Vasundhra

Thursday, October 2, 2014

IESM MEETING WITH 7th CPC ON 24 SEP 2014

IESM MEETING WITH 7th CPC ON 24 SEP 2014

Date: 01 Oct 2014

Dear Veterans

1. IESM delegation consisting of the following met the 7th CPC for over an hour on 24th Sep 2014.

(a) Maj Gen Satbir Singh Chairman IESM

(b) Maj Gen PK Renjen Vice Chairman IESM

(c) Gp Capt VK Gandhi Gen Sec IESM

(d) Maj Gen AJB Jaini Member Gov Body

(e) Hony Lt K Pandey Member Gov Body

2. The following members and the officials of the 7th CPC were present:-

(a) Justice AK Mathur Chairman 7 CPC

(b) Sh Mudit Mittal Director 7 CPC

(c) Sh DK Rai Director 7 CPC

(d) Ms Meena Aggarwal Secretary 7CPC

(e) Sh Sameer K Sinha Jt Sec 7 CPC

(f) Sh Rajeev Misra Advisor

(g) Sh Y Shukla Advisor

(h) Sh Mohinder Singh Advisor

(i) Km Vandana Sirvastava CGDA

3. Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) Chairman Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM (Retd) had met members of the Commission earlier in May 2014, wherein recommendations by the IESM in brief were discussed. (Details attached at Appendix A attached).

4. A detailed Memorandum to 7th CPC was forwarded by IESM vide our letter dated 11 Aug 2014 (Appendix B att.)

5. During the meeting with the 7th CPC on 24 Sep 2014 the following major issues were discussed:-

(a) Start of Down-gradation of Defence personnel in 1973 3rd CPC. It was highlighted by the IESM Delegation that the down-gradation of military persons started with 3rd CPC when they were clubbed with the civilian employees. Till 1973, military persons had their own pay and pension regulations wherein, pensions were regulated based on the rank and the years of service. Pension of JCOs/OR were based on 75% of the last pay drawn and officers’ pension was 50% of the last pay drawn, whereas the pensions of civilian employees were worked out based on 33% of the last pay drawn with max Rs 416.50. The pension of the highest rank of defence forces was Rs 1000 pm. The 3rd CPC increased the pensions of civilian to 50% of the last pay drawn and reduced the pensions of JCOs/ORs from 75% to 50%. This resulted in reduction of pension of the defence personnel. It was here onwards that the down-gradation of military personnel started. Rajya Sabha Petition Committee on OROP Chaired by Mr. Bhagat Singh Koshyari in 2011 opined that the decision to club the defence personnel with the civilian employees in 1973 was not a considered decision. IESM emphasized that the 7th CPC should correct the injustice by restoring the pension differential that existed in 1973.

(b) Integration of OROP in 7th CPC. The delegation asked the members

of 7th CPC that OROP, which has already been sanctioned by the Govt and not yet implemented, should be fully integrated in the 7th CPC.

One of the Directors with the 7th CPC Sh. DK Rai brought out that the OROP has relief of only few rupees to the OR/JCOs. The IESM delegation strongly countered the statement and brought out that as per accepted definition of OROP, a Sepoy with 17 years of services stands to gain Rupees 3150 in his basic pension plus DA and not a few Rupees. It was brought out by the Chairman IESM, Maj Gen Satbir Singh that a Sepoy with 17 years of service and Pre 2006 retiree gets a pension of Rs 5,196 pm. With the implementation of OROP, he will get Rs 8350 pm basic plus DA additional. IESM delegation emphasized that 7th CPC must fully integrate OROP, while arriving at the pension of 7th CPC.

(c) Pension of Widows. It was brought out by the delegation that there are 6.45 lacs defence widows in the country and 85% of them are the widows of OR. Majority of them draw only Rs 3500 pm basic. It was strongly recommended that service pension of the ESM and the family pension should be same. If the spouse dies, the ESM continues to draw his/her pension, but when ESM, dies the pension is reduced to 60% of the ESM pension. Thus, the defence widow is left to fend for herself with her woes increasing many fold. This segment of the defence fraternity suffers the most. 7th CPC was requested to consider this sympathetically and enhance the family pension to the pension of the ESM. A question from Chairman 7th CPC justice AK Mathur that the other services would also demand this increase of family pension, was replied by Maj Gen Satbir Singh that the two cannot be compared.

Defence families suffer while the spouse is serving due to the service conditions and continues to suffer more when they are widowed early.

(d) Defence Personnel Retire Early and also Die Early. The age

expectancy of government employees was studied by a government agency in the 5th CPC. The following age expectancies were arrived at:-

a) Civilian Services 77 Yrs

b) Railway Employees 78 Yrs

c) Defence Personnel

i) OR (up to Hav) 59.6 – 64 Yrs

ii) JCOs 67 Yrs

iii) Officers 72.5 Yrs

It is seen that ORs die approximately 20 years, JCOs 15 years and officers 7 years earlier than their civilian counterparts. There are a number of reason, the most important being body wear and tear during service and stress and strain of life after retirement when their responsibilities are maximum. It was strongly recommended by the delegation, that this aspect must be kept in mind by the 7th CPC while arriving at the pension scales of the defence personnel. This also adds to the logic of award of enhanced percentages of pensions to the defence personnel as existed in Pre 1973.

(e) Disability Pension. It was recommended by the delegation that “The present disability pension in cases of discharge/ superannuation/retirement with a disability is authorized only to those personnel who have a disability of 20% or more whereas in cases of discharge on medical grounds, the 20% stipulation stands abrogated. All individuals irrespective of the percentage of disability should be granted compensation. Disability pension needs to be paid in ALL cases of disability and broad-banding of percentages of disability be extended to all (and not just invalided personnel as is the case at present) as the concept of broad-banding is to offset medical subjectivity and mistakes and arbitrary percentages awarded by medical boards and has no connection with the manner of exit from service. Moreover, all disabilities arising during military service, including while on authorized leave, should be deemed as ‘attributable or at least aggravated’ by service unless caused by the person’s own misconduct as is the system prevalent in all major democracies (See Rule 105 of United States Code 38). It may be pertinent to point out that the Rules already provide for such a stipulation (See Rule 5 of Entitlement Rules, 1982) and even the Hon’ble Supreme Court has already ruled in favour of disabled soldiers in this regard in Dharamvir Singh Vs UOI, civil appeal 4949/2013 decided on 02nd July 2013. Only condition to deny disability pension would be if the disability is a result of any misconduct or criminality. There should be a separate 'Defence Services Pay Committee' (as promised by the former Prime Minister) comprising members from Defence Services/ veterans and judges from SC/ HC.

(f) Common Pay Scale of JCOs and ORs. IESM recommended that common Pay scales should also be extended to JCOs/OR so that they get benefited for the pension.

(g) Rank Pay Case. The Govt of India approved the 4th CPC Recommendations of Rank Pay to be added to the basic Pay of officers ranks Captain to Brigadier. This would have had cascading effect on even Maj Gen & Lt Gen and would have, in turn impacted on the pensions of defence officers. Despite the above approval, in the execution stage, this advantage was neutralized by a bureaucratic manipulation, by first deducting and then adding rank pay. This resulted in the basic pay being lowered from the earlier level and had a detrimental effect on each rank with relative equation to other services being lowered. This further had cascading affecting on successive Pay Commissions. After the SC judgment in favour of defence personnel, the Govt has still not fully implemented it. The revisions of pay scales of 4th, 5th and 6th Pay Commissions have not yet been carried out.

IESM delegation emphasized that 7th CPC should arrive at the base figures after taking into consideration the complete implementation of the SC judgment and the same be suitably integrated in the 7th CPC recommendations.

(h) Rank Pay For JCOs and ORs. Rank Pay should also be extended to JCOs and ORs.

(j) Third Assured Career Progression for the Sepoy. Third Career progression authorised to all central government employees by the 6th CPC is not available to the Sepoy of armed Forces since he is retired after 15/17/19 years of service whereas the third promotion is authorised after 24 years of service. It was recommended that this disadvantage be removed by the 7th CPC. Either, he be given promotion after 5/10/15 years of services or he should be given pension of the 3rd promotion.

(k) Pensions of Pre 2004 retiree Majors and Selection Grade Lt Cols.

IESM brought out that as on today, Armed Forces Officers are not retiring as Majs and selection grade Lt Cols since a time bound promotions up to Lt Col have been introduced. It was recommended that pensions of these categories of officers should be fixed as under:-

(i) Major should be given pension of Lt Col with grade pay of Majors.

(ii) Selection grade Lt Col should be given pension of Colonel with grade pay of Lt Col.

(l) Performance Related incentive scheme (PRIS). This scheme was accepted by the 6th CPC, that is 1/3rd of the population of employees can be granted 20% of basic pay as enhancement on account of PRIS.

While the scheme has been implemented for the civilian employees and DRDO, the same has not yet been implemented for the defence personnel.

It was recommended that the same should also be extended to defence personnel.

(m) Dynamic Assured Carrier Progression (DCAP) For Medical Officers.

Medical officers in the central government with 13 years of service and 20 years of service have been granted a grade pay of Rs 8,700 and Rs 10,000 respectively. While the scheme has been implemented for the civilian Doctors, the same has not yet been extended to the medical officers of the Army Medical Corps (AMC). The same was recommended to be implemented for Military doctors also.

6. In addition the 7th CPC was requested to sympathetically consider all other recommendation mentioned in our Memorandum. Important of these recommendations are:-

(a) All anomalies of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th CPCs be resolved to arrive at the base figures for the 7th CPC.

(b) The Basic Pay and Pensions of Defence Personnel should be year-wise 25% higher than their civilian counterparts. Introduce a Common Pay Scale for all Govt of India employees, incorporating an year-wise increase. There will be two tables of basic pay scales one encompassing PB1 and 2; and the other PB3, 4, HAG, HAG+, and Fixed Grade. These would thus cover All Grades from the lowest to the highest. This will bring in simplicity in concept and implementation (Graph Refers).

(c) MSP should be as was recommended by the 6th CPC ie 64% of basic pay for JCOs and ORs and 52% of basic for officers.

7. Copy of the updated Memorandum was handed over to the Chairman and members of 7th CPC.

8. The aim of the Govt and in turn the 7th CPC, as far as the Defence Forces are concerned, is to so package the compensation in term of pay, pensions, allowances and other service conditions that the most suitable youth is attracted to the profession and shortages of over 14000 officers is made up at the earliest to give the required leadership punch at the cutting edge of the Defence Forces.

9. The meeting was held in a very cordial environment and all the members and the staffs of the 7th CPC were very responsive and positive to the issues discussed. IESM thanked the Chairman 7th CPC and members for affording us the opportunity to discuss our recommendation and suggested that IESM will be privileged to answer any query and come again for any discussion.

With Regards,

Jai Hind

Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM

Chairman Indian ESM Movement

Mobile: 9312404269, 0124-4110570

Email: satbirsm@gmail.com

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KIND ATTENTION: JUSTICE AK MATHUR, CHAIRMAN 7^TH CPC

Dated : 24 April 2014

Mr. Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur
Chairman 7^th Pay Commission

7^TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION:
REPRESENTATION OF DEFENCE FORCES

Dear Justice Mathur,

1. Indian Ex, Servicemen Movement (IESM) letter dated 24^th April 2014 addressed to PM, RM, RRM and the three Chiefs is enclosed for your perusal please.

2. The issues raised are extremely relevant to the 7^th CPC. While the Govt has been requested to include one member each from the serving and retired defence personnel, you are requested to incorporate the issues raised by us for your analysis and inclusion in the 7^th CPC deliberations.

