The question whether the Pay Commission has failed to provide adequate incentives to attract suitable candidates to join the Armed Forces is a difficult one to answer. Reportedly, the Armed Forces today suffer from lack of candidates for the Officer class. On Armed Forces
There seems to be merit in the considerations the Armed Forces have put forward regarding the poor career prospects of even competent officers in the Armed Forces. These require to be addressed if the Armed Forces are to remain a source of strength and not a weakness for India.
There may well be a case for examining the remuneration or promotion structure of the Armed Forces independent of the general services. There may be a case for a separate Pay Commission for Armed Forces, whose conditions of work are far different from those of civilians.
The question whether the Pay Commission has been too liberal has been answered by the very fact that there have been a number of protests against these recommendations as not attractive enough. The total cost of implementation of the recommendations has been assessed at roughly Rs 12,561 crore for the year 2008-09.
Recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission — Fulfilling its mandate
Why Lt Cols of Army and equivalent Ranks of Navy and Air Force screwed by Pay Commissions?
The number of Officers of equivalent Rank of Lt Cols in the Military averages 18,000. Bureaucrats see this as a red herring for affecting economy. Effecting marginal pay increases for Lt Cols can substantially increase the Pay Scales of Officers up the ladder (Colonels and above). This is one rank which is heavily scrutinised by the Expenditure Secretary to ensure budgets are balanced without too much cash outflow. Another scheme adopted is introduction of Grade/ Rank Pay to further create anomalies and confusion in the Rank and Status structure.
Though some damages caused by SCPC have been rectified by elevating the Lt Col rank from PB3 to PB4, but the missive regarding being in "Combat Role" for this pay scale applicability seems ludicrous. The anomalies created by the 5th Pay commission in respect of Lt Cols and Maj Gens is still not resolved in spite of clear directives by the the Court.
The Ex- Servicemen are concerned because a large number of affected officers/ PBORS are getting relatively less pension because of the skewed pay fixation with the inherent anomalies.
Lt Col James Kanagaraj (Retd)
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