Saturday, April 10, 2010

CRPF are well trained to neutralise Naxal/ Maoist Terror

20:11 IST
Reports have appeared in the media that ‘A’ company (45 men), ‘C’ company (12 men) and ‘G’ company (15 men) of the 62nd Battalion of the CRPF that undertook the area domination operations exercise out of the base camp at Chintalnar, district Dantewada, Chhattisgarh had not undergone training. These reports are incorrect and baseless.
‘A’ company underwent the following training:
  • Pre-induction training from 25.5.2009 to 21.6.2009.
  • Anti-naxal training from 8.2.2010 to 25.3.2010.
    ‘C’ company underwent the following training:
  • Pre-induction training from 25.5.2009 to 21.6.2009.
    ‘G’ company underwent the following training:
  • Pre-induction training from 28.2.2009 to 8.3.2009.

    Pre-induction training was imparted with specific reference to the area in which they were to be inducted. Anti-naxal training is more intensive training. ‘C’ company and ‘G’ company will undergo anti-naxal training when their turn comes in the cycle. All three companies were well-equipped. After the ambush, the three companies lost the following arms:
  • INSAS LMGs 6
  • INSAS rifles 42
  • SLRs 7
  • AK rifles 17
  • 2” mortar 1
  • 51” mortar 1
  • Carbine 1
    Total 75

    As regards training capacity, CRPF has Counter-Insurgency and Anti-terrorist (CIAT) schools in Silchar and Shivpuri with an annual capacity to train 1829 personnel and 750 personnel respectively. Four more adhoc training schools are being set up, one of which will be for the CRPF. Twenty more CIAT schools, with a total annual capacity of 18,000 personnel, are being set up in five States with MHA’s assistance and one of them has been completed and is operational in Orissa. The Army has trained 10 Battalions of CRPF, 10 Battalions of BSF and 5 Battalions of ITBP prior to their induction in naxal-affected States. OK/lg
    Reports Relating to training of CRPF Personnel are Incorrect

    Sitting ducks. That’s how Chhattisgarh’s top terrorism expert Brigadier (retd) BK Ponwar describes the security personnel who are fighting the Naxalites in the ‘Red Corridor’. Asked for how long the Naxal menace would continue, Ponwar said: “If a joint operation is launched in the entire ‘Red’ belt, we can wipe out the problem in a year or so.”
    CRPF ‘not sticki’ to jungle warfare basics: Top expert on terror says

    There is no controversy
    Chief of Army Staff in an interview has only confirmed that 62 Battalion was not trained by the Army. This does not imply that CRPF Battalion was not trained at all. Training is a continuous process for all combat men irrespective of arm or service or armed constabulary. Guerrilla Warfare is a very specialised one where combat is limited by terrain and jungles. The use and role of vehicles in thick forsts is limited. To that extent the Armed Forces has training methods evolved from the Burma Campaign of WWII. Field Marshal Manekshaw was gravely wounded. The famous Chindwara training camps of WWII were the best in the world for training of Soldiers. Everyone needs to learn lessons from history and tragedy. Sometimes the training report of Battalions are cooked up on paper to save their own skins, we need to be aware of such unbecoming conduct too because we Indians by nature excel in the art of book keeping or training on paper!
  • Compensation Package for Martyrs

    The Centre Wednesday announced on a compensation package of Rs 38 lakh and last drawn salary as monthly pension to the kin of each of the 75 CRPF men killed in the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on Tuesday. The Government also announced a compassionate recruitment to the kin of the martyrs.
    "The kin of the deceased personnel will receive funds of over Rs 38 lakh which includes Rs 15 lakh as ex-gratia from the Central Government, 10 lakh from CRPF risk fund, Rs three lakh as ex-gratia from the State Government, Rs 10 lakh from State Government as part of a scheme for antiNaxal operation and Rs 60,000 from CRPF central fund,” the Home Ministry said in a statement.
    Liberalised Pensionary Award (LPA) under EOFP Rules, which is equivalent to the slain personnel’s last drawn salary, will also be provided to them, the statement said. “In addition to the above, one eligible family member will be provided employment in CRPF on compassionate ground as per rules,” it said.
    Rs 38-lakh relief to kin of slain CRPF men New Delhi