3. IESM team would be available for any deliberations as required by the 7^th CPC.

With regards

Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM
Chairman IESM
Mob: +919312404269, 0124-4110570
E Mail ID: satbirsm@gmail.com

Copy to :-

General Bikram Singh,
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
Chief of the Army Staff &
Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee
Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Army)
South Block, New Delhi-110011

24 April 2014

Dr Manmohan Singh
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
152, South Block, New Delhi -110011

7^TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION:
REPRESENTATION OF DEFENCE FORCES

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

1. We draw your attention to our letters dated 28 Sep 2013, 15 Oct 2013, 17 Oct 2013 and 14 Feb 2014.

2. Our numerous requests to grant representation to the Defence Forces in the 7^th CPC have been totally ignored by the Government. Without proper representation in the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th CPCs, the outcomes of the awards have been to the grave disadvantage of the Defence Forces resulting in 46 unresolved anomalies. Not only have Defence personnel suffered financially, their status and inter-se-equation have been down graded systematically. This has given rise to dissatisfaction among the serving and retired Defence personnel and consequently have lowered the image of the Profession of Arms amongst the youth. Presently, there is a shortage of 14000 officers in the Defence Forces which is adversely affecting the operational preparedness. A large number of cases have been filed in AFTs and various other courts of the country. The fact that 90 percent of the cases filed, have gone in favour of the Defence personnel indicates the magnitude of the injustices.

3. There are numerous peculiarities of the profession of Armed Forces that are not easily appreciated by the members who are not from the Defence Forces. In spite of their best intentions, they are not in a position to ensure that the rightful entitlements of the Armed Forces are given to them.

4. Therefore 7^th CPC must have representation both from serving and retired to ensure their case is duly represented and properly analysed by the Commission so that injustices/ down-gradations done to the Defence Forces in the past 65 years are redressed.

5. The core aim needs to be that the most suitable youth is attracted towards the Defence Forces. The Nation cannot take the risk of handing over its security and integrity to those who seek the profession of arms as an alternative. This can be best addressed by the grant of apt Pay & Allowances, arresting the deterioration of military status and sheen and encouraging the correct quality of youth to opt for the defence services.

6. Keeping the above in view some of the parameters/factors which need to be incorporated in the 7^th CPC projections are as under:-

Armed Forces ought to be the highest paid government profession in the country. There can be no comparison between the Armed Forces and the civil or the police services as the job contents are entirely different. The Military Profession is Unique and hence should be differently managed.

Accordingly, there should be an edge of 15-20 percent in pay, perks and pension of Defence personnel over their counterparts in Civil services for relative years of service at each stage.

Before arriving at the base salary of the Defence personnel for the commencement of 7^th Central Pay Commission, all the existing anomalies of 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th CPCs in respect of defence personnel must be resolved and court judgements issued in favour of Defence personnel must be implemented.

Each military rank should carry a separate pay scale with a number of increments that will actually accrue in that rank.

The ‘X’ factor to compensate for hazards of military service should be an integral part of the pay of each rank and not be a separate component which gives a feeling of mercenary pay. In addition, all benefits available to the civil services must be made available to the Defence Forces.

The status and inter-se equation of defence personnel vis-a-vis their Civilian Counterparts as existed on 26 Jan 1950 be restored in all respect including inter-se ratios in Pay and pensions.

Life Expectancy of a Soldier is far less than his Civil Counterpart in other Services

(a) Civilian Services - 77 Yrs

(b) Railway Employees - 78 Yrs

(c) Defence Pers:-

(i) ORs upto Hav - 59.6 – 64 Yrs

(ii) JCOs - 67 Yrs.

(iii) Officers - 72.5 Yrs

Why so? There is a definite need for measures to increase the life expectancy of Defence Pers.

Grant of monthly subsistence to World War II veterans and affecting suitable enhancement in the Reservists Pay/Pension.
Suitable compensation for widows and disabled soldiers in the management and proper enhancement and disability pensions and family pensions.
Need for making the Short Service Commissioned and Women Entry attractive enough to enable the most suitable youth to opt for the Defence Profession. Short Service Commissioned Offrs be laterally absorbed in other govt services ie IAS/IFS/IPS/Other Gp A Services with their seniority and status maintained.
Need to count training period of Offrs & ORs, for seniority, like Civil Services and need to start their emoluments from the day they join training.
Ratio of 1000:416.50 of pension between the highest rank of Armed Forces and that of the civil services as it existed in 1973 be brought back. Pay & Pensions of other ranks be accordingly redrawn.
Concept of Military Pensions based on OROP needs to be streamlined and efficiently executed.
Defence share of 28-30% deputations must be strictly followed with seniority and lien with the parent service.
No def personnel should ever draw less pay or pension than his junior in rank.
Benefits given to other Govt services be also extended to Def Pers ie 3rd career progression, Non Functional Upgrade (NFU) etc irrespective of the date of retirement.

7. In view of the issues to be addressed as above, you are once again requested to include at least one member each from the serving and retired in the 7^th CPC. This is necessary for assuring due justice to the Defence Forces.

With regards

Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM
Chairman IESM
Mob: +919312404269, 0124-4110570
E Mail ID: satbirsm@gmail.com

Copy to:-

Shri AK Antony Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Ministry of Defence New Delhi-110011	For information and action please.
Shri Jitendra Singh Raksha Rajya Mantri C-1/14 Lodi Garden New Delhi - 110 003	-do-
General Bikram Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC Chief of the Army Staff & Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Army) South Block, New Delhi-110011	With request to jointly and strongly take up this important issue with the Government for proper representation of defence forces in the 7^th CPC.
Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC Chief of the Air Staff Indian Air Force Vayu Bhawan, New Delhi 110011	-do-
Admiral RK Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC Chief of the Naval Staff Integrated HQs of Armed Forces (Navy) South Block, New Delhi-110011	-do-

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Please also see the two attachments.

C:\Users\Admin\Downloads\

IESM PRESENTATION TO THE 7^TH CPC

“The day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day for Magadha for then, on that day, you will have lost all moral sanction to be King!”-Excerpt of a letter written by Kautilya to Emperor Chandragupta, discretely but firmly reminding the king that his safety and security as well as of his empire depend on the trust and sacrifice of his soldiers.

Preamble

1) The spectacle of Ex-Servicemen (ESM) taking to the streets during these past five years and depositing their hard earned medals to the President of India to protest against the Government’s apathy to their demands- particularly One Rank One Pension (OROP), is not only sad but globally unique. This pathetic situation to which Defence fraternity has been driven into is not seen in any other country having modern defence forces. It marks the culmination of decades of simmering anger, frustration and helplessness amongst Faujis (term includes Officers, JCOs and Other Ranks (OR) both serving and retired, from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force), consequent to being constantly downgraded vis-à-vis other Governmentservices, since independence even while being increasingly called upon to substitute or supplement those very Government services when they failed/ faltered in their roles.

2) This simmering discontent is well known to commanders at various levels, but its magnitude is best on display when a Fauji comes on leave, and shares his feelings with veterans in the village. Away from the regimented environment and discipline, the frank picture that emerges is cause for serious concern, if not alarm. It is unfortunate that despite the ESM protests these past five years; the Government has been indifferent to the gravity of the situation.

3) Access to media and internet has opened up the world to the soldier.He is aware of the Government’s apathy towards his interests, and his status being constantly downgraded by those who are ironically expected to look after his interests. Is he secure in the knowledge that he or his widow will be looked after well if he loses limb or life in performance of duty? Particularly if the way he is looked after, when alive, is not in itself comforting? Should he therefore risk life and limb ‘beyond the legal minimum’?These are uncomfortable but necessary questions requiring a response in action rather than politically appropriate clichéd jargon.

4) These facts have trickled into the civil domain, and adversely affected intake. The profession of arms is today one of the least preferred career option for youth. Officer shortage in armyapproximates 33%. Consequent lack of desired mentoring and supervision at the cutting edge level is taking its toll. Increasing cases of fratricide, serious accidents and indiscipline are the symptoms of a larger malaise of neglect of the Defence Forces. This is NOT acceptable. The consequences are nightmarish in a force with nuclear capability and arsenal with devastating potential of mass destruction.

5) In the interest of the nation it is essential to take note of these dangerous portends and take remedial steps.

6) The Defence Forces are the nation’s Trump Card. Conditions HAVE to be created to attract the very best talent to it, retain them there and use them optimally for the nation’s development. A soldier should enjoy the status of privileged citizen of the country and the preferred employee of the Government. Only then, will the pride associated with such status lure the best of youth to the Defence Forces. It follows therefore that:

a) Defence Forces must be the highest paid Government profession in India.

b) The traditional equivalence of Defence Forces personnel vis-à-vis civilian counterparts has been greatly diluted since independence, and needs to be restored in all respects of, pay perks and pension as it existed on 26 Jan 1950.

c) The Defence Forces must have a direct involvement with the planning and execution of their working, welfare and affairs. Manning of MoD and representation in committees/commissions as the CPC must be by men in uniform with a deep rooted understanding of the way the profession of arms works.

d) The Defence Forces’ personnel, compulsorily retired between age 35 and 42 to keep a young profile for the Forces, must be absorbed laterally in other Government departments and PSUs, to optimally employ the potential of this highly trained, motivated and dedicated manpower.

7) Suggestions and reasoning on how this is to be done, is amplified in succeeding paragraphs.Some recommendations made in this paper mark a departure from years of following a ‘beaten path’. It is reiterated that this has precedence. CPCs in the past HAVE often chartered new course. The 3^rd CPC’s unfair move to bring parity in pensions (Jawan brought down from 75% of last pay drawn, and Civilians brought up from 33% of last pay drawn, to 50%; Defence Forces’ Officers losing the 25% edge over Civil services with both being brought to 50%) is one. Introduction of an integrated scale of pay and rank pay without lucidly explaining the intricacies that led to the Rank Pay case was bestowed by the 4^th CPC. Formalization of deduction of Rank Pay by 5^th CPC which was blind-sided by the bureaucracy of the pending litigation in the High Court of Kerala was another. The creation of the ‘Pay Bands’ by the 6^th CPC, with all its incumbent problems particularly towards Defence Forces, since due to the Rank system they were already on a ‘band system’, are cases in point. Faujis urge members of the 7^th CPC to take a pragmatic approach to the years of neglect and suffering of the Fauji, to bring about radical changes to restore the profession of arms with the sheen it had, and deserves to have. It would be path breaking, and be good for the nation. The following verse from Horatius of Rome tweny five centuries ago drive the Indian Defence Forces to lay down their lives to defend their mother land :

"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods."

Introduction

8) The organization, ethos and work culture of the Fauji community, stretching into retirement is entirely different than ANY other Government service. The Government of India’s sad move to combine all Government services under one umbrella of Central Pay Commissions, to attempt equivalence has been to the gross disadvantage to the Faujis, and persistently failed to meet their aspirations. A comparison of apples and oranges is never logical. The absence of Fauji representation on Pay Commissions has resulted in repeatedlylowering of the inter se’ equation with civilian counterparts as evident from examples in table below, since monetary remuneration form the yard stick of relativity between employees. This has had adverse operational impact in areas where the Defence Forces are required to operate jointly with Administrative and Police services, eg in counterinsurgency areas, Defence Headquarters, Military Engineering Services etc. This has caused genuine dissatisfaction among the Fauji community. This chasm greatlywidened with the implementation of the recommendations of the 6^thCPCeg the status of Lt Col being lowered without any reason. Equivalent to Commandant in the Para Military services prior to the 6^th CPC, Lt Cols were given a lower Grade Pay of Rs 8000 instead of Rs 8700, upsetting the existing parity and injecting unnecessaryfunctional difficulties on ground. Such anomalies could have been resolved by the Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary but appears to have been left to be resolved when the 7^th CPC starts work related to the Defence Forces due to absence service representative in the said committee in spite of repeated requests by Service HQ.

