veterans on board on all issues”.

After meeting Mr. Parrikar, Major Gen Singh expressed satisfaction on the explanation by the government on the issue of VRS. “Premature retirement is the one point we wanted to discuss. Defence Minister confirmed that Army doesn’t have VRS,”he said. On future course of action he said they would take a decision on the agitation after “discussing with the core group”.

Veterans react

Responding to the statement, ex-servicemen while thanking the government for implementing the scheme rejected the modalities. They have been demanding an annual revision and implementation from April 1, 2014. “The government has taken a decision, this is what we can give,” added Minister of State for Defence, Rao Inderjit Singh.

To address complexities and sort out inter-services issues the government will appoint a one member judicial commission which will give its report within six months. The veterans in turn demanded a five member directly under the Defence Minister and the report submitted within one month.

Given details on the cost of OROP to the exchequer, Mr. Parrikar stated that it would cost between Rs. 8,000-10,000 crore at present which would increase in future. The expenditure on arrears alone would be Rs. 12,000 crore. Currently the pension bill of the defence ministry stands at Rs. 54,000 crore.

There are about 2.45 million veterans and six lakh war widows who stand to benefit from the scheme.

All about OROP:

1	Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced thedecision to implement the One Rank One Pension, w.e.f July 1, 2014.
2	OROP arrears to be paid in four half-yearly instalments; all widows, including war widows, to be paid arrears in one instalment.
3	The ex-servicemen, who have been agitating for the last 82 days, said they will not accept review of the pension after every five years.
4	It is understood that a draft proposal on OROP was circulated at a RSS meeting on Friday, which envisaged commencement of the scheme from July 2014, besides revision of pension every five years.
5	Veterans have opposed to excluding ex-servicemen, who had opted for pre-mature retirement, from the ambit of OROP.
6	Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced the setting up of a One member Judicial Committee, which will give its report on OROP in six months.
7	Veterans have rejected this committee, and instead demanded a committee under the Defence Minister which will include an ex-serviceman too.
8	To begin with, OROP would be fixed on the basis of calender year 2013.
9	Officials said the annual burden on the pension bill will be about Rs. 8,000 crore which would progressively go up with revision in pensions. The current pension bill of the defence ministry stands at Rs. 54,000 crore.
10	Close to 22 lakh retired servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme.

 Source: The Hindu

An open letter to Prime Minister Modi from a current army soldier

Dear Prime Minister,

I am pained to see the embarrassment being inflicted on your government due to promises made without thinking.

I would like to suggest an out of box idea to you. As it is your own Defence Minister feels the army has lost its relevance due to no war in last four decades. Thus, is there a need for an army at all? So, in order to guard the borders, you can simply increase the numbers in paramilitary forces and disband the army.

They are just a waste of money, I tell you. There are so many positives in doing away with the army.

Please look at the positives.

1. The entire defence budget will be there for populist schemes and subsidies.

2. There will be no scams in defence procurements (because you know it as well as we do the
scams in defence procurement are rampant.)

3. PMF personnel retire at 60 years, so you don’t need to worry about facing demands on One Rank One Pension from them.

4. You already have a chief of army staff who will bend over backwards to oblige any suggestion so there will be instant acceptance from the army.

5. The land bank of army will become free to be sold to Adani, Ambani and other corporate houses, who can drive your pet scheme ‘Make in India.’

6. Not to forget that you would also become the first leader in the world to take such a step.

Therefore, a Nobel Prize for peace and host of other prizes wouldn’t be too far away. Please don’t worry about the logistics involved in achieving this ground-breaking objective. Just give the forces 2 years to resettle their personnel. These people can go on study leave and look for alternative employment by 2018.

By when it would be nearing elections, thereby giving you lakhs of crores for your schemes. You can use the spare money to fund your 5-star campaigns in 2019 LS elections. Army is anyway not a vote bank, so their vote loss will not matter.

The question may arise as to what you will do with the army equipment. Well most of what we use is obsolete, have run sell by date and is unfit for any real use thus the scrap value will add to your kitty.

Imagine no army, no veterans, no OROP and most importantly we will no longer be threats to your independence day celebrations

Who can stop you from becoming a legendary figure in history?

Please do consider my proposals.

Your well wisher

A soldier.

Source: Janta Ka Reporter

Universal orders issued for revision of enhanced pension from 01-01-2006 rather than 24-09-2012

Following the decision of the Armed Forces Tribunal and the Central Administrative Tribunal, as upheld by a judgement of the Delhi High Court (which in turn was based upon a decision of the Punjab & Haryana High Court) and then endorsed by the Supreme Court, and further after various twists and turns, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has finally issued universal orders regarding revision of pension of pre-2006 pensioners with effect from 01 Jan 2006 rather than 24 Sept 2012.

All affected pensioners (and not just litigants) shall now be eligible for arrears from 01-01-2006 till 23-09-2012.

The Govt order can be accessed and downloaded by clicking here.