    Why similar compenstion package is not sanctioned for Indian Armed Forces personnel who die defending the Nation?
    We salute the CRPF Jawans who have sacrificed their lives. The Home Minisitry's compensation package for the martyrs is commendable and laudable.
    This is a God given opportunity to ensure that the 'Faujis' also get similar benefits for dying, spilling blood and getting maimed in guarding the nations borders and the people of India.
    The IESM may consider obtaining a copy of the 'Pioneer' in which the benefits for those who died in the Dantewada operation have been published and file a Writ in the Supreme Court to compel the Government to sanction the Faujis, similar financial and allied benefits, as extended to these CRPF personnel.
    There should also be an Armed Forces Risk Fund, like the one operated by the CRPF besides other financial ex-gratia and other payments and jobs for the next of kin, forthcoming from the Central and State Governments and other agencies. In fact, lateral induction into other Central, State Forces, Public and State Sector units, etc., should be made a right for the personnel of the Defence Forces, who retire early in life
    Secondly, it should be made mandatory that, when soldiers are killed in action and other counter insurgency actions or on internal security duties, their bodies are sent to their native places and their funerals conducted with the necessary military honours and attended by the State and Local Officials and Dignitories.
    Veteran Christopher D'Silva

    Annual Confidential Reports: Soldier, heal thyself

    Tuesday, 6 April 2010
    Soldier, heal thyself
    India's new Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General VK Singh, has promised to focus on the "internal health" of the Indian Army. He has his task cut out for him.
    by Ajai Shukla Business Standard, 6th Apr 10

    Figuring out the state of an army’s morale is easy. All it takes is a couple of drinks with two groups of people: the officers and the enlisted men. If the chatter is mainly about sports and professional competitions; ongoing training; and about how much tougher and smarter they are than their rival units, morale is high. On the other hand, if talk centres on pay and allowances; promotions and postings; and on the world outside the army, you can bet money that morale is low. Applying this yardstick to the Indian Army I believe the morale of officers is low, while that of the jawans is high.

    In this gloomy assessment I have illustrious company. The new Chief of Army Staff, General VK Singh, on assuming office on the 1st of April, has wisely identified the army’s “internal health” as his key focus. Pointing out that an internally vibrant army would easily swat aside external threats, the army chief has promised to revitalize traditions, core values and the army’s ethos.

    Earlier chiefs, some as well-intentioned as General VK Singh, have embarked on similar paths. General K Sundarji, on taking over as chief in 1986, wrote to army officers individually, urging them to follow their professional convictions and promising to tolerate dissent. But that led nowhere as actions failed to follow words. Today, as the new chief implicitly accepts, the army has become a personality cult where officers either conform to the inclinations of the boss or get weeded out. Originality and eccentricity, those priceless attributes of a successful military leader, have been rendered extinct by a dull, humourless routine that is set --- Congress Party fashion --- by what the boss thinks his boss wants.

    Keeping the officers in line is a terrible God called the Annual Confidential Report before which even the brightest and most capable officer must kneel or be scythed down. While annual reports are an evaluation tool in many professions, the army has accorded the ACR absolute control of an officer’s career. Considering that this primacy is born of the army’s laudable quest for an impartial, empirical evaluation system, it is ironic that the ACR has turned into a monster of subjectivity. If the boss is unhappy with an officer --- for any reason whatsoever --- a single lukewarm ACR can sink a brilliant career.

    Dismantling this tyranny, and unlocking the potential of his officer corps, is the task ahead for General VK Singh. This is easier said than done. Blocking any radical change is the tribal ethos of the Indian Army. An officer belongs first to his regiment or battalion; only after that is he an Indian Army officer. An army chief’s first duty is towards the regiment and battalion that nurtured him; reforming the army conflicts with the role of regimental patriarch.

    When General JJ Singh, an infantry officer from the Maratha Light Infantry, took over as chief, the honour guard that welcomed him to South Block was from the Marathas. So was his aide-de-camp and most of his personal staff. During his term Army Headquarters strengthened the infantry-friendly promotion policies of his infantry predecessors. The tenure of his artillery successor, General Deepak Kapoor, saw the Corps of Artillery quickly muscling out the infantry as the flavour of the month. Promotion policy tilted in favour of the artillery. Upwardly mobile artillery officers were quickly posted into friendly environments, under “friendly” superiors, to ease their paths towards higher rank.