Civil Grade	3^rd CPC	4^th CPC	Remarks
Junior Time Scale	Junior to Captain	Equal to Captain	2/ Lt, Lt and Capt clubbed by 3^rd CPC
Senior Time Scale	Equal to Captain	Equal to Major
Selection Grade/ Non-Functional Selection Grade (SG/ NFSG)	Equal to Major	Senior to Major

9) Due to inherent differences with all other government services, it is imperative that a separate Pay Commission for Defence Forcesmust be constituted, comprising members of the Defence Forces possessing deep rooted understanding of the issues and problems involved.It is a violation of fair play and natural justice for members of one Central Service to exclusively sit in judgment on the terms and conditions of service of the Defence Forces, which is currently the case.

10) This Paper, in following 5 parts, provides a window to the Fauji psyche, aspirations, problems, and viewon issues pertaining to their Pay, and Pensions.

a) Fauji- How Different is (S)he?

b) Fauji’s Problems?

c) Consequences for the Nation.

d) What needs to be done?

e) Recommendations for inclusion in 7 CPC Report.

Fauji- How Different is (S)he?

11) The Defence Forces demand a Spartan way of life, unparalleled in any other Service.

a) In line with functional imperatives, many rights, freedoms and liberties, including some guaranteed in the Constitution of India are denied/ curtailed for Faujis. Defence Forces’ personnel do not have a right to form a Union or an Officers Association. Though understandable, it deprives them of ‘collective bargaining’, denying them often of their rightful awards/ benefits; unlike other Government employees, who have associations to voice their opinions just as the IAS officers association did in Andhra Pradesh when they were being investigated in the Jagan Mohan Reddy case. Therefore the employer, the Government implicitly assures that it will observe a covenant to automatically take care of their needs/ aspirations, but it does not happen. Status of Defence Forces’ personnel has been constantly downgraded since independence, as compared to a civil servant, due to this. It is mocking the patriotism and valour of a Jawan to equate him with an unskilled worker/ Peon. (Jawan is a soldier- a Defence Forces personnel, though this term is loosely and incorrectly used,for convenience, to describe even a person of the Central Police Forces(CPF)- CRPF, BSF etc, for whom the correct term is ‘constable’).A Jawan is a Problem solver possessing initiative, and leadership qualities critical in life and death situations. He is the Cutting Edge of the Defence Forces, and has potential to work his way up in the organization on sheer merit. There is a possibility for a soldier to rise to become Chief of his service, while the same cannot possibly happen in case of an unskilled worker/ peon. This misplaced equivalence is clearly illogical and de-motivating for a Fauji. Another oft overlooked fact is that Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) are Class II Gazetted officers, who are wrongly equated in Joint working environment with civil Non Gazetted staff/posts as shown in table below. The status of JCOs, NCOs and OR has gradually declined, particularly after the 6^th CPC. Assistants in AFHQ Services are placed in grade pay of Rs 4600, which is equal to that of a Subedar (Sub), whereas till 6^th CPC their pay scales were below that of a Naib Subedar (Nb Sub). JCOs in the Indian Army are Group B Gazetted Officers, and by placing an Assistant, which is a Non Gazetted civilian post, above a JCO in Indian Army, we are seeing the first stage of the erosion of the Other Ranks (OR). There is a definite needto redefine and correct equationsand equivalence before commencing work on 7^th CPC.

Army Ranks (Clerical Cadre) vis-à-vis Civilian (Clerical Cadre)

Sepoy, Lance Naik, Naik and Havildar	Lower Division Clerk
Naib Subedar (Gazetted Rank)	Upper Division Clerk (With less than five years’ service) (Non Gazetted Post)
Subedar (GazettedRank)	Upper Division Clerk (With more than five years’ service),and Office Supdt Grade -II (Both, Non Gazetted Posts)
Subedar Major (GazettedRank)	Office Superintendent Grade-I (Non Gazetted Post)

b) The hierarchy of the Defence Forcesis structured along Functional ‘Ranks’, with distinct command and control functions. Traditionally a Squadron Leader commanded Squadrons, Wing Commander commanded Wings. Ranks carry the Onus of Command implying strictly enforced personal accountability and responsibility for actions of one’s command/ watch. Other services including IAS and Police Services do not have ‘Ranks’, but Appointments. Police personnel wear Army badges of rank similar, which they have been unilaterally upgrading from time to time, and then seeking parity with the Fauji counterparts whose ranks they cloned. An SP Police- even now colloquially referred to as ‘Kaptan Sahib’ was once just that-a Captain. Today he is equated to a Lieutenant Colonel, due to periodic up-gradations in both, the visible rank badges, and pay upgrades by the CPCs on mistaken belief of equivalence of operational roles.Similarly, while a Corps Commander (Lieutenant General) often has command jurisdiction over several political states, those states individually generally have more than one Director General Police (DGP) with specific task based charter, e.g. Uttar Pradesh has 31 DGsP and Punjab has 16. It is shocking that the 6^thCPC brought in changes making the DGP equivalent to Lieutenant General, disturbing the traditional equivalence and unnecessarily hindering operational functioning. In a Counter–insurgency environment for instance, where Corps Headquarters coordinates operations- having built upon the state police forces, this creates an ambiguous, compartmentalized and operationally undesirable situation of the top Police officer in the state being underutilized since most of them refuse to even attend operational and security related meetings chaired by the Corps Commander. This compartmentalized functioning is detrimental to operations, and calls for reversion to the earlier, traditional equivalence. The Defence Forces cannot replicate general up-gradation of ranks in similar manner, to establish equivalence and ‘career progression’ in relation to Civil/Police services as it would lead to dilution of duties and command and control aspects. Pay, Allowances and emoluments must therefore be based on Years of service across all Government services, with Defence Services personnel drawing remuneration 25% higher than civil/ police services counterparts withappointment / Grade pays (both being a percentile function of the Basic pay) accruing as applicable. This would provide not only a optimal but also a reasonable equivalence among the entire Government staff, but also a work: promotion balance between those who get promoted and those who don’t. It would additionally act as a magnet to draw youth to join the Defence Forces.

c) Defence Forcespersonnel have the highestrisk of life and limb in performance of duty. Even relatively minor disabilities (physical/ mental) result in denial of promotions as mental and physical faculties must be be SHAPE 1. Disabilities often lead to dischargefrom service. Unfortunately there are considerable differences in rules and benefits for disabilities to the grave disadvantage ofDefence Forces personnel compared tothose ofthe civil services. Ironically,in many cases compensations offered in such contingencies are better for the civilians.This aspect must be made more favorable for Defence Forces personnel.

i) As rough rule, an across the board increase of 25% over all emoluments granted to civil services must be made applicable to Faujis.

ii) Considering the risk that Defence Forces’ personnel are exposed to both in peace and war, and on the principle of pension being ‘deferred wage’,the concept of Family Pension must be discarded in the context of Defence Forces’ personnel, and the NOK must be eligible for full pension as entitled to the Fauji. In case of those killed in discharge of duty (including while on training, Internal Security duties, counterinsurgency operations etc), the applicable pay must continue to accrue to the widow/ NOK until the date of superannuation, beyond which full entitled pension (100%) must continue to be given to widow/ NOK.

d) Defence Forces personnel serve in inhospitable areas, mostly staying away from their family over long periods. Even in peace areas where paucity of accommodation normally entails waiting periods that often exceed one’s stay in station, the forced separation continues.A recent study shockingly reveals that a Jawan with 17 years’ service gets less than two years to live with his family at his place of posting. The tough terrain, inadequate nourishing food, lack of a family life and cruel weather take heavy toll both physically and mentally on the Faujis. Spinal injuries due to vigorous hauling loads over mountain ridges, orthopedic and pulmonary complications, the prolonged stay away from family devastates their health and family life. Cases of temporary/ permanent impotence are not unusual. These facts on the one hand call for higher levels of compensation (Field and Uncongenial Area Allowances), and on the other also point to the ignorance and insensitivity of segments of policymakers which have in recent times been meaninglessly questioning some facilities given to Faujis. Such unmindful suggestions include among others, one to carry out a ‘Cost Study’ (CTC) of Faujis perquisites like free/ concessional rail travel allowed, and leave to travel home during the year, and adding these to their pay/ benefits!! Question is, many such ‘perquisites’ will not be necessary if the Fauji led a life as blessed (and blissful) as their civil counterparts with whom GOI is attempting ‘equivalence’.

Fauji’s Problems.

12) The Defence Forces are the ‘Last Argument of Kings.’ While EVERY department serves the nation in some form, the Defence Forces perform a dual role – they are in the forefront of any action and are also the Back Up / contingency plan for every other service. If any service/ department fail, the Defence Forcesare reassuringly there to fall back upon to retrieve the situation. They have consistently and successfully delivered on this, always and every time, often ‘fighting with whatever they had’, paying with life and, limb. But the Fauj has no back up. God forbid they fail; there will be no other organization to bank upon. It is logical that such a resource cannot, and should not be equated with others. Performance must principally form the yardstick of compensation. The irony is that Fauji’s condition is worse than all other Government of India services as far as Pay, Allowances and Pensions are concerned. A comparison of the way other countries offer their soldiers an edge in Pay and Pensions over civil employees is shown in the table below. Why it is not so in India, despite the nation’s frequent reliance on their services both in peace and war, is difficult to gauge. In USA a soldier gets a veteran status even if he has been on active service just for a year. All soldiers who were posted in Afghanistan even for six months enjoy all the facilities including treatment in VA hospitals. Why is Indian Government refusing such facilities even to those who took part in 1962, 1965 and 1971 operations? It is recommended that pay scales of Indian Faujis must be identically 25% higher than other Government services at each year of service. Presently even the Military Service Pay (MSP) is a paltry Rs 2000 for JCO/ OR and Rs 6000 for officers. It should be a respectable percentage of basic pay. A recommendation of 62% of basic pay as MSP for JCO/ OR and 54% for Officers was made to the 6^th CPC.It is recommended that the MSP should be brought to the recommended levels, to make a career in the Defence Forces lucrative to youth.

Edge in Pay and Pensions of Defence Forces over Civilian Employees Globally

Ser No	Country	Notional Edge in salary as service pay or special allowance for military service	Pension Scale with notional edge for military service
1.	U.S.A	Approx 15 to 20%	50 to 75% of last pay drawn fully protected against inflation. For civil services the scale is 33.75% of pay as pension.
2.	United Kingdom	10%	Uniform pension as revised irrespective of rank and date or retirement. (OROP)
3.	Australia	AUD 2608 PA Military Allowance	76.5 % of pay
4.	Japan	12 to 29% on graded scale	70 % of pay
5.	West Germany	5 to 10%	75% of pay
6.	Yugoslavia	15%	85 % of pay
7.	Nigeria	5%	80% of pay with national edge of 10% over civil scales.
8.	France	15%	75% of pay.
9.	Iraq	10%	70-75% of pay.
10.	Pakistan	10-15% with other allowances	50-75% of pay with service element military pension
11.	India	Nil	50% of pay and same is depressed by 6 to 24% in respect of Lt Col & below ranks constituting 90% of the manpower strength of the Defence Forces.

13) It is a universal management practice to reward performers through better remuneration/ recognition to create role models, increase motivation and generate continuous pursuit of excellence. Regrettably, rather than provide better pay and perquisites to the Defence Forces- an elite work force by any and every yardstick, Executive effort has thus far focused on creating parity and ‘commonality’ of other Government services with the profession of arms. It has not only led to ‘others’ plagiarizing the rank badges of Defence Forces, uniforms and vehicle markings, but also in skewed pay equivalence and misleading lexicon, eg even the term ‘Jawan’ is often misleadingly used with reference to ‘constables’ of the Police forces, and efforts are on in recent times to push for using the term ‘Ex-servicemen’ in context of Police personnel. Such continuous efforts to rob the Defence Forces of their exclusivity in the assigned roles for the Nation and being ‘different’ – though functionally calling on them to deliver as hitherto – fore has led to skewed equivalence with other Government services, catalyzed by the lack of representation on not only in CPCs but even in Higher Defence organizations, and having to deal even with the Legislative, through the indifferent and apathetic Ministry of Defence (MoD). If we wish to attract the cream of youth for the Defence Forces - the Trump Card of the nation, both in peace and war, in any odd, even when all other institutions have under-performed, forcing calling in the Defence Forces, we need to urgently retain the exclusivity to the Defence Forces.

