Sixth Pay Commission: Ex-Servicemen Commission to come on the line of Sixth Pay Commission

Ex-Servicemen Commission to come on the line of Sixth Pay Commission

New Delhi, Aug 29, 2008: It is a good news for former defence personnel. The Union government is planning to launch an Ex-Servicemen Commission on the lines of sixth Pay Commission. The announcement was made by the Indian Defence Minister AK Antony.

Several senior officials in armed forces who had been complaining that they had been given a raw deal by sixth pay commission can now have a sigh of relief. The minister said that the government has earmarked a huge amount to take care of the grouses of the sixth pay panel.

An army official while writing to Khabrein.info complains the unfair treatment to armed forces personnel. He says, “The pay commissions have always been singularly unfriendly to the men in uniform may be because our call of duty does not permit us to protest. I am a group captin with 32 years plus service and yet to be considered for my promotion because of limitations of pyramidical structure. My salary at this time is Basic pay 17350+ Rank Pay 2000+ Stagnation pay 900. Total 20250. Initially I was placed in PB 3 where I would have achieved highest of Rs 39100 within an year or so. Stagnation pays are so common to Armed Forces officers because the salary band are so narrow (suiting only IAS offices who get promoted before acquiring highest of the pay band. Not many of my civilian colleagues will believe that I reached my highest possible pay more than three years back and has to wait there till promotion board (if it ever does) comes up”.

He goes on to say, “There is a genuine need to have extended scales for armed forces. And please do not forget that I hope to retire at 56 and look desperately for second career to meet my unfinished commitments”.

This official is not the only one complaining about the unfairness of the Sixth Pay Panel towards armed forces. Even Indian Air Force chief was forced to write about it due to anomalies in pay structure.

Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major in a letter addressed to Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Indian Navy chief says, “The finance ministry is introducing yet another anomaly by lowering the extant of parities of officers of the armed forces, of the Lt. Col. (and equivalent), by retaining them in pay band-3, while raising similarly placed civilian and paramilitary officers to pay band-4”.

IAF chief added that “It is reliably learnt that civilian and paramilitary officers in the extant pay scales S-24 (Rs.14,300-400-18,300) and S-25 (Rs.15,100-400-18,300) will be placed in pay band-4, whereas the same is being denied to the armed forces officers (Lt. Col. and equivalent) who were already in S-25”.

Now the defence minister says that the government had earmarked around Rs 6,000 crore additionally for serving defence personnel and ex-servicemen after removing the anomalies in the recommendations of the sixth pay commission.

Antony said, “After opening a new department in the Defence Ministry for ex-servicemen, the government is going to set up an Ex-Servicemen Commission soon to recommend various welfare schemes for them and their families”.

Earlier former chief of army staff General (Rtd) NC Vij had criticized the original Sixth pay recommendations calling it inadequate. In a letter written to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Sigh he had said, “ As a former chief, I feel morally duty-bound to bring this fact to the notice of the Hon'ble Prime Minister in my personal capacity. I take heart from the fact, that it is under your leadership, that, in my tenure, the government went for a major improvement in the 'operational posture by sanctioning South Western Command and 9 Corps HQs with full complements and also for some restoration of self esteem of the young officers through addressing their delayed promotions-cum-service conditions, by approving Part 1 of Ajay Vikram Singh Committee report'…If this had been followed up, through a balanced PCR and implementation of Part II of the 'AVS Report', things would have reasonably improved, but unfortunately the very opposite has happened.”

Stressing on the plight of army personnel he further said, “Sir, you yourself hail from a state, which has traditionally produced soldiers. You would have often wondered, as to why a supremely fit jawan/JCO who retires at the young age of 42-48, ages and grows old so fast. It is because he has no resources to fall back upon to ensure a decent living for his family after his early retirement. This problem gets further accentuated with the constraints of even poor farming conditions. Why should a soldier retire at this early age (other services serve upto 60 years) and why this man who has served the Nation so valiantly not be given a second career by way of 'lateral transfer', which alas will never come about”.

Tags: Sixth Pay Commission,6th Pay Commission,Sixth Pay Commission News,Sixth Pay Commission Latest News

Source: http://www.khabrein.info/