    These are only the most recent examples of the army’s longstanding patriarchal tradition that General VK Singh can now embrace or dismantle. A key step would be the creation of a clearly enunciated promotion policy, printed as a manual and sanctioned by the government, to ensure that each successive chief cannot tinker with the policy to suit his constituency. Today, 63 years after independence, the military has no promotion manual; policy exists only in a constantly revised torrent of letters from the Military Secretary’s branch.

    The other major change that General VK Singh could implement is the reversing of promotion quotas to higher rank: the “Mandalisation” of the army as it is evocatively referred to. From the institution of the Prussian General Staff in the early eighteenth century, professional militaries have employed the criterion of merit alone to select their senior command. For over half a century, so did the Indian Army; but recently, in a burst of patrimonial fervour, quotas were instituted to ensure that each combat arm got its share of the senior ranks. Initiated by artillery and infantry chiefs to safeguard the interests of their officers, the quotas are now favouring less talented officers of other arms.

    Few chiefs would voluntarily divest themselves of power but, paradoxically, the institution of the COAS would be greatly strengthened by transparency and the absence of discretion in promotions and postings. It would also free army chiefs from accusations of prejudice; a lever that MoD officials --- and in one well-known case, a defence minister --- have successfully employed to demand favours for their own candidates.
    Posted by Broadsword
    Ajai Shukla: Soldier, heal thyself: Business Standard
    Related Articles
    Leadership key issue: A national security strategy is required by Harsh V. Pant
    Judiciary at the crossroads: Time for serious introspection by Justice Rajindar Sachar (retd)
    The Army’s new role in Kashmir: Factor in threat dynamics, preserve gains by Maj-Gen Ashok K Mehta (Retd)

    Friday, April 9, 2010

    19 year old girl raped by two jawans, held

    Press Trust Of India
    Pune, April 09, 2010
    Two Army jawans were on Friday arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old girl in Sangvi area near in Pune, police said.
    The two jawans allegedly raped the girl on Wednesday night at Swaraj garden after beating up her lover.
    The couple had gone for a ride on a motorcycle but had to dismount when they ran out of petrol. The two accused then scared away the youth and took the girl to the adjacent open ground where they allegedly committed the crime, they said.
    The girl later filed a complaint with the police, which arrested the duo identified as Rajneesh Kumar Sureshchandra (from Uttar Pradesh) and Suminder Singh Mahipal Singh (Rajasthan) this morning.
    The incident comes days after a married woman was gangraped in the city.
    19 year old girl raped by two jawans, held

    Comment
    This is making National News in the Media and TV. In this shocking incident, a 19 year old girl raped by two jawans of Rajputana Rifles in Pune as the girl was forced by the duo to their camp and committed misdeed. The medical report of raped still awaited in the case. It is most likely the duo were under the influence of alcohol.
    The Battalion Commander who is a full Colonel is squarely to blame for the this gruesome rape (if committed) of a young girl near the Military Camp and for the indiscipline of his troops! The Battalion Commander needs to come out in the open and apologise in Public rather than trying to cover/ shield the misdeed of the culprits. What a shame and disgrace!

    Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were massacred by the Maoists

    Naxal/ Maoist strike: soldiers rode into the death trap
    Was Chhattisgarh attack intelligence failure, asks Congress



    The wreckage of a paramilitary vehicle blown up by Maoists' during an attack in Tadmela, Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.

    The bodies of 76 security personnel, 75 of them from the CRPF, were flown to their homes in different parts of the country. A glimpse at the last journey of Dantewada martyrs.

    New Delhi, April 6 : Terming the killing of 75 security personnel in Chattisgarh by the Maoists as an act of terror, the Congress Tuesday said "there might have been an intelligence failure and the reason for this should be ascertained".

    "This is very unfortunate that we have lost a number of precious lives of security personnel in a brutal attack. Those behind this terror attack should be firmly dealt with," Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS after 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were massacred by the Maoists in the forests of Chhattisgarh. The Congress also asked the government to take measures to prevent such attacks.
    --IANS
    Was Chhattisgarh attack intelligence failure, asks Congress
    Popular support leading to Maoist attacks on security forces?

