LET DOWN BY SIXTH PAY COMMISSION

Omission & Commission

Unfortunately the Sixth Pay Commission has not been able to address to the perennial problems of the services-inspite of giving some financial benefits which appear bloated on careful analysis. This has happened due to the absence of any member from the services which constitute 40% of the central government employees. Perhaps such a dispensation had been intentional to deny to the services their due as always?

Comparing the Comparables

Comparisons are odious & should not be made unless there is common denominator. Therefore equating service officers with others having civil interface is based on wrong premises as evident from long que for premature retirement only amongst defence officers & total absence on the other side. While most of the service personnel have to work post retirement to keep the wolf away-there is seldom even naib- tahsildars that any such have such need. Has this reality of modern India engaged the attention of the Pay Commission? This Why so has to considered as Factor Y into any new pay dispensation.

Should the salary of a pilot flying ancient single engine MiG -21 from desert airfields in the hot afternoons have some semblance with that of a commercial pilot cruising latest multi -engine Airbus with co-pilot, state of the art autopilot & latest navigational aids? Similarly the pay of captain of an old aircraft carrier with unfaithful Harriers now not onboard must have some correspondence with the Captain of maritime ship who earn upward of a few lacs a month. And what should be the salary of an Air Commodore commanding n airbase base with one fighter squadrons & two transport squadrons doing day & night flying –carrying out air supply missions to far flung border outposts on the roof of Himalaya- besides supporting civil air traffic-in addition to defending the air space over an entire region? By that count where should the Corps Commander of J&K fit in? There is no use equating a brigadier with a DIG or the Chief of Air Staff to the Cabinet Secretary. Comparing a fighter pilot with commercial pilot, an engineer in the armed forces with another manger in say L&T would seem more logical than equating a Lt Gen with a Secretary to the GOI?

Century for Pensioners

Defence pensioners have been left high & dry once again. One rank one pension or restoration of full pension after 12 years has been thrown out. Increasing pension at 80, 90 & 100 years is symbolism at its best or double century which never was. The number of centurion pensioners at best could be in two figures at All India level? What about lowering the age bar by 10 years at every stage -starting at 70 years with full restoration & 20% hike?

With faster promotion these days & upping at least by one rank due to abolition of the 2 Lt rank- the pension of old timers could have been fixed appropriately instead of unnecessary mathematical tabulation. An old timer Lt Col can be given pension applicable to the present day Colonel. Major Dhanapalan anomaly of mass scale deprivation of an entire class of service officers which really fixed them during the fourth CPC has been just carried over.

Interim Measure

Now that every one in defence is unhappy about the recommendations -best should be to ignore it & give reasonable interim relief say @ 50 % of the basic plus dearness pay or 20000/- for officers & 50% of pay & dearness pay or Rs 8,000/- for the soldiers –whichever be higher as on 01 Jan 2006. The interim relief can be half of this amount for pensioners.

Defence Commission

The way there has been chorus against the Sixth CPC & even the service chiefs are unhappy about it-the Govt would do well to constitute a new Commission with adequate members from armed forces –both serving & retired –to focus on the problems faced by the services in holistic manner. We need a person who can be Shri Krishna & guide the nation in how to bring up the sagging morale of the defence forces as manifest from unacceptable number of vacant berths in the services. Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC best fits the bill. May be the Five Star living legend of our times can do justice where Sixth CPC could not go beyond superfluous touches in the passing.

Areas of Concern

The Defence Commission could look into the following problems-


In depth Analysis. Candid study should be made why services has become the last choice of our young men these days. Apart from low pay, unsettled life and remote chances of going beyond Colonel’s rank – the services have lost the glory & pride it used to command once upon a time. The service people must get place in the present day money driven society. Barring few exceptions the wards of service personnel are shunning services. Therefore there must be something drastically wrong which needs to identified & remedied.

Pay & Perks. The pay should get multiplied by Factor X to take into account-Hard service conditions, being on duty 24 hours a day, risk involved, unsettled & separated life, need to have two establishments etc. Then there could be Factor Y multiplier as above. Apart from this there could incentives like Income & Municipal tax breaks. Like agricultural income, the services pay & pension can be taken out of IT net to salute the soldier?

Service Conditions. There is urgent need to improve service conditions like-accommodation, clothing, ration, transportation, number of postings, education facilities & opportunity for the spouse to work in the same station.

Younger Services . Human factors involved in retiring soldiers at an age when they are not young enough to pick up the threads of an entirely a new profession or old enough to idle at home on meager pension be studied & resolved. Soldiers can be given some land under ceiling in cities or along the borders to bolster security besides helping them out? If land could be given to multinationals –it could be as well those who are keeping us united in the face of so much adverse conditions?

Lateral Induction. The scope of lateral entry needs to be enlarged to include professionals like airmen from technical trades who can be issued Basic Aircraft Maintenance Engg License (BAMEL) by the service instead of going through the DGCA loop. It would be quite interesting to note that most of the instructors in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering schools training aspirants for BAMEL- have retired airmen as instructors. Those who have spent an entire lifetime in servicing military aircraft like AN-32, Gajraj, Boeings in VIP Squadron or the Mirage-2000 would require DGCA certificate even to put chocks or refuel an airliner! Similar arrangements also need to be made for the service pilots for issue of Commercial Pilot License by the services. The gaps in civil requirements can be filled up by in-house pre-release training by the services. To keep the services young there could be lateral induction in IAS/IPS also from the defence forces.

University Diplomas. There are lots of other trades in the three services which can be useful in civil sector provided there is recognized certification. The retiring soldiers can be issued proper degree or diploma certificates based on trade tests/ service courses by tie up with Universities of repute.

We owe it to them? Retired soldiers are great human resource asset of our nation & must be dovetailed into the economy for growth. They can also be brand ambassadors of the services more than futile ad campaigns –only if they are not forgotten as these days. The Sainik Boards can be put under dynamic senior retired generals- who can really look after the welfare of retired people. There could be surplus land allotment to the retiring soldiers & the state governments too can do their bit by earmarking plot for the serving & retired defence persons. It was long ago in the Sixties when S Partap Singh Kairon – showed such empathy for the service personnel.

Paradise Lost. Problems we all have been loath to discuss like restoration of lost glory & protocol apart from attractive pay package to attract bright young men to the profession of soldiering once again needs to be addressed by the proposed defence commission. The bottom line is that the armed forces are short of 25% officers & cradles of leadership both at National Defence Academy & Indian Military Academy are half empty.

Safeguarding Freedom

If we have to safeguard our independence- gained just six decades back after centuries of subjugation-even under slave dynasty, there in need to make services once again preferred career destination for intelligent young men of courage & conviction who can fire straight from the gun. The recent defence budget of merely 1.98 % of the GDP has already put us in the danger zone. In the present uncertain geo-political situations, unrest in Tibet & Chinese postures in Arunachal Pradesh, hostile neighbor hood, possible disruptions by various terror groups, naxalism & immature divides amongst people- the armed forces remain the only hope to keep us united. This hope must be kept alive at all costs.

Setting Example
Once upon a time, even the scions of royalty used to deem it a great honor to serve in the armed forces. To understand what it means to defend the nation our leaders must make it a matter of pride to have at least one of their sons or daughters in the armed forces to serve the nation instead of straightway making them members of the legislatures. They can take heart from Prince Harry of Britain who came back safe from the military stint in Afghanistan-undoubtedly one of the most dangerous place on earth,