14) Following elements characterize a Fauji.

a) Faujis are highly disciplined, trained, motivated and adaptable problem solvers, with a high degree of team cohesion.

b) They are considered the last bastion of honesty and integrity in the country.

c) To keep the Force ‘young’, personnel are compulsorily retired early. Nearly 97% of Defence Forces’ personnel retire between age 35-42 years, unlike those in other Government services who superannuate at age 60 and are re-employed at ages beyond. That such a potent manpower resource, trained on the job at great cost to the exchequer, is wasted away, having to fend for a second career in the corporate arena instead of being fully utilized by the nation, is a humongous National HRD failure. Various Pay Commissions in the past have repeatedly recommended the Lateral absorption of retiring Defence Forces’ personnel in Administrative/ Police Services and PSUs, but the waste continues because the Faujis’ are seen as an existential threat rather than the assets they are. There is a definite need for legislative guarantees for ensuring employment till age 60 for all Defence Forces’ personnel, by suitable lateral absorption in various Administrative/ Civil/ Police services and PSUswill also benefit the Public Exchequer.

d) The GoI in its’ approval of the recommendations of the 6^th CPC assured the Defence Forces that lateral absorption of able bodied personnel would be affected. The GoI reneged on its assurance, stating that the Home Ministry has objections, as if the MHA is a different entity from the GoI. Those who opted for lateral absorption but did not get it due to such appalling decisions should be paid the last pay drawn as pension till age of superannuation, of the post for which he/ she was eligible.

e) The Defence Forces is a 24x7 profession, both in peace time and in war, at both the organizational and personnel levels. Response time to situations is expected to be minimal, which encroaches on personal life. The numerous cantonments dotting the country, while a testimony to Fauji administrative acumen, are actually an operational imperative with regard to the response time expected in their line of duty. Living therein nonetheless injects isolation from society, making post retirement assimilation on elsewhere difficult. This increases economic stress, when Faujis are compulsorily retired to keep the profile of the Defence Forces young at a time when their family responsibilities are maximum. The early forced retirement causes a very unfair economic loss to the Fauji. A Jawan compulsorily retired at age 35, loses approximately Rs 47 Lacs income by age 60, in comparison to a Constable who may have joined Police service when the former joined the Army, but continues to serve till 60 (at present). Sadly, while the police organizations remain short of manpower, adversely affecting law and order in states, the resource of Fauji Veterans continues to fade away in their villages. As per Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) (quoted in Economic Times 9 June 2014)UP alone has 55% shortfall in CPF, holding 1.67 Lac CPF against a requirement of 3.68 Lac.It defies logic why Veterans are not used to fill this void by suitable lateral induction.

15) A study indicates that Life Expectancy of a Fauji is far less than his Civil Services counterpart.

a) Civilian Services- 77 Yrs.

b) Railway Employees-78 Yrs.

c) Defence Pers.

i) OR (uptoHav) - 59.6 – 64 Yrs.

ii) JCOs - 67 Yrs.

iii) Officers- 72.5 Yrs.

16) Aside from causative factors discussed in para 11(d) above, this is a direct consequence of his early forced retirement, imposing enormous mental and financial stress of starting a second career at an age when his family financial liabilities are highest. Stress kills. There is a need to introduce measures to ameliorate the Fauji’s economic hardship as part compensation for this tremendously patriotic and dedicated manpower resource.The Fauji demand for One Rank One Pension (OROP) is one step in this direction. OROP has found acceptance and approval in Legislative and Judicial circles. OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Defence Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pension of the current pensioners and the past pensioners, and also future enhancements in the rate of pension, to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. It is essential that OROP (defined above),be speedily and faithfully implemented, and also that the CPC recommendations include the necessity of its permanence and irreversibility in the pension matrix of Faujis.

17) The Fauji is a simple, non-worldly wise about his own pay and perquisites person, having great faith in the ‘Establishment’ about whatever turns up by way of Pay and Allowances in the Bank. Fauji DNA militates against money mindedness, and discussion on pecuniary matters is largely avoided. Sadly this indifference has cost us a lot monetarily, as financial awards/enhancements by CPCs are unfortunately and invariably further diluted by careless/ motivated / mischievous implementation orders issued by the MoD. Suspicion of MoD’s intent stands as the defining benchmark of deteriorating Civil Military relations as evidenced by the growing number of cases filed in the AFTs, High Courts and the Supreme Court. The recent example of the RM’s decision of 26 Feb 2014 on OROP, asking for Joint evolution between the MoD, CGDA and the DefenceHQ of a DGL on the subject of OROP, attempted to overcome this obstacle, and must be replicated in implementation of the recommendations of the 7^th CPC also. The Defence Headquarters must be involved in drafting and issue of implementing instructions to obviate carelessly/ mischievously injected anomalies and consequent litigation that is unfairly thrust on the hapless Fauji. It not only clogs up the courts, but drains the aging, poor Fauji veteran of time, money and energy, further impacting his already limited Life span.

18) Till1976, Military Pension was 75% of last pay drawn for JCO/ OR, and 50% for Officers, as against 33% of last pay drawn for civilians. The Third Pay Commission in 1976, for the first time, clubbed all Government services for pay and pension without any cogent explanation, to the detriment of the Defence Forces.Both Defence Forces and Civil Services were brought to a common 50% of last pay drawn as pension. The civilians gained due to their pension being enhanced from 33% to 50%. The Defence Forces lost- particularly the Jawans, who were brought down from 75% of last pay drawn to 50% of last pay drawn. It would have been just and fair, to simultaneously enhance JCO/ OR pensions to 100% and that of Officers to 75%, to retain traditional equations. This shockingly happened shortly after the Defence Forces had achieved the first EVER Indian victory in war in 1971 and enabled Bangladesh to gain independence. Thereafter the decline has been rapid. As comparative pay drawn by employees forms the yardstick of measuring equivalence, these years have seen degradation of relative seniority of Defence Forces personnel vis-à-vis their Civil Services counterparts. The Rajya Sabha Committee on OROP (Koshiyari Committee) which submitted its report on 19 Dec 2011 termed the 3^rd CPC’s decision to standardize all pensions a ‘very unwise decision on part of the Government’.

19) Till 1973 the pension of the Chiefs of the Defence Forces was Rs 1000 per month (pm), as against Rs 416.50 for the highest Civil Services employee. The continuous steep decline in Fauji remunerations has brought about a state wherein both, the Chiefs and the highest civil services employee now draw Rs 45,000 PM as pension. So, while the Chief’s pension has increased by JUST 45 times over past 40 years, that of the highest civil service employee (and understandably others in the hierarchy) has increased by108 times. This is grossly unfair, and has disturbed traditional equivalence without rationale/reason, except that Fauji representatives have neither been on the CPCs nor have their voice been heard. Table below shows Military Pensions as they would have been if similar escalation as the one provided for the Civil servants was ALSO applied to the Defence service. It highlights the gross injustice and loss to the Faujis, compounding the one due to the ‘unwise’ reduction of relativity in pensions - @50% of Pay for Defence Officers; @ 33%of pay for Civilians. (Para 18 above). This is a major factor for the downslide in the finances of the Defence Forces personnel, and has accelerated their decline as a career choice.

Rank	Pension- Rs/month	Rank	Pension- Rs /month
COAS	108000
Lt Gen	900X108=97200	Maj Gen	800X108=86400
Brig	725X108=78300	Col	675X108=72900
Lt Col	625X108=67500	Maj	475X108= 51300
Capt	350X108=37800	Lt	275X108=29700

20) The traditional parities have additionally been disturbed by avoidableup- gradationof ranks and appointments by the All India and Central Services, in periodic spurts between Pay Commissions, particularly closer to the announcement of the CPC. The Indian Railway Service (all branches) cadre review has recently been completed and the approval of ACC is awaited. Many other Central Services have carried out/are carrying out reviews of their cadres at a feverish pace. Some examples ofrecent massive up gradations are given below:

Service	Cadre Strength	Apex	HAG+	HAG	SAG
Indian Foreign Service	766	33		46	164
Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax)	5872	26	91	300	635
Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Excise)	5578	14	38	100	340
Indian Account & Audit Service (as on 1 Jun 12)	874	5	5	59	340
Indian Postal Service	562	1	6	26	73

21) Even within the MOD the up-gradations are as under:

Service	Cadre Strength	Apex	HAG+	HAG	SAG
Indian Defence Account Service	671	1	4	19	113
Indian Defence Estate Service	183	1	-	7	19
Indian Ordnance Factories Service	1718	1	9	11	224
DRDO Scientists Cadre	7256	5	15	46	373

22) Though Cadre reviews are independent of Pay Commissions, these upset the Traditional parities, particularly when these are motivated; and as stated earlier, disturb Operational working when Defence Forces’and Civil Services’ personnel operate in tandem. It is axiomatic that such reviews must be integral to the CPCs recommendations, and any changes made between two CPCs must be disregarded by the CPC in their recommendations.

23) It is an indication of the MoD’s apathy and irresponsibility that the last Cadre Review for the Army was done in 1986.

24) Interestingly the Government of India has 460 Secretary level officers (up from 45 in 1947) for an IAS cadre of around 5000. This is far in excess of Lieutenant Generals in a 1.1 million Army (90 for army officer strength of 40000).Skewed Equations? Clearly, creation of additional Top level ranks is NOT the answer as it would create dilution of ranks and functional disorderliness. So where does the ‘equivalence’ lead us? Orange and Apples? The answer clearly lies in equating pay with years in service, guaranteeing an edge of 25% to Defence Force personnel at all years of service. Added to this would be enhancements on promotion (10- 15%) for both Civil and Defence services and those with reference to specialist qualifications and MSP etc.

25) The gross disparity in pay, pension, allowances & other benefits between civil services and Defence Forces’ are shown in the table below. The irony is that Fauji’s condition is worse than all other Government of India services as far as Pay, Allowances and Pensions are concerned. Illustratively, if a Jawan gets disabled at age 27, just two years of joining, he would get boarded out, with nothing but a paltry pension equating to 50% of his pay, to see him through for life. A civil services employee / constable, would not only be retained in service till age 60, but also be eligible for promotions. The financial loss for the Fauji, in such a situation could be over 60-70 lacs. There is urgent need for rationalization, and bringing up EQUIVALANCE if not better, in this aspect. It is recommended that even as the allowances shown below must be brought to par, the MSP should be brought to the recommended levels (62% of basic pay for JCO/OR and 54% of Basic pay for Officers), to make a career in the Defence Forces lucrative to youth. There is no rationale for Faujis to get lesser allowances. Ironically clarity on injury / disability during operational situations like Aid to Civil Power (IS Duties), Training Exercises and CI operations is lacking, for purposes of enhanced disability pensions. As for Disabled Faujis, it must be ensured that instead of being boarded out, they are suitably laterally absorbed in various ministries, PSUs and such like in a similar manner as the civil employees already are.