    E.N. Rammohan to Conduct Inquiry into Ambush of CRPF in Dantewada
    It has been decided to conduct an Inquiry into the circumstances leading to the ambush of CRPF platoons on last Tuesday at Dantewada in Chhatisgarh. Shri E.N. Rammohan, IPS (retired), has been appointed to conduct the Inquiry and submit a report within 15 days. The Inquiry report shall:
    a) establish the circumstances preceding and the sequence of events leading to the incident of April 6, 2010.
    (b) reconstruct, as far as possible, the actual events that took place on that day from 0500 hrs to 1200 hrs. and until the first rescue party reached the place of incident.
    c) examine the CDR of the mobile telephones used by the deceased/injured personnel of the CRPF during the encounter and gather evidence from family members and others that would throw light on the actual events that took place during the ambush.
    d) analyze and establish the decision/command structure/ hierarchy and the specific levels which took relevant decisions concerning the AD(Ops) and leading to the incident.
    e) examine the quality of the training imparted to the relevant Companies of CRPF and the details of SoPs issued to the Company.
    f) examine the response of the State Police and the CRPF both during the ambush and the post-ambush relief and rescue operations.
    g) suggest measures to mitigate the lapses, if any, which are documented by the Enquiry Officer so that such incidents do not reoccur.
    h) consider any other matter that the Inquiry Officer may deem relevant to the scope and terms of the Inquiry.

    All Paramilitary Forces and State Govt., Police and Home Departments have been directed to offer access to all relevant records, wireless, logs, etc. as may be sought by the Inquiry Officer. OK/KP/DB
    E.N. Rammohan to Conduct Inquiry into Ambush of CRPF in Dantewada

    Thursday, April 8, 2010

    Shortage of Officers: Can we win a war?

    Present Shortage of Officers is 15,000 which is about 30% of the authorised strength
    Authority and initiative are devolved to junior level leaders who must be relied upon to problem-solve rather than react according to fixed operating procedures because a war fighting doctrine premised on creating confusion and disorder in the enemy’s organization cannot be centrally controlled. If there is shortage whom do we train? Can the red tabs take on the Junior Leaders role?

    Will the shortages of Junior Officers affect Indian Armed Forces ability to evolve and also succeed in a Military Strategy to defeat our adversaries?

    The past five years have seen all three services articulate doctrines for their vision of the future of war. On the whole, this is a positive development in that a promulgated doctrine can provide a guide to help ensure that the services’ training, procurement and personnel policies are in line with their concept of future military operations. The problem is that military doctrines cannot be developed in a vacuum. In the absence of strong political guidance as to the nation’s strategic goals and the conditions under which the armed forces would be employed, the armed services are being forced to improvise – which can strip doctrine of many of its useful functions if they lack inter-service coordination and develop ways of fighting that are incompatible with the political objectives of the country’s leadership.

    Bollywood Style Planning: Indian planners believe that they can use the incidents like Mumbai attacks as an excuse for the limited war backed by extensive “knock out” diplomacy to give in by Pakistani political leadership against world pressure. In the state of confusion of political leadership they can go for limited war and can achieve their military objectives. Ignoring the basic difference between a commando action and this kind of limited war. Very few politicians are well-versed in military affairs, and the actual expertise in defence matters of the Ministry of Defence’s IAS Bureaucrats are patchy at best. The Armed Forces have to do better to train Politicians as well if we wish to evolve a Military Doctrine to blunt our adversaries!
    Armed Forces short of nearly 15,000 Officers: RM

    Rehabilitation of War Widows

    Dear Veterans,
    On 01 April 2010, I made a request to Sh Gopal Saxena and Sh Ramesh Narayana CEO’s of BSES Rajdhani and BSES BYPL, regarding rehabilitation of War Widows and dependents daughters of War Widows and dependents daughter of Ex-servicemen. They both have very kindly agreed to employ daughters of War Widows, Widows and dependent's daughter of Servicemen/ Ex-Servicemen in their organization in the post of Meter Readers or any other suitable appointments with minimum qualification as 10th class pass. Suitable candidates may forward their Biodata to BSES Bhawan, Nehru Place, New Delh- 110019
    You are requested to give wide publicity to this & also apprise needy Widows.
    With kind regards,
    “Jai Hind”
    Maj TC Rao (Retd)
    Founder
    "Gramin Uthaan - Bharat Nirman"

    Good work.
    But we have to see how you expedite the execution of SC judgment of 8 March 2010 regarding the payment of Rank pay and re-fixation of pay and gratuity etc after the 4th Pay commission. I hope you will put all your effort to that end and rectify the mistakes deliberate or otherwise of Babus.
    regards
    Commodore PK Gupta (Retd)

    Wednesday, April 7, 2010

    One-Rank-One-Pension For Armed Forces

    2009-07-14 T10:24:06+05:30
    According to Defence Minister A. K. Antony, the government has accepted the one-rank-one-pension (OROP) demand for armed forces officers and personnel below officer rank (PBOR) and will also set up a separate pay panel for the military.

