SCPC: Cabbages and Kings

The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
(from Through the Looking- Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) By Lewis Carroll

Well the sixth pay commission has certainly sorted out the Kings and the Cabbages!

By adopting a common pay band between civilians and armed forces they have displayed a complete lack of respect (knowledge?) of the armed forces ethos, their working conditions or what motivates them to fight for the nation. Certainly it is more than the pay packet they take home, but they can no longer be expected to be immune to the happenings around them. What they see is an economy with overflowing coffers and the willingness of the powers that be to throw some peanuts their way.

It is difficult for a serviceman to understand or accept that the responsibilities shouldered by a Director (with 11 years of service) in a civilian ministry is to be equated with a Colonel/equivalent in the armed forces who has 26 years of service. In no way can the rigid working structure of the armed forces be equated with the civilian working structure or responsibilities. I wonder what sort of job analysis was carried out by the sixth pay commission to arrive at a common pay band?

One can see the handiwork of the the IAS lobby who peopled the pay commission who seem to have ensured that the armed forces were put in their place. It is a fact that the armed forces wanted representation on the pay commission but this was not agreed to, on the usual cliched reason that it would lead to similar demands from others. This is evident from the very prominent assertion in the report that 'the existing edge enjoyed by the IAS' vis-a-vis other services would be maintained.

The seething resentment against the pittance meted out to the middle rung officers and jawans, who form the backbone of the services is quite evident from all that one reads in the media. To take a couple of examples the outfit allowance for jawans was increased to Rs 20 a month, what a laugh! The pension of a Brigadier in absolute terms will increase by only 17% against what is being touted i.e. an increase of 40%. A senior JCO is reported to have retorted, "Why should I face the bullets for a paltry Rs 2000 increase."

The following extract from the media (Vishal Thapar in CNN/IBN) sums it up:

"However, the Commission fails the military at its middle rung — the level where many are queuing up to quit. Those with 20 years of service and more, get a real increase of less than 15 per cent.

“We were expecting around 200 per cent hike,” Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor says.

Rankers too are disappointed. The hike they get is between Rs 1000 and Rs 2000.

“What sort of education can a colonel provide to his children with the salary that he takes home, which is around Rs 25,000 – 27,000?” says VP Career Launchers Colonel (Retd) Gopal Karaunakaran."

It should be understood that it is not easy to motivate jawans to accept the supreme sacrifice as a way of life. World over the armed forces whether serving or retired are placed on a pedestal and this is what motivates them, but by equating them with a bunch of civilians you do not achieve that.

The facts are that ever since Independence an assiduous campaign was launched to degrade the armed forces and this has affected their morale. It started soon after Independence with officers being asked to accept cuts in their salary to bring them to "Indian rates of pay." This was followed by another campaign to equate the armed forces with other services such as the police and other para military organisations. Similarly acts such as the revision of the Warrant of Precedence, sacking of a CNS etc etc have all contributed to degrading the value of the services and seriously affected their morale. Is it any wonder that the army has a shortage of 12,000 officers at the middle and lower level?

After the second cadre review of the armed forces in 1984, a so called "working relationship" was forced on the armed forces. This spelled out that to enable the smooth handling of files at the MoD/Services HQ, the Chiefs would mark files to the Defence Secretary, Lt Gens to the Addl Secy, Maj Gens to the Joint Secy, Brigs to the Director and so on. This "working relationship" devised to ensure smoothness of functioning at MoD level, has now very cleverly transformed itself into an equivalence in pay scales by the sixth pay commission. How else are we to interpret a common running pay band? By what logic is the pay of a Brigadier to be the same as that of a Director on the civil side? How do you equate a Maj Gen with 33 years of service with a Joint Secretary with only 16 years of service?

Clearly there is a fit case for a separate pay commission for the armed forces which is responsive to their peculiar structure, job content, responsibilities, service conditions and aspirations. Clearly the sixth pay commission has not done justice to the armed forces.

Finally it is time that the nation and its rulers are made fully aware of the fact that the Armed Forces are your last resort. It would indeed be a sad day if they were to let you down due to the indifference of an unappreciating nation. For then even God will not be able to help you!
CABBAGES & KINGS- SCPC