Disparity in pay, pension, allowances& other benefits between central Govt civilian employees and defence personnel

Type of Allowance	Civilian Employee	Faujis	Remarks
Disabled Employees (a) Protection of Service (b) Pay and Allowances (c) Pension (d) Right to life of dignity of self and family	Govt has to retain them till 60 yrs under Disability Act Full protection under Section 47 of the Act.Will not be discharged on account of disability. Full pay and allowances admissible till the age of 60 even if unable to attend any official duty. Can even be kept on supernumerary post and paid all pay and allowances. Entitled to full service length till superannuation and pension thereafter. Full pay and pension and completeGovernment protection/cover with entitled facilities Admissible to dependents	Invalided (Thrown) out of service immediately Defence Forces exempted from operation of Section 47. Hence no protection of employment available in case of disability. Employee can be discharged on account of disability. Nil Admissible Nil Admissible Nil. No facilities or protection for self and dependents
Increase in Pension of highest rank employee from 1973 to 2006	108 times Highest Civilian Functionary Pension 1973 - Rs 416.50/-pm 2006 - Rs 45000/-pm	45 times Highest Def Rank Pension 1973 - Rs 1000/-pm 2006 - Rs 45000/-pm
Period of Service	Upto60 years of age	85% compulsorily retired between 35 -37 years age. 12-13%compulsorily retired between 40-54 years age
Career Progression	Three Promotions at 10,20,30 years of service	Three promotion at 8, 16, 24 years of service. 85% compulsorily retired at 15-17 years’ service; thereby denied 3^rd career progression
Officer’s Promotion opportunities	100% Joint Secy at 16-18 years’ Service 100% AddlSecy at 32 years’Service	1% Maj Gen at 32-33 years of service. 3% Lt Gen 33-35years
Non-functional Upgradtion (NFU)	• JS Pay at approx22 yrs. • AddlSecyPay at 32yrs	Nil
When posted in Peace stations in NE like Shillong, Aizawl, entire Sikkim and Ladakh	• Spl Duty Allowance. 12.5 % of Basic • Double HRA. • Hardship allowance . • 25 % of basic pay (for IAS officers of UT cadre) • Detachment allowanceRs300 per day for all CAPF personnel	Nil
Kashmir/ NE Regional HRA	Double HRA	Nil
Instructor Allowance (in NDC, War College etc)	Rs19,000	Rs1800 for Col & above
HQ Allowance	Rs4,000	Nil
Para Allowance (For Special forces and Para personnel)	Rs7,200 to 11,000 pm for COBRA Battalions (commando battalions)	Rs800 to 1200 pm
Outfit allowance	Rs7,500 every three yrs	Rs3,000 (every three years—8 Uniforms)

26) The welfare/affairs of the Defence Forces are controlled by the MoD, including the Department of Ex Servicemen Welfare (DESW), staffed at decision making levels by the Civil services. These officers, often on transit between assignments, and lacking formal briefings by Service HQ, have scant knowledge of the rank structure, functioning, value system, ethos, camaraderie, and work culture of the Defence Forces. Their response to Fauji problems is discouragingly apathetic. For example, while the 6^th Pay Commission clearly fixed the datum for basing pension on the Last Pay drawn, the DESW unlike DoP&T- the Civil counterpart looking after interests of civilian officers, is still enforcing the requirement for pension to be based on average pay drawn for past 10 months. This deprives Fauji pensioners, in contrast to civil counterparts, of any promotions or acting ranks they may have obtained prior to superannuation. It is functionally vital that men in uniform/ veterans be posted to Headquarters/Organizations/commissions/committees working on subjects involving the Defence Forces and Veterans as recommended by the Subrahmanyam Committee and accepted in principle by the Govt.

27) At each Pay Commission the Fauji suffers a sizable denial of dues due to the perennial issue with ‘Implementing instructions’ by MoD. Faujis having no avenue to express their views, and have become accustomed to misplaced commas, words and injected phrases/ convoluted logic that takes away what the Pay Commission has recommended. This in turn leads to blatant anomalies; a small portion of the insignificant ones may be settled, not without giving rise to fresh anomalies in the correction/implementation letter. The correction is invariably made applicable from a prospective date in the implementing instructions of the removal of anomaly, which may be couple of years AFTER the Pay Commission report has been implemented. This robs the Fauji beneficiary of whatever rightful dues he may have as consequence of any fresh anomalies that may come along. This cycle has often led to recourse to judicial processes which drag on for years, energetically fought tooth and nail by the MOD, availing the free legal counsel and in contradiction of the National Litigation Policy, right till the last legal process exhausts itself by dismissal of Curative Petition by the Supreme Court. Then, the implementing instruction for same is issued at the last minute to avoid contempt of court, but invariably this too has come with fresh anomalies, requiring a fresh recourse to law, starting a fresh cycle. Most Faujis, invariably Veterans, either die, or run out of money to fight the apathetic MoD, ironically charged with ‘looking after’ the Fauji. Even the date of implementation of the Correction to the Anomaly, is sadly fixed as the date of the latter letter, instead of the date of implementation of the CPC Recommendation that the anomaly refers to, causing not only financial loss to the beneficiary, but also possibly re-starting the chain of litigations. It is imperative therefore, that the 7^th CPC clearly stipulate that the date of implementation of the corrections of any anomalies would be SAME as the date on which the CPC Recommendations are implemented.

28) Till 6^th CPC it was standard practice for the PCDA to issue revised Pension Payment Orders (PPO) based on which Pension Disbursing Authority (PDA) – Banks credited the pensioner’s account (by adding DA to sanctioned pension and subtracting the commuted value). Sadly the practice changed following 6^th CPC, with the MoD’s complicity in permitting PCDA to renege on its responsibility of issuing fresh PPOs on the flimsy excuse of work overload. This despite the expensive digitization of PCDAs in 1986. (And despite the many frantic upgrades in their cadre– Para 21 refers). Rather than issue PPOs banks (PDA) were told to fix Fauji pensions. The bank staff is rotating and any amount of training cannot help as the trained staff moves off often. To compound the problem, the MoD has issued so many orders that leave alone the Banks, even the PCDA is not able to cope with changes. Record offices are also lagging behind. It is imperative that MoD ensure that PCDA issues correct PPOs following the acceptance of the 7^th CPC Report.

29) Arguments of national financial stringency have often been used by the bureaucracy to scuttle attempts at betterment of the Fauji lot. This is unjust, if not outright cruel. Purported financial difficulties, used to first deny and then hold up OROP and Rank Pay etc, to the Faujis have not held back the civil services from introducing the Non Functional Financial Up-gradation (NFFU), even free health care abroad for themselves. As is known, NFFU broadly implies paying civil services employee higher salary for lower level of work, just because his batch mate is promoted and posted to Government of India. Can India afford such doles/subsidies when the Nation is suffering a financial crunch? NFFU benefits have not been made applicable for Defence Forces personnel. It is an irony that far from having a lead over other services, the Defence Forces in effect lags behind others. Is it by treacherous design?

Consequences for the Nation

30) The consequence of the constant neglect, gradual lowering of equation with Civil services and a state where IAS bureaucrats with only peripheral knowledge of the Fauji state of existence sit over not only operational requirements but even issues connected to the welfare of theFaujiCommunity has led to a loss of prestige and down gradation of the profession of arms as a preferred career choice. Table below indicates the alarming state of vacancies in the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA). Defence Forces are the ‘immune system’ of the nation. Like individuals don’t allow their immune system to go weak, nourishing it with food and vitamin supplements, the nation can ill afford to have its immune system be under catered, or manned by a ‘no other option’ manpower. We NEED the best, and to get them, we need to nourish the profession well.The Shield has to be strong, but the Sinews that hold the shield must be robust.

Year

IMA

OTA

	Authorized	Joined	Authorized	Joined
2006	1633	1459	700	575
2007	1633	1351	700	497
2008	1540	1159	700	407
2009	1540	1232	700	315

31) Since independence the Defence Forces have steadily lost their place not only in the Warrant of Precedence but also as a preferred choice of career with the youth. It would be erroneous to argue that this is due to the corporate offering better remunerations. This was always so. What has happened in recent decades, is the loss of sheen and decline even in the positioning the Defence Forces enjoyed among the government services. Unless that is restored to traditional parities, understaffing due to shortage of officers will continue, with consequent lack of mentoring and associated fall in discipline and functioning that has slowly started showing up in news reports over past decade or so. This must be checked in our national interests. Equivalence based on years of service in both Civil services and the Defence Forceshave to be established, with a 25% edge being given to the latter at each stage. We need the best of youth, and for this, will need to make the profession of arms more lucrative.

What needs to be Done

32) From an era of abundant volunteers, the Defence Forces have gradually become one of the least preferred career options for the country’s youth. There is a consequent alarming shortage of 30% in the officer cadre. This dangerous trend needs to be immediately rectified. Obviously our national HR and retention policies towards the Defence Forces have been flawed and need a radical relook.

33) Soldier should enjoy the status of privileged citizen of the country and preferred employee of the Government. Only the pride associated with such status can lure the best in the youth to join the Defence Forces.

34) It is evident that a suitable monetary package needs to be evolved to draw the cream of youth to the Defence Forces, which are the nation’s trump card. This package must be structured to not only provide a viable career alternative to a career in the corporate, but also a ‘pull’ towards the Defence Forces vis-à-vis other government services for young men and women on the threshold of a career. Essential elements of the package are:

a) It must attract the Best.

b) It must retain the trained manpower against poaching by corporate.

c) It must ensure the nation fully utilizes this highly trained manpower till the age of superannuation as applicable to other government employees.

35) The Government of India’s efforts to have a common salary structure for all its employees is appreciated. The creation of Pay Bands by the 6^th CPC is a step in this direction and while it has led to some simplifications, it has left many distortions. While combining and bringing down various grades into six Bands, it is still short of an ideal structure. A Uniform Pay Structure would embrace a universal relativity for all government employees based on years of service, with appropriate accretions for job profile and promotions.

Summary of Major IESM Recommendations to 7^thCPC

Attracting the Best Manpower for DefenceForces

36) Defence Forces are the Trump Card of the nation. Strong and motivated Defence Forces are a stronger deterrent than a formidable arsenal. They are unique and need to be differently and better managed to attract the best volunteers. They have to be the highest paid government profession in the country, with a minimum edge of 25 percent in pay, perquisites, and pension over their counterparts in other Government services at each stage/ year of service

37) The traditional equivalence of Defence Forces personnel vis-à-vis civilian counterparts has been greatly diluted since independence, and needs to be restored in all respects of, pay perks and pension as it existed on 26 Jan 1950.

38) Till 1973 the pension of the Chiefs of the Defence Forces was Rs 1000 per month (PM), as against Rs 416.50 for the highest Civil Services employee. The continuous steep decline in Defence Services’ remunerations (Pay Perquisites and Pensions) has brought about a state wherein both, the Chiefs and the highest civil services employee now draw Rs 45000 PM as pension. So, while the Chief’s pension has increased by JUST 45 times over past 40 years, that of the highest civil service employee has increased by 108 times. This is grossly unfair and needs to be reversed as it has disturbed traditional equivalence without rationale. Tenets of justice demand that an identical factor of 108 times should also be applied to the pension of the Chiefs, with consequent fixation of other Defence Services personnel, with separation of approximately 10% between them. An indicative table is given below.

Rank	Pension- Rs/month	Rank	Pension- Rs /month
COAS	108000
Lt Gen	900X108=97200	Maj Gen	800X108=86400
Brig	725X108=78300	Col	675X108=72900
Lt Col	625X108=67500	Maj	475X108= 51300
Capt	350X108=37800	Lt	275X108=29700

39) Presently the Military Service Pay (MSP) is a mere Rs 2000 for JCO/ OR and Rs 6000 for officers. It should be 62% of basic pay for JCO/ OR and 54% for Officers was made by Service HQ to the 6th CPC. It is recommended that the MSP should be brought to the recommended levels, to better acknowledge the X factors of danger to life and limb in an uncertain environment made worse by having to take on the duties that should ordinarily have been carried out by CPOs / Police.

40) The training period of Defence personnel (Officers and OR) on joining the Academy/training center, must count towards their seniority, as is presently applicable to the civil services. Their full and entitled emoluments must start from the day they join the Academy/ Training Centre.

Retaining Trained Manpower in the Defence Forces

41) Court judgments in favor ofDefence Forces’personnel/ veterans on a common policy matter of pay/pension must be automatically extended by the MoD/ DESW to similarly placed personnel/pensioners.