    But, he also added that the OROP demand is not accepted as such. "The decision is now nearer to the goal of one-rank-one-pension demand of nearly 1.5 million personnel," Antony said, adding: "The financial implication would be Rs.2,144 crore," the minister added.

    The demand had been considered by a high-level committee headed by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar, to which the issue had been referred after armed forces personnel began returning their gallantry and distinguished service awards to protest the government's inaction.

    On the demand for a separate pay commission for the armed forces, the minister said: "It has been agreed (to), and as and when necessary, it will be set up in the future.

    The government has also accepted the committee's recommendations on raising the compensation for those disabled or injured in war, Antony added.
    One-Rank-One-Pension For Armed Forces

    Deductions
    1. There is Political will to grant OROP.
    2. OROP demand not accepted in lieu Pension nearer to OROP granted.
    3. CoS and Anomaly Committees convolute and confuse the OROP issue. Bureaucrats are averse to OROP.
    4. Time to activate the Military Pay Commission to set right the Pension Anomalies.

    Military Pay Commission
    Armed force’s pension rules are very complicated and a maze of confusing rules and changes implemented over the decades. Issues like up gradation, elimination of ranks and appointments, different retirement ages, SSC, parity with civilians are some vexing issues which forms a fertile ground for babus to play around and confuse the Politicians.

    Government should resolve the just demands of armed forces with sympathy and find ways to ensure that soldiers feel that they are not being short changed or short circuited. A separate pay commission for armed forces is a great way in removing the suspicions that IAS predators are fixing salaries for armed forces personnel (serving and retired).

    India's Maoist rebel attack sparks anger

    By Anuj Chopra, Correspondent / April 7, 2010
    Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram warned against kneejerk reactions as details emerged about how India’s Maoist rebels killed 76 policemen without taking a single casualty.

    Chhattisgarh state Chief Minister Raman Singh, right in white, waits to place a wreath before the bodies of victims killed in Tuesday's Maoist attack at a hospital in Dantewada, India, Wednesday. India will push ahead with an offensive against Maoist rebels despite the death of 76 government troops in an ambush by insurgents in the east, the country's top security official said Wednesday. AP

    The Maoists, also called Naxalites, who claim to fight for India’s poor, have battled the government for four decades. They have been labeled one of the top security threats in India, with a presence in 22 of 28 states. Despite a massive offensive launched against them last year across seven states, called Operation Greenhunt, they recently rejected an offer of peace negotiations.

    “Something has gone very wrong,” India’s home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram admitted, but he cautioned against any “knee jerk” reaction to the attack.

    Ambush, booby traps
    According to Indian and Western media reports, a convoy of the Alpha company of the elite Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which is involved in Operation Greenhunt in the state of Chhattisgarh, walked into a rebel trap while heading to a base. It is a rocky area enveloped by thick forest.

    At dawn, more than 500 rebels, armed with a sophisticated inventory of weapons, besieged the convoy in their signature guerrilla style. They opened fire indiscriminately, threw grenades, and set off IEDs (improvised explosive devices). Fleeing soldiers fell over the mines and booby traps that the rebels had laid beforehand on the escape routes. Two sets of police reinforcements arrived on the scene, and also came under fire.

    “Tuesday’s ambush was no low intensity affair,” said an editorial in The Indian Express, a national daily. “This is a large scale, if protracted war … Tuesday’s massacre is not to be construed as a warning or another small episode in a war of attrition.”

    “Therefore, it is time to review Green Hunt: a tactical upgrade, even an overhaul,” it continued.

    No reinforcements, for now
    Mr. Chidambaram ruled out for now the possibility of bringing in the Army or Air Force to fight the Maoists, but pledged there would be no letup in the offensive.

