To: The Editor, The Hindustan TimesSir,
Kudos to the Service Chiefs for standing solidly behind their officers & men against the scheming mandarins of the South Block while the ministers apparently have been oblivious? How the committee of secretaries overlooked the downgrading of the Lt Col or pension for PBOR's being reduced to 50% in anticipation of lateral induction? The services have stood pressure & disingenuous reassurances to sort out anomalies later- which never comes if pending anomalies of the fifth pay commission or fixing an entire generation of officers 20% lower during the fourth pay commission as came out in the heart burning Major Dhanpalan's case be any indication.
Normally pay, honour or at least a place in the sun for those who have always stood by the nation through thick & thin, in war & peace, during famines & floods– should be going up without bringing situation to such a pass. Perhaps there are some shortsighted forces which are trying to drive wedge and demoralize the services. Pranab Mukherjee must examine how bureaucracy has been leapfrogging itself upwards every time & pushing down the men in uniform, humiliating the services through inspired leaks & even floating the idea that the government was unhappy with the chiefs. Those who have tried to bring the country to such brinkmanship must be identified & brought to book. This is the time to reorganize Ministry of Defence with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) at the helm of affairs reporting directly to the Defence Minister. There cannot be better choice than the admirable Admiral Sureesh Mehta as the first CDS to restore the sagging services morale battered so rudely by the third rate pay commissions?
Air Cmde Raghubir Singh (Retd)
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