42) All Government services send personnel on deputation to other Government departments, based on their cadre strength. Defence Forces’ share accordingly is 28-30%, but not even 1% is generally being subscribed to. Deputation authorizations must be strictly subscribed to, with seniority and lien with the parent service.

43) Benefits given to other Government services must automatically be extended to Defence Forces, e.g. 3^rd Assured Career Progression, Non Functional Financial Upgrade (NFU) etc. This would automatically occur if the new pay structure suggested in this paper is adopted.

44) There is a need for higher levels of compensation (Field and Uncongenial Area Allowances, based on Basic Salary. These could be approx. 62% for JCO/OR and 54% for Officers.

45) This year the Parliament gave its approval to the principle of OROP. The President’s address to the Joint Houses of Parliament clearly spelt out the Government’s resolve to implement OROP. This must now be faithfully applied to all types of pension including disability pension, and implemented in line with the accepted definition of OROP, viz ‘OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Defence Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pension of the current pensioners and the past pensioners, and also future enhancements in the rate of pension, to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners’.

46) The 7^th CPC recommendations must include safeguards to ensure that the concept of OROP as defined above, achieves permanence and is not open to tinkering by futre CPCs.

47) On the principle of Deferred Wages, the concept of Family Pension must be discarded in the context of Defence Forces personnel, and the NOK must be eligible for full pension as entitled to the Fauji. In case of those killed in discharge of duty, the applicable pay must continue to accrue to the widow/NOK until the date of the Fauji would normally have superannuated, beyond which full entitled pension (100%) must continue to be given to widow/NOK.

Full Utilization of Defence Forces’ Trained Manpower National Resource

48) Defence Forces’ personnel must enjoy Legislative guarantee of Government employment till age 60 like other Government employees, by appropriate lateral absorption in Administrative/ Police/ State services, PSUs etc with their seniority protected. It must additionally be mandatory through legislation, for corporate supplying / servicing defence sector to have a minimum of 8-10 % of their manpower strength comprise of Defence Forces’ Veterans.

49) Short Service Commissioned Officers and Women’s entry into the Defence Forces must be made more attractive to attract the most suitable youth.On completion of their term, the Short Service Commissioned Officers must be laterally absorbed in other Government services like IAS/IFS/IPS/Other GpA Services, PSUs and Banks, with their seniority and relative status assured.

50) Re employed officers should not be employed in a lower vacancy.

51) There should be no reduction in pension of Defence Veterans on reemployment in Government jobs. Other Central Government /All India services like IAS don’t have such caveat/ rules.

Pensionary Aspects

52) The present disability pension in cases of discharge/superannuation/retirement with a disability is authorized only to those personnel who have a disability of 20% or more whereas in cases of discharge on medical grounds, the 20% stipulation stands abrogated. All individuals irrespective of the percentage of disability should be granted compensation. Disability pension needs to be paid in ALL cases of disability and broad banding of percentages of disability be extended to all (and not just invalided personnel as is the case at present) as the concept of broad-banding is to offset medical subjectivity and mistakes and arbitrary percentages awarded by medical boards and has no connection with the manner of exit from service. Moreover, all disabilities arising during military service, including while on authorized leave, should be deemed as ‘attributable or at least aggravated’ by service unless caused by the person’s own misconduct as is the system prevalent in all major democracies (See Rule 105 of United States Code 38). It may be pertinent to point out that the Rules already provide for such a stipulation (See Rule 5 of Entitlement Rules, 1982) and even the Hon’ble Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of disabled soldiers in this regard in Dharamvir Singh Vs UOI, civil appeal 4949/2013 decided on 02^nd July 2013. Only condition to deny disability pension would be if the disability is a result of any misconduct or criminality. There should be a separate 'Defence Services Pay Committee' (as promised by the former Prime Minister) comprising members from Defence Services/veterans and judges from SC/HCs.

A Standard Pay Structure for all Government Services

53) Pay, Allowances and emoluments must be based on Years of service across all Government services, with Defence Services personnel drawing 25% higher than their civil services counterparts; Rank / Grade pay (both being a percentile value of the Basic pay) will get added to the Basic Pay as and when applicable. This would provide some semblance of equivalence among the entire Government employees and a work: promotion balance between those who get promoted and those who don’t. It would also act as a magnet to draw youth to join the Defence Forces.

54) The clubbing of numerous Rank and Grades by the 6^th CPC in effect serves as an initial step towards bringing relativity in pay and years of service. As a next logical step the six Pay Bands (PB1 to 4, HAG, HAG+), must be reduced to two. One combining PB-1 and PB-2; the other PB-3, PB-4, HAG and HAG+, uninterrupted by ‘Rank/ Grade Pay Bands’. The Basic Pay of each individual would increase along a line on a graph, with years of service on X Axis and corresponding basic salary on the Y Axis. Graphically represented. An additional 25% be superimposed for Defence Forces as Basic Salary. On promotion, requisite Rank/ Grade Pay at stipulated percentage (say 15%) would be added to the Basic, till the next upgrade/ promotion, resulting in another hike of 15%. Allowances will be uniformly admissible to all services (Graph at Annexure……….refers).

55) Presently commuted pension is recovered at the rate of 8% interest as against the earlier figures of 4%. The rate is not material. The total recovery should not exceed the payment received. At present the recovery in 15 yrs is beyond the Commutated value received. It does not cater for inflation when working on recovery.

56) Allowances like Constant attendance allowance that are affected by rising cost of living must be also included for addition of DA.

57) Presently, Gratuity is capped at Rs 10 Lakhs. It should be authorized as per the number of years of commissioned/colour service without any capping.

Miscellaneous Recommendations

58) The 7th Central Pay Commission must ensure that all existing anomalies of 4th, 5th, and 6th CPCs in respect of Defence Forces’ personnel are resolved, and court/AFT judgments passed in favor of Defence Forces’ personnel must be implemented, to deduce/ arrive at, the Base Salary of Defence Forces’ personnel.Military pay scales must be reworked out for 5^th and 6th CPCs, carried forward to 6th CPC, grade pays reworked out ,and applied to the 7th CPC.

59) Arguments of national financial stringency have often been used by the bureaucracy to scuttle attempts at betterment of the Defence Services. This is unjust, if not outright cruel. Purported financial difficulties, used to first deny and then hold up OROP and Rank Pay, to the Defence Forces, have not held back the civil services from introducing the Non Functional Financial Up-gradation (NFFU) for themselves. Are the Defence Forces ONLY chartered to sacrifice their dues in view of any financial difficulties while others merrily go about loading themselves with goodies? NFFU benefits have not been made applicable for Defence Forces personnel. It is an irony that far from having a lead over other services, the Defence Forces in effect lags behind others, perhaps by design.

60) Though Cadre reviews are independent of Pay Commissions, these upset Traditional parities when carried out between successive CPCs, particularly when these are motivated. As they are done in isolation they disturb equivalence and affect Operational working when Defence Forces’ and Civil Services’ personnel operate in tandem. It is axiomatic that such reviews must be integral to the CPCs recommendations, and any changes made between two CPCs must be disregarded by the CPC in considering monetary aspects in the CPC recommendations.

61) Due to genetic differences with all other government services, it is imperative that a separate Pay Commission for Defence Forces must be constituted, comprising of members from the Defence Forces possessing deep rooted understanding of the issues and problems involved.It is a violation of Constitution to have members of one Department to exclusively adjudicate on another Government department, which is currently the case, with Civil Services representatives adjudicating for the Defence Forces.

62) While the principle is inherent and is maintained in CPC working/ reports, subsequent action to remove anomalies that get pointed out, often results in violation of the principle of pay differential between ranks. The CPC Report must specify that No Defence Forces’ personnel should ever draw less pay/ pension than a person junior in rank to him. The Pay Protection clause must always apply.

63) There is a need for the CPC to specifically mention that the dates of applicability of corrections of anomalies would be the date on which the Pay Commission’s recommendations have been implemented, and NOT the date the anomalies get rectified/ removed.

64) The Defence Headquarters must be involved in drafting and issue of implementing instructions to obviate carelessly/ mischievously injected anomalies and consequent litigation that is unfairly thrust. It not only clogs up the courts, but drains the aging, poor Fauji veteran of both time, money and energy, further impacting his already limited Life span

65) It is functionally vital that men in uniform/ veterans be posted to Headquarters/ Organizations/commissions/committees working on subjects involving the Defence Forces and Veterans as recommended by the Subrahmanyam Committee and accepted in principle by the Govt.

66) It must be binding for PCDA to issue fresh PPOs to conform to the 7^th CPC Recommendations, instead of leaving the working out of pensions to the banks (PDAs). This must be included in CPC Recommendations

67) Kerala High Court order on grant of monthly subsistence allowance to World War II veterans and affecting suitable enhancement in the Reservists Pay/Pension must be expeditiously implemented. The yearly enhancement of 3% DA is not presently being applied to such payments, for this miniscule and depleting population. This must be implemented.

68) DR must be automatically merged with Pension whenever it goes to 50%.

69) Concept of Military Pensions based on OROP be restored.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATION

Anomalies Resolution Board (ARB)

If a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) can decide matters concerning the IAS/IPS/Gp ‘A’ services and alleviate the resentment and inter-cadre grievances, why not Armed Forces officers in MoD in decision making levels will mitigate the prevailing resentment that they are ignored and discriminated against? If meaningful changes do not happen, resentment builds up (as it has now) and the present adverse media reports are proof enough. Inclusion of armed Forces personnel at decision making levels of the MoD is a matter of national self-interest as well as justice.

So, MoD, instead of referring each and every anomaly to the CoS, should constitute an anomalies Resolution Board, like the Railways Board, for conflict resolution. ARB would comprise defence Secretary as Chairperson, the three Vice Chiefs as fulltime members, secretary ESW, FA (DS), the legal Adviser (Defence) and DGAFMS (for disability benefit related appeals) as ex-officio members utilising the CoSC secretariat for the paperwork.

Consider issues placed before it and review progress on past decisions. In any case all issues should be resolved within three months from the date an issue has been raised. For example, on the NFU, MoD replies to an RTI application that the information cannot be disclosed under Section 8 of the RTI Act 2005 because the matter is still under consideration and four years have lapsed!

Exchange information/notes to improve the Civil-Military discourse.

Reduction of Wastage of Public Expenditure

Often payment of legitimate dues, even after clear orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in favour of Armed Forces appellants, serving or Veterans, are challenged/appealed against by MoD, citing the cost to the State Exchequer.

Do other large central organisations like Railway have such a dual monstrosity placed over them to carry out accounts and audit? Finance Commissioner is a member of the Railway Board but is under the Ministry of Finance and the Railway Board is directly responsible to the railways Minister.

If Air Force and Navy can function on their own why can not the same structure be implemented in Army with prorated additional manpower?

There is one aspect that we some how need to highlight and that is the proliferation of a monster called the Defence accounts department, which started with a few CDAs to a humungous organisation is now so full of PCsDA and CsDA. In late 1960s and early 1970s (when the Armed Forces were full strength) with CGDA as the head, following was the set up:

Army

CDA (O)

CDA (Pension)

CDA (Western Command) at Meerut which shifted to Chandimandir sometime in late 90s

CDA (Central Command that Included eastaern Command) – later bifurcated

JCDA (Funds)

CDA (OR) which had under it PAOs (DCDA/ACDA Level) at training centres.

Local audit of units was done by LAOs who reported to CDA Commands

DCDA (Air Force)

CDA (Navy)

Let me illustrate with just one example.

Information (about 1000 pages) provided under the RTI Act 2005 by MoD, MoF/DoE and CGDA in just the Rank Pay cases (Maj AK Dhanapalan Vs. UoI and later in UoIVs. Lt Col NK Nair & others) revealed that the laying down of an accounts policy and audit system of the Armed Forces is done by the Controller General of Defence.

