SCPC: Military Conned and the Myths of Multiple Salary Tables

Sunday, March 22, 2009 7:43 PM
Subject: Have we been shafted? An Analysis of the 6th CPC
This has been extracted to draw attention of larger Military population ESM and Serving, since one has no time to analyse 650 pages of pay commision report. The general perception in our near n dear ones is that Defence Services have got a fairly good deal, but the myths of exchequer needs to be broken down to mere facts to expose the raw deal. By now all of you must have read a part of the Pay Commission Report. 650 pages of honey and crap mixed together so that one can swallow it.

Here are some observations:

Previously Defence were at a slightly better position vis-a-vis IAS and Central Services (See Pg 73 onwards for details). We have been shafted in the name of Military Service Pay (MSP) that all think is good. Think again.

The starting pay band has historically been different for defence (Faujis) and them (Babus). Faujis have always been given about one increment over the IAS during pay fixation. If we take into account the new MSP, Faujis are at a slight edge only initially. This gets compensated for the IAS Cadre by the Rank of Major. After that IAS, IFS (Same scales) and even Civilian Gde A employees are well ahead (despite MSP).

The running pay scale for all of Fauji Commissioned offficers is 15600- 39100 (till Brig).

IAS Starting is 21000/-(Ref Pg 166 Para 3.2.5). This means that their basic pay is 4400 more than Faujis from the initial stages itself and continues throughout their careers. This means, better perks for IAS/ Civilian Gde A employees.

A Lt will have a basic of 15600-39100, Gde Pay of 5400 and MSP of 6000. A Lt was equivalent/ at a higher scale than a Junior Time Scale (JTS). JTS starts at 21000. Thus pay for Lts is 4400 lesser initially. (If you add MSP it is only 600 extra which will be compensated by IAS by the rank of Capt as you see later)

A Capt gets a Grade Pay of 5700. The equivalent Senior Time Scale (STS) with Pay Bands not mentioned anywhere gets a gde pay of 6500. Gde Pay for IAS higher by 800 at this stage. Hence IAS has compensated themselves by the Capt equivalent. A Capt is hence lower in status than STS, whom he was higher than earlier.

Major's Gde Pay is 6100. Earlier equated to STS. Gde pay for STS continues to be 400/- more at this stage. In effect majors are now below STS (who has a Gde Pay 6500 and Basic Pay much higher).

A Lt Col gets a Gde Pay of 6600. The equivalent Jr Admin Gde (JAG) gets a Gde Pay of 7500. Hence the Gde Pay for a Lt Col is 900/- lesser. His status is thus lesser than a JAG which was equivalent rank earlier.

A Col will get a Gde Pay of 7600. The Civ equivalent the Non Functional Select Grade (NFSG) gets a Gde Pay of 8300 which is 700 extra.

Guess what will Faujis status be determined by? Pay + Gde Pay + MSP or Pay + Gde Pay? You can bet that finally status will be determined by Basic + Gde Pay which the IAS will have more of in all categories. Also, since their Basic Pay is higher, they will get all the privileges.

ARREARS
So Faujis thought that they will get a lot of arrears? By defining MSP as a new Pay Justice Sri Krishna has denied arrears in MSP. Well! All the IAS and Civil Servants get it since their starting Basic has been changed without any conditions. Actually Fauji's MSP is equivalent to what has been excluded from their Basic Pay. Hence each and every officer of the Armed forces has been suckered for (6000 X Number of Months since 1 Jan 2006)+ DA thereon. By defining the MSP as a new Pay, each Officer gets at least 1 lakh less in Arrears.

Also the 650 pages do not give any breakdown table for IAS/ Civilians! Guess we in defence were always considered dumb and so the pay for Faujis has been given in a lot of tables so that they can determine their pay along with the UDC/ LDC/ Class B,C, D s and teachers.

The pay recommendations for IAS/ Civil Servants is hidden in various pages. If they had been given, some of the less dumber of Faujis would have spotted the discrepancies in Faujis pay and theirs.

So, have Faujis been shafted in the name of Military Service Pay? Earlier Faujis were given something called Rank Pay, which never mattered when determining status. This has been replaced by the Military Service Pay (MSP) now, which won't matter later. In other words, the demands for X Factor and Military Service Pay have been used against Faujis.

Guess, Justice Krishna, Babus and Govt think that the sacrifices and dedication of NDTV INDIAN OF THE YEAR 2007 are sufficient to prove that they are foolhardy... as such they don't matter. Media too has analysed the superfluous details on day one and thereafter shifted 'Forces Request' to smallest columns on Page 7, 8 or 9. SCPC have given the senior levels enough to keep them happy. You all and the Indian Military has got conned. If you thought the Military will get a fair deal- You have not. SORRY BUT THAT IS THE TRUTH.
With Warm Regards,
Col RP Chaturvedi,

Yes, rightly, where does IESM go from here?
That Kshatriyas dont go on strike is of course debatable. Kshatriyas, like all of us in the Army once were, before reverting, some in teaching, to Brahamanism, some as Vaishyas in business and some elsewhere being just golfers, do adopt tactics to fight. Those tactics vary with demands of situations. El Alamein, Sangro, Haji Pir, Nathu La, CI, Fifth column, neutron bombs (unethical I am told), and now on civviee street, Dharanas, Hunger strike I guess. These are tools we use to effect, depending on situation. Devoid of the sword, we fight with NON (Kshatriya) violence.

In our service we used to endorse on Summary of Evidence :The statement has been read out to the accused in the language understood by him" (or words to that effect). Here in the civviiee street, the language needs to conform to the 'hearing ability of the receiver' BAHRON KO SUNAANEIN KE LIYE ZORRRR SE BOLNA PADTA HAI.

You are right, the statement of Mr Advani needs to be taken with a TON of salt. Yes. Thats right. But the greatest 'uplapdhi' of this event has been that SARKAR NE AAA KE, MERA HAAL TO PUCHHHHA. Now for some reason or the other, atleast someone came to find out and talk to us. We recall Sonia making the same statement, years ago. The same retractment may take place. But Saanp ka Kaata Bichhu se katwa lega, saanp se nahin. What Advani said has 50% chance of falsehood. Say 90%. But there is still that small percentage it may happen. And as practitioners of military science we know, there is nothing to lose. Are we giving up our agitation (though we are ourselves not happy doing it , possessing same OLQ as most of our veterans sitting on the fence)???? NO. REPEAT NO. The IESM will carry on till we get to our objectives.
With Warm Regards,
Col RP Chaturvedi