IESM: One Rank One Pension- Points to Ponder

Initiate Action
The article by Veteran Bhupal Singh dated 30 Aug 10 (click here to read reference) made interesting and inspiring reading. We must change tack. We are gentlemen but they are not. The request and rationalization period is certainly over. Proactive or aggressive measures are the order of the day. Instead of requesting the grand ladies and gentlemen, who are oblivious of our existence, we should now concentrate on individuals. A group or a crowd affords anonymity, thus, protection, allowing individuals to go boisterous. All cases must have been initiated by some one, moved up the chain, on files, and finally approved. Identify all of them with the help of RTI and present them before a Court of Law. Decades back, the Netas and Babus, at least some, spent some time thinking about the country and the milling masses whereas the Courts minded the law only (Courts of Law and not Justice, it was said). The change now is radical. The air, now blowing out of there, is fresh, fragrant and invigorating. The Superior Courts are thinking very significantly and profoundly of and for the country and the common man whereas the N&B have grossly degenerated. That, I suppose, is the difference between the intellectual and the merely educated - if at all. They religiously believe, ‘charity begins (and ends) at home’. May I suggest to the IESM ‘brain trust’ not to approach the high dignitaries as they are entirely focused, Arjuna like, only better, as the former saw the eye whereas these worthies see only the pupil, not even the iris, but on themselves only! So, there you are. Incidentally, I saw in some movies androids and robots, exactly humanlike in looks and was reminded instantly of two of our knights in shining armour. The similarity was eerie and the feeling numbing! I used to think of them as ‘lame ducks’ but was not satisfied with the simile as even the lame ducks could think on their own. These are actually robots! This is not morbid sense of humour as the joke is on us! We have to flounder and wail helplessly till drowning. Do we have to? Pardon the apparent digression but the feeling is overwhelming. We must identify the culprits by name and haul them up. To expect justice and fairness from the people we are dealing with will be pure naivety if not utter stupidity. The legal tunnel is long but one can see light at the end of it. The SC has given us hopes. Gone are the days when a ‘B’ was sheltered by the government but now they have to pay fines from their own pockets, are brought to Courts in person and even jailed. Accountability in the Civil Services Rules does exist. Let a start be made now. Even if the finish line is far away, it is there. Let the Cabinet Secretary give detailed reasons and justifications for not accepting OROP, particularly when parliamentary committees have accepted. He should be sought to be sacked for being incompetent, malicious, unbecoming and unworthy. Charges of treason should be brought against him as his malicious actions have degraded the morale and the fighting strength of our Armed Forces. Recently there have been some welcome developments which will bolster our cause. We must remember, nevertheless, that we have to fight our own battles.

Pension for and of MPs
Much has been written and said about the pay of MPs. Sarcasm has also been used which, of course, must have evoked comment like ‘dogs bark and caravans pass’ etc from the target worthies as their skins are far too tough to affect them in the intended manner. However, no one but NO ONE has talked about their pension and the very justification for it. Of course, they don’t have to justify any thing to any one; their very desire is justification enough: and they know it. A government employee has to put in 20 years of good service to earn a pension but not a MP. Not many – ordinary mortals and MPs - may even know that Short Service Commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces having put in 14 or 15 years of service do not get a pension. They merely get a gratuity, quite in keeping with their lowly status (civil supremacy-remember?). The Services are alarmingly short of personnel. Who wants to die for the country which regularly cheats and berates them? So? The answer is quite obvious to any one who bothers to think logically and not wishfully/ philosophically.

And to digress some what: concepts such as, right-wrong, proper-improper, ethical-unethical are fast disappearing, aided and abetted by the lawmakers themselves, brazenly and with fan fare. There appears to be no alternative but to live with it. Isn’t what most people do termed ‘normal’? In Mahabharat, one of the questions asked by the ‘Dharma Baka’ to the Pandavas, during their exile, was, “which/what is the correct path?” and the answer, as given by Yudhisthir was, “it is the path followed by the ‘Mahajana’(great people)”. So, who are the “great people” these days? No prize for the correct answer which is the pity (heart rending?)
Moral: Might is right.
Veteran Col BN Ratha
03 Sep 10