Accounts (CGDA), after a polite demur to its Competent Authority – the Financial Adviser (Defence Services) who sits in South Block, next to the MoD.

This Secretary, defence/Finance-cum-Financial adviser, defence services (FADs) in MoD is supposedly the “boss” of the CGDA. Under this Secretary-cum FADs there are several Addl FADs and hierarchy, whose role appearls to be just acting as a liaison office between MoD, MoF/DoE, and CGDA.

In the rank Pay matter, the CGDA operated as the policy maker as well as audit authority, as inferred by the photocopies of notings on files. Preparation of the DGL and norms for implementation of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s orders in the Rank Pay case, as disclosed by CGDA in 255 pages of information, was dictated by CGDA and ‘rubber stamped’ by the Secy, Def/Fin or FADS. Not the other way around!

Every subsequent appeal/challenge to the Rank pay cases filed by respondents/petitioners against UoI, and photocopies of notings thereof, contains nothing on policy or procedures by FADS but are replete with voluminous arguments by CGDA and supported by MoF/DoE, with just a minute/signature of the FADS or a JS/Addl DS.

The MoF/DoE even castigated the MoD (and obviously FADS) in its note dated 05 July 13 for not even preparing a draft reference of the matter to the Ld Attorney General for his opinion but forwarding the reference dated March 13 by the CGDA without a comment.

It is therefore recommended that either the post of Secy Def/Fin-FADS and the attached paraphernalia or the CGDA be abolished to save the Public Exchequer of hundreds of corers of of rupees, which could be used for modernisation of the Armed Forces.

Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS).

IIM Ahemdabad recommended in the 6^th CPC that 1/3^rd of the population of employee can be granted 20% of basic pay as enhancement towards PRIS.

DRDO and Civil Employees have implemented.

Not yet implemented for Defence Pers.

Should also be Implemented for Defence Personnel.

Rank Pay Judgement.

Disability Act 1995 compensation civilian employee implemented. retained in service till 60 years + given 3^rd Assured

Not yet implemented Defence personnel.

Should be implemented for Defence Personnel.

OROP duly. Should be integrated into 7^th CPC scales in all respect for Defence personnel.

Common Pay Scales for JCOs/ORs.

DCAP- implemented for civilian.

SC has recently rated that it will be extended to Defence Doctors.

13 years service – 8700 Grade Pay

20 Years service – 10000 Grade Pay

Separation of City Compensatory Allowance and City Compensatory Allowance.

Medical Insurance.

Pre- 2004 by Retiree majors.

LOK SABHA

The number of cadets joining National Defence Academy, Khadakwassla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 2009 has gone up as compared to last year. In officers Training Academy there has been a decline. Details for last three years and current year are as under:-

Year	National Defence Academy		Indian Academy Military			Officers Training Academy
Year	Auth	Joined	Auth	Joined	Auth		Joined
2006	390	429	1633	1489	700		575
2007	390	405	1633	1351	700		497
2008	390	370	1540	1159	700		407
2009	390	500	1540	1262	700		315

Government has taken various steps to encourage the youths to join the Armed Forces. The details of the measures adopted are as follows:-

(i) Better pay package as part of 6^thPay Commission;

(ii) Making Short Service Commission (SSC) attractive through a slew of measures such as;

(1) Grant of ex-servicemen status to all SSC officers who have completed terms of service;

(2) Provision of Canteen Stores Department (CSD) facility to the SSC Officers.

(3) Provision of medical facility to all the SSC Officers after release under Employees Contributory Health Services (ECHS) scheme.

(iii) The Army has also opened a number of professional training institutes under the Army Welfare Education Society, to offer quality professional education to Army children at affordable costs.

(iv) A number of Image Projection campaigns have been launched by the Recruiting Directorate to attract quality youth to join the Army;

(v) Enhanced physical interaction with target audience has been undertaken in which officers from Recruiting Directorate and teams from Command Headquarters visit various Universities and Colleges. Publicity Compact Discs (CDs) on Army as a career have been prepared and projected to target audience through these teams. Moreover, National Cadet Corps (NCC) units and Recruiting organizations have also been incorporated to deliver motivational talks in educational institutions.

(vi) A proposal to set up another Officers’ Training Academy is under consideration of the Government.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Smt Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Shri Virender Kashyap in Lok Sabha today.

PK / RAJ

(Release ID :54790)

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Report of IESM Rally held in Beri Haryana on 27 Sept 14‏

      Report of IESM Rally held in Beri Haryana
                                           on
                                    27 Sept 14 ‏

Dear Veterans

A vishal Rally was held at Anaj Mandi Beri Haryana by IESM at 1100h on 27 Sep 14 Saturday. Rally was attended by more than 2500 ex-servicemen, their families and their sypathisers from five states i.e. Harayana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and UP.The rally was held on birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. All present remembered the bravery and patriotism of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Indian Armed Forces.

The rally was addressed by ex-servicemen, Sarpanch of villages and other dignitaries.

Speaker after speaker implored audience that sacrifice and martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh was exemplary and thanked Shaheed Bhagat Singh society for planning this remembrance day. Speakers expressed their gratitude to IESM for choosing this day for Ex-servicemen rally and to present problems of ex-servicemen to the Government on this pious day. National award winner Sh Sahib Singh Dalal retired JBT teacher proudly announced that soldiers who guard our borders are Bhagat Singhs of today, ex-servicemen who are sitting behind on the stage are Bhagat Singh of today. It is the duty of all Indians to give them their due respect in society and learn from them how to serve motherland. It is a sad day that ex-servicemen have to resort to Dharnas and rallies and they had to return medals to convey their demands to the Government. Infact Government should plan the welfare measures so that ex-servicemen do not have to demand it. The crowd roared FOUJI ZINDABAD, FOUJI EKTA ZINDABAD, Bharat Mata AMAR RAHE.

IESM Chairman Maj Gen Satbir Singh spoke and remembered the martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and roared that every fouji has Bhagat Singh in him and whenever our motherland was invaded our soldiers have saved motherland by their supreme sacrifice. Every soldier should aim to be like Shaheed Bhagat Singh and be ready for Supreme sacrifice. He roared that if only 10% of Indians imbibe the qualities of Shaheed Bhagat Singh our great country India will be the most advanced country in the world. He further asked the audience whether it is only the responsibility of the countrymen to follow the spirit of Bhagat Singh, Should our Netas and politicians/bureaucrats not imbibe the patriotism of Bhagat Singh? He asked the audience to raise hands if they think that our netas also need to follow the example set by Bhagat Singh. Audience roared and said yes with raised hands and shouted Bharat Mata ki jai. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Zinda bad, Indian Army Zindabad, Fouji Ekta zindabad.

Gen Satbir Singh further explained that BJP should be thankful to ex-servicemen because of their full support across India to BJP. It is the duty of BJP to look after ex-servicemen welfare and fulfill the promises made in the manifesto. He further said that result of about 150 constituency has gone in BJP favor because of large concentration of ex-servicemen in those constituencies and full support from ex-servicemen. BJP has got full majority in Parliament because of support of ex-servicemen and their families.

Maj Gen Satbir Singh further explained that IESM is fighting for OROP and improvement in ECHS. He explained that OROP has been approved by two Parliaments and has approval of all parties of India. BJP and all its leaders had promised that OROP will be implemented immediately on forming the Government. BJP Government had approved OROP in the budget presented in June 2014. But it is very unfortunate that the Government is feeling shy to issue notification for OROP. He said that ex-servicemen empathize with the Raksha Mantri Sh Arun Jaitley as he is hospitalized and had undergone a surgery. He is now recuperating from his illness and probably had no time to attend to the most pressing demand of ex-servicemen. Gen Satbir said that ex-servicemen, who had waited for 25 years for OROP to become reality , are ready to wait for few more days for our esteemed Raksha Mantri to recover. Gen Satbir asked the audience if they would give 10 more days to Government to issue the notification and all loudly cheered Gen Satbir and roared big YES with raised hands. Gen Satbir further explained that IESM would be conducting NUKKAD meetings and discuss the issue of notification of OROP in village Panchayat meetings and bring to the knowledge of local candidates during elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. All surpunches were requested to raise the issue with their leaders in their area/village.

Gen Satbir explained to audience that a sepoy whose pension was Rs 5196/ today is likely to get Rs 8365/ plus DA with OROP and a widow who is getting a pension of Rs 3500/ today is likely to get pension of Rs 6500/ plus DA. Audience acknowledged the statement with a big roar and shouted GEN SATBIR TUM LADTE RAHO HAM TUMHARE SAATH HAIN. IESM ZINDABAD. FOUJI EKTA ZINDABAD. Enthusiasm of the audience was unparalleled and they conveyed unequivocally that they will do whatever their Chairman will ask them to do.

Gen Satbir Singh confirmed that IESM will be conducting two meetings of ex-servicemen on 5 oct in Jhajjhar and Karnal. Many more meetings will be planned in next week to discuss the issue of notification. Another IESM rally will be held at Nagpur on 12 Oct 14.

IESM will be consulting the ground level ex-servicemen about the action plan to be followed in case Government fails to issue notification for OROP in the ten days time.

IESM gave Rs 5100/ to Shaheed Bhagat Singh society.

Gen Satbir Singh thanked Shaheed Bhagat Singh Society to invite his as Chief guest and joining hands with IESM and making IESM rally a big success. Gen Satbir Singh thanked Hony Captain Jai Singh Rathee Vr C and his team for making such excellent arrangement for the IESM rally.

General Satbir Singh thanked all Ex-servicemen, families and their supporters for attending the rally and closed the rally with loud shout of

JAIHIND

THE CROWD ROARED JAIHIND

FOUJI EKTA ZINDABAD

THE CROWD ROARED BACK FOUJI EKTA ZINDABAD

IESM ZINDABAD

THE CROWD ROARED BACK IESM ZINDABAD

Regards

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222

Friday, September 26, 2014

IESM RALLY AT BERI ON 27 SEP 14‏

IESM RALLY AT BERI ON 27 SEP 14 ‏

Dear Veterans

IESM has been waging a long battle for OROP for last six years. IESM has been able to bring sacrifices of soldier and step motherly treatment being meted out to soldier to conscience of entire nation. Pressure was increased in phased manner on the Government that finally UPA Government approved OROP in last leg of its tenure. BJP Government also approved OROP in its budget as promised by Sh Narendra Modi and in the party manifesto. Thus this is first time in history of Parliament that a proposal has been approved by two parliaments and all parties but has still not been implemented.

It is unfortunate that because of some unknown pressures, the Government has not issued the notification for OROP. It has been seven months since UPA approved OROP in its budget and three months since BJP Government approved OROP in its budget. IESM delegation met Raksha Mantri Sh Arun Jaitley on 16 July 14 but Sh Arun Jaitley did not give any time bound assurance for issue of notification for OROP. IESM and other senior veterans have written numerous letters to Prime Minister, Defence Minister and three chiefs but there has been no response from the Government. This deafening silence and undue delay in issuance of OROP notification is a cause of concern. What is the real intention of the Government is not coming out clearly?

It will not be out of place to state here that ESM believed in promises of BJP over promises of Congress and en-block voted for BJP candidates in national elections held in May 14. Support of ESM community helped BJP to get full majority in Parliament. It is abundantly clear now that BJP has forgotten its promises and is behaving like any other political party which makes skyhigh promises in manifestos but are never serious in fulfilling the promises.

IESM has therefore planned two rallies (In Beri on 27 Sep 14 and in Nagpur on 12 Oct 14 ) in election bound states to remind BJP of their promises and also to convey that BJP will be making a big mistake in neglecting a large population of ESM. And if they do that it would be on their own peril.

What could be a better day than birth anniversary of shaheed Bhagat Singh to have a IESM rally to communicate disenchantment of ESM to Government and to remind the Government of their promises. A very large number of ESM are expected to attend the rally and pay homage to Shaheed Bhagat Singh and However some self serving ESM, who want to use ESM platforms to enhance their careers and achieve their political ambitions, are casting aspersions on selection of this day for IESM rally. These self serving ESMs are also attempting to plant doubts in the mind of ESM about the funds being used for the rally. These are the same ESM who had spent more than two lacs on each rally when they were in control of IESM affairs. These are the same ESMs who have been sidelined by IESM and are attempting to create a divide in IESM/ESM.

IESM requests ESMs not to pay any heed to these canards being spread to create divide. On the contrary this is crucial time in the fight of OROP and all ESMs and all organisations need to and stay united and fight together. Unity of ESM and unity of purpose will communicate resolve of ESMs to Government and force them to issue notification at the earliest if the BJP wants our vote.

IESM is very confident that BJP stalwarts will take notice of the unity of ESMs and will issue notification of for OROP much before the scheduled dates of election in Haryana and Maharashtra.

IESM has received large donations for IESM Rallies and for flood relief in J & K. IESM is thankful to all members and ESMs for this generous donation. IESM promises all ESMs that IESM will continue to represent their problems at the appropriate level and will find suitable solution.

IESM REQUESTS ALL EX-SERVICEMEN TO ATTEND THE RALLIES AT BERI HARYANA ON 27 SEP AND AT NAGPUR MAHARASHTRA ON 12 OCT IN LARGE NUMBERS AND SEND A MESSAGE OF THEIR DISENCHANTMENT TO BJP. IT IS NOW OR NEVER.

ESM UNITY WILL HELP US TO FIND SOLUTION FOR ALL OUR PROBLEMS SO STAY UNITED

Regards

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222

On Thursday, 18 September 2014 9:49 PM, Vinod Gandhi <vk_gandhi@yahoo.com> wrote:

IESM

HAS PLANNED A BIG RALLY ON

27 SEP 14 SATURDAY AT 1100H

AT ANAJ MANDI, BERI VILLAGE, HARYANA

AS CHINTAN RALLY TO PLAN STRATEGY OF IESM AS GOVERNMENT HAS NOT

ISSUED NOTIFICATION FOR OROP

EVEN AFTER SIX MONTH OF ITS APPROVAL.

ALL ESM ARE REQUESTED TO ATTEND IN LARGE NUMBERS. IT IS DO OR DIE SITUATION.

A LARGE PRESENCE OF ESM WILL FORCE EARLY ISSUANCE OF NOTIFICATION.

IESM requests all ESM to donate for the rally as expenditure for the rally is likely to be around 3 lacs. It is important to ensure that this rally is a great success to shake the Government out of slumber which failed to issue notification even after six month of approval of OROP by two parliaments and all parties. Kindly donate as this is a do or die situation and must make this rally a great success. IESM will take a decision on this great betrayal of BJP. BJP had promised early sanction of OROP at the level of BJP President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's level but has been hesitant to issue notification.

special request to veterans who own buses to kindly offer buses to take ESM from Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon. Pl send your offers to Gp Capt VK Gandhi at vk_gandhi@yahoo.com tele no 9810541222 or Maj Gen Satbir Singh at satbirsm@gmail.com 9312404269 . We would coordinate the movement of ESM to the Rally.

All Admin arrangements for the Rally are being made by Hony Capt Rathee Vr C and his team of JHAJJHAR. IESM is thankful to the ESM team at Jhajjhar/Beri.

Special request from IESM to all ESM to show solidarity with ESM. This is the time to do something for ESM community. PLEASE COME FORWARD AND BE PART OF ACTION

ANOTHER RALLY HAS BEEN PLANNED AT NAGPUR ON 12 OCT 2014 SUNDAY AS MAHARASHRA STATE IS ALOS GOING FOR ELECTION ON 15 OCTOBER. DETAILS OF THIS RALLY WILL BE ISSUED LATER.

OROP DEFINITION IS PIOUS TO EX-SERVICEMEN AND IS NOT NEGOTIABLE

REGARDS

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222

Pls see IESM latest NEWS on http://www.iesm.in

OROP is our right. Dilution in OROP will NOT be accepted.

IF YOU SEE SOMEONE WITHOUT A SMILE GIVE HIM ONE OF YOURS.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

IESM meeting with CAS and Chairman Chief of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC‏

IESM meeting with CAS and Chairman Chief of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC ‏

Dear Members

Chairman IESM had arranged a meeting with CAS and Chairman Chief of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC on 18 Sep 14. Because of some unforeseen reasons Chairman could not be present during the discussions with CAS.

The meeting was attended by following members

Wg Cdr CK Sharma Treasurer IESM

Col KK Malhotra

Gp Capt VK Gandhi Gen Sec IESM

Following points were discussed with the Chairman Chief of Staff Committee Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC.

Delay in Issue of implementation letter for OROP; CAS confirmed that he is fully updated of the issue and OROP has been discussed with RM many times. He confirmed that Government is seized of the situation and is fully committed to the issue; however there are some procedural delays. CAS further confirmed that he has written a letter to RM for early release of notification for OROP as per the definition of OROP. He further added that it will be ensured that there is no dilution in the definition of OROP. He was hopeful that the notification will be issued soon. At this point IESM delegation explained that ex-servicemen are getting impatient with this undue delay in issuance of notification and their desperation might show in their voting pattern in upcoming elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. The CAS nodded and said he would communicate the message to the authorities.

Improvement in ECHS;  IESM delegation informed CAS that ECHS needs many improvement to make it really serve ex-servicemen. Following three points were emphasized for his action.

That release of funds for one year for ECHS is Rs 3050 per ESM whereas Rs 10500 per member for CGHS. The funds relesed for ECHS are far too less as compared to CGHS. This is the reason that ECHS facilities are not up to the mark.

That there is a big delay in introducing latest procedure in ECHS. This deprives ESM to take advantage of latest technology and medical procedures introduced for treatment. It was requested that all latest procedures may be included automatically so that ESM can take advantage of new technology in empaneled hospitals.

Availability of medicines in polyclinics is far from satisfactory. Most of important medicine were nto available in polyclinics. It was also explained that the case for giving contract to a third party was being taken up for distribution of medicines. This may be pursued.

CAS confirmed that he will take up the issues with the concerned authorities.

A picture of the meeting is enclosed

Regards

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222

IESM HAS PLANNED A BIG RALLY ON 27 SEP 14 SATURDAY AT 1100H AT ANAJ MANDI, BERI VILLAGE HARYANA

                              DISBAND ANTIQUATED

                               MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

                                             WHICH IS

               BEYOND ECONOMICAL REDEMPTION

IESM

HAS PLANNED A BIG RALLY ON

27 SEP 14 SATURDAY AT 1100H

AT

ANAJ MANDI, BERI VILLAGE, HARYANA

AS CHINTAN RALLY TO PLAN STRATEGY OF IESM AS GOVERNMENT HAS NOT

ISSUED NOTIFICATION FOR OROP

EVEN AFTER SIX MONTH OF ITS APPROVAL.

ALL ESM ARE REQUESTED TO ATTEND IN LARGE NUMBERS. IT IS DO OR DIE SITUATION.

A LARGE PRESENCE OF ESM WILL FORCE EARLY ISSUANCE OF NOTIFICATION.

IESM requests all ESM to donate for the rally as expenditure for the rally is likely to be around 3 lacs. It is important to ensure that this rally is a great success to shake the Government out of slumber which failed to issue notification even after six month of approval of OROP by two parliaments and all parties. Kindly donate as this is a do or die situation and must make this rally a great success. IESM will take a decision on this great betrayal of BJP.

BJP had promised early sanction of OROP at the level of BJP President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's level but has been hesitant to issue notification.

special request to veterans who own buses to kindly offer buses to take ESM from Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon. Pl send your offers to Gp Capt VK Gandhi at vk_gandhi@yahoo.com tele no 9810541222 or Maj Gen Satbir Singh at satbirsm@gmail.com 9312404269 . We would coordinate the movement of ESM to the Rally.

All Admin arrangements for the Rally are being made by Hony Capt Rathee Vr C and his team of JHAJJHAR. IESM is thankful to the ESM team at Jhajjhar/Beri.

Special request from IESM to all ESM to show solidarity with ESM. This is the time to do something for ESM community. PLEASE COME FORWARD AND BE PART OF ACTION

ANOTHER RALLY HAS BEEN PLANNED AT NAGPUR ON 12 OCT 2014 SUNDAY AS MAHARASHRA STATE IS ALOS GOING FOR ELECTION ON 15 OCTOBER. DETAILS OF THIS RALLY WILL BE ISSUED LATER.

OROP DEFINITION IS PIOUS TO EX-SERVICEMEN AND IS NOT NEGOTIABLE

REGARDS

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222

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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

O.R. O. P. KI GEETMALA

O.R.O.P. KI GEETMALA

Dear Members

BJP Government has not lived upto its promises even after approving OROP for ex-servicemen in the budget. Promises given by even tallest leaders of BJP have not been fulfilled. Winning luck of BJP,which had started on 15 Sep 2013 from ex-servicemen rally at Rewari, has taken a big beating within three month of assuming power at centre. At ex-servicemen rally at Rewari where then PM nominee roared like a lion and asked UPA Government that had the BJP been elected in 2004, OROP would have been reality by now. Mr Modi further demanded a white paper on OROP from UPA Government . Believing him and his past record, loyal and disciplined Ex-servicemen believed every word of PM designate and decided to vote for BJP. This decision swung 5 crores votes of ex-servicemen in favour of BJP and influenced the result of atleast 150 constituencies and helped BJP to get unprecedented victory and gain full majority in Parliament. Ex-servicemen rejoiced this victory of BJP as their own victory and pinned hopes on the BJP Government that their litany of woes would now be addressed and their problems sorted out. Alas this was not to happen and Ex-servicemen were in for a rude shock. BJP stalwarts went silent and there is no talk of any issue affecting ex-servicemen. All hopes of Ex-servicemen community have been shattered by wily politician/bureaucrat nexus. BJP Ministers do not acknowledge any communication from IESM and have been so impolite that there is no reply to numerous requests for meeting with IESM delegation. This attitude is not being appreciated by Indian voters and Indian voter is getting disenchanted with BJP sooner than later.

This is first time in parliamentary history that a proposal had been approved by two major parties (Congress and BJP) with support of all parties and further approved by two Parliaments but is still no where near its execution even six months after its approval. This has shocked ex-servicemen and forced them to realize that Indian Military and Indian Ex-servicemen do not get any place in the mind and heart Politicians. IESM has decided to reconsider its decision of whole heartedly supporting BJP and has decided to organised two rallies for consultations/Chintan to working out a strategy for forthcoming elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. Rally program is being finalized and will be issued soon.

Ex-servicemen and other voters of India have given a glimpse of their mind in recently held by-elections in which BJP got severe drubbing and could get only 10 assembly seats out of total 24 constituencies went for polling in UP, Rajasthan and Gujrat strongholds of BJP. Earlier also BJP had lost three seats in Uttarkhand by elections. BJP has thus lost 17 sure-win seats to other parties. Is this a result of loss of contact with citizens by BJP or shattering of hopes of Indians, is a question to be pondered by BJP?

Advise of IESM given a fortnight back that BJP is neglecting ex-servicemen at their own peril is coming true sooner than later. There is still time to recover from these reverses if and only if BJP stops being high headed and initiates dialogue with masses. Promises made in their manifesto and in various election meetings must be fulfilled in totality and sincerity.

OROP definition has been approved by two parliaments and has taken form of a statute. OROP definition is pious for ex-servicemen and is non negotiable. IESM is waiting to see whether Government has the determination to over-rule hurdles raised by bureaucrats or not. Ex-servicemen do not want to believe that their instinct to vote for BJP was wrong. Ex-servicemen are hopeful that BJP leadership will not disappoint them and will issue OROP implementation letter within one week. It is a million dollar question.

AMEN

Regards
Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222