Pay Parity for Military: Bureaucrats Blowing their own Trumphets

With the armed forces insisting on a pay hike, the government has said it is “very difficult” to maintain a balance in salaries of government servants doing varied jobs.

“It is a very difficult exercise. Because it is not just a question of ensuring that people get better salaries. It is also a question of parities…. balances,” Cabinet Secretary Mr. K M Chandrasekhar said in an interview.

He was responding to a question on what steps the government was contemplating in view of the armed forces’ demand for pay parity.

Mr. Chandrasekhar said issues become more complicated when people start feeling that they are being discriminated against by the Pay Commission recommendations.

“It is very difficult when people feel that this chap has got more than me...that feeling is there. So, to maintain that kind of balance.... it is very difficult,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said the ministerial committee headed by External Affairs Mr. Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who had held both Defence and Finance portfolios earlier, was working on to find out a solution to the demands of the defence forces.

The armed forces have recently strongly conveyed to the government that there should be “no dilution” on their demands for pay parity.

This comes in the wake of reports that the government was trying to find a “middle path” to break the deadlock over the armed forces’ demands that included placing Army Lieutenant Colonels and their equivalents in the Navy and Air Force in Pay Band-4.

The Cabinet Secretary said when the armed forces raised the issue of pay parity, the Committee of Secretaries took up it immediately and deliberated on how to find a solution to it for the satisfaction of the defence personnel.

“When the armed forces raised the issue, we sat together at the official level with Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister (P M Nair) and decided that the best thing would be to request the higher level.

“So we requested the External Affairs Minister because he was both Defence and Finance Minister earlier and could consult Defence Minister and Finance Minister and give his views,” he said.

Mr. Chandrasekhar said a “large majority” of government officials, including the Group C and Group D employees, accepted the Pay Commission recommendations and were “more or less satisfied”.

“I do not have too many complaints and whatever complaints are there, we have created a mechanism. We got the anomaly committee, we got a fast track committee to look into those issues,” he said.

Highlighting the difficult task carried out by the 6th Pay Commission while framing the recommendations, Chandrasekhar said they had to make a huge change in the structure.

“See normally we used to get pay scales. Here we have gone away from pay scales to the Pay Band structure, which is entirely different structure. So, to maintain the parity was pretty difficult. But still I think we did a pretty good job,” he said.
Pay parity for armed forces a difficult task: Govt

Govt accepts recommendation of one-rank-one pension for ex-servicemen
Mon, Jul 6 03:25 PM
New Delhi, July 6 (ANI): Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that the Government has decided to substantially improve the pension of pre 01.01.2006 defence pensioners below officer rank and bring pre 10.10.1997 pensioners on par with post 10.10.1997 pensioners.

Presenting the Budget proposals for the year 2009-10 in Lok Sabha, Mukherjee said that it was based on the recommendation of the Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary on One Rank One Pension (OROP).

The Minister further said that these decisions will be implemented from July 1, 2009 and will cost the exchequer more than Rs. 2100 crore annually.

"These measures will benefit more than 12 lakh Jawans and JCOs. Certain pension benefits being extended to war wounded and other disabled pensioners are also being liberalized," he added.

Under the one-rank one-pension scheme, a retired defence personnel of a particular rank would be entitled to same amount of pension irrespective of the year of retirement. (ANI)
Govt accepts recommendation of one-rank-one pension for ex-servicemen

Ex-serviceman files RTI plea over 'one rank one pension' issue
Defence Minister does not mean a Minister to defend the follies of government. The pity is that the Defence Minister was silent and denied one rank one pension to the soldiers. He just could not understand as to why the soldiers are pleading for one rank one pension. Basically a soldier is sent home around 40 years of his age with meager pension. Had he allowed to continue in service or automatically absorbed in lateral employment till he reach 60 like his counterpart in civil, his pay would have been much higher and would have retired with better pension. The soldiers are not asking anything special but treatment at par with his counterpart. If the government can afford to give this to the President, Governors, MPs, Judges and IAS, how can they deny this to soldiers?
Ex-serviceman files RTI plea over 'one rank one pension' issue

Extracts from the letter written by General N C Vij to Dr Singh is reproduced below.
Safeguarding of Interest of the Pensioners: Over the past two decades, the government has been able to achieve some parity in the pensions of the current and past retirees. 'One rank one pension' was more or less achieved for the men, and in the case of officers, some minimum parity was brought in by grant of pension at the bottom of scale of the rank in which they retired. However, with introduction of running pay bands and the absence of top and bottom of the scales for any rank, the parity with specific bands, achieved over some time now, will be lost. There is, thus, a need to protect the interests of the past retirees by suitable modifications and thereby ensuring enhanced pensionary benefits to the tune of minimum 30%.

'Anomalies Committee' is Unlikely to Succeed in Addressing the Grievances of the Armed Forces: I have read in the media that an Anomalies Committee has been set up to look into the issues raised by everyone. This will not solve the problems of the Armed Forces for two reasons: (a) The Lack of Sensitivity/ Understanding -- This committee, which does not even have representatives of the armed forces as their members, will never be able to achieve a deep understanding or be sensitive enough to their problems. It is for this reason of lack of sensitivity, that the status of the Indian Armed Forces has undergone constant erosion with every Pay Commission Report. (b) Problems are of Basic Principles and Not Mere Technicalities -- The anomalies committees can address the technicalities but our problems are on account of the core concepts and approach and not merely of technicalities.
Read full letter to PM
A General's letter in anguish to the PM

Pension Parity a Farce or Folly?
In view of Judicial Rulings regarding disparity of Pension of Military, the Government has allotted Rs 2100 to debug the anomalies created by Bureaucrats and to redeem their image. Bringing Pension Parity of pre and post 1996 at par with post 2006 retirees is not "One Rank One Pension" as articulated by Ajai Vikram Singh Committee Recommendations.