    “We think the state police assisted by Central paramilitary forces are sufficient to overcome the Naxalite threat. It is our present assessment of the threat,” he said. “But if necessary, we will have to revisit the mandate to make some changes.”
    India's Maoist rebel attack sparks anger
    Dantewada Massacre: Thorough military analysis needed- by Col Vijay Rajdhan dated 07 Apr 2010

    The RMS Forum and Readers Salute the 76 CRPF brave hearts who laid down their lives fighting the terrorists. Our heartfelt condolences to all the family members.

    Grant of Dearness Relief to Pensioners

    Grant of Dearness Relief to Pensioners w.e.f Jan-2010
    After the grant of DA enhancement to employees last week, today Govt has enhanced Dearness relief to Central Government pensioners and family pensioners.
    The enhancement is to the tune of 8%, and with effect from 1.1.2010, Armed Forces pensioners and family pensioners will be getting Dearness Releif at the rate of 35%.
    Download Order F.No: 42/18/2010-P&PW(G) dated 31.3.2010 issued for enhancement of dearness relief to Pensioners

    Degradation of MNS Officers muted by Armed Forces Tribunal

    MNS Officers entitled to service privileges of regular officers : AFT
    In a well reasoned decision, the Hon’ble Principal Bench of the AFT has held that MNS officers are also commissioned officers and are authorised to the privileges of their respective ranks.

    The decision comes in the backdrop of the refusal of authorities to allow a Major General of the MNS from sporting stars and flying a flag on her official car.

    The order has settled the controversy once and for all, but the issue makes one wonder as to why were stars and flags refused to such officers in the first place ? When an officer is holding a particular military rank, then it makes no sense to deny the ceremonial ancillaries of the same. It is the rank that is entitled to such privileges and not the service or the person who is wearing that uniform. When there is no bar on sporting the ‘stars’ on the collars, then in my humble opinion there should be no reason as to why a bar should exist on sporting the same very stars on the car !.
    Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh

    Self Inflicted Injury
    How the Armed Forces degrades itself is evident from the AHQ, COAS letter to Defence Secretary who is responsible for CoS and Anomaly Committee being convoluted and negated! Click link below.
    Degrade Basic Pay, Grade Pay and Status of Nurses in Armed Forces

    Some suggested measures to redeem the damage inflicted on the MNS Cadre:
  • Add a web page for the Military Nursing Service under the arms/ services in the official web site.
  • Re-commence the Officers training at AMC Centre and School for the Newly Commissioned Officers of the Military Nursing Service.
  • Re-commence the arms training to Nursing Officers (stopped in the early Nineties). To fulfill the Articles of the Geneva Convention MNS are required to be trained in arms/ weapon handling. Incidentally, the Army still has Golding Medal for Shooting championship for the Nursing Officers from the British era.
  • Bring the Military Nursing Service fully under the Army Act (remove the auxiliary force tag).
  • We are talking about allowing women in all arms and services of the Army. However still we do not allow eligible men to become Commissioned Nursing Officers! Therefore, remove the restriction on men to join the Nursing Services as Commissioned Officers.
  • National Security: Terror Outfits Target India

    06/04/2010
    India's political establishment on LeT's radar: Experts
    Washington: Warning that India's transportation, economic infrastructure and political establishment are on the LeT's radar, a US Defence Department think tank has said the terror outfit still enjoys funding from ISI and is also assisted by the Karachi-based D-Company of Dawood Ibrahim.

    The LeT, though having a close relationship with al-Qaeda, will continue to evolve into a distinctive, South Asia-centric terrorist actor in its own right while still receiving aid from fringe elements in Pakistan's security and intelligence apparatus and elsewhere, the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College said.

    This will not only allow LeT to continue to plan future Mumbai-style terrorist attacks in India from safe havens in Pakistan, but will also enable it to guide and assist the predominantly indigenous Indian Mujahideen (IM), it said.

    Authored by Ryan Clarke, the 117-page report 'Lashkar-I-Taiba: The Fallacy of Subservient Proxies and the Future of Islamist Terrorism in India' gives the first-of-its kind detailed analysis of the outfit.

    The report said the troubling fact is that the LeT has upgraded its activities and has begun to operate throughout India and will likely target transportation and economic infrastructure and the political establishment as opposed to Indian security forces exclusively.

    "It has also adopted new methods of destabilisation such as recruiting from India's troubled northeast and smuggling militants into India by sea, a serious infringement on India's sovereignty," it said.

    "Despite being a proscribed outfit, LeