Anomalies in 6th Pay Commission for armed forces reach Prime Minister

Anomalies in 6th Pay Commission for armed forces reach Prime Minister

By Khabrien.Info News Desk,

New Delhi, Sept. 5, 2008: The issue of anomalies in 6th Pay Commission for armed forces has finally reached Prime Minister Dr

Manmohan Singh. The military is peeved at the alleged discrimination against some posts in the armed forces.

The armed forces officials had already raised the issue of anomalies in Sixth Pay Commission recommendations with the Indian

Defence Minister AK Antony.

The armed forces chiefs are worried that he anomalies in the pay structure of armed forces officials viz a viz civilian

officials can deter many bright young men from joining the armed forces in the future.

Even now there is a big gap of officials in the armed forces and the gap is increasing. The sort of talent that the army

requires at officers level can easily get several time higher pay package than they actually get in the armed forces in

India.

On Friday Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta met Dr Manmohan Singh over perceived discrimination against the armed forces. It

is unprecedented for the Indian military to take its campaign for better pay to the level of the Prime Minister.

In the eye of the storm brewing in the army on the issue of revision, the Finance Ministry had on Wednesday virtually

rejected military's pay demands, and the three services chiefs had on Thursday said that issues raised by them should be

addressed by the country's political leadership instead of the Anomalies Committee.

Former armed forces chief 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”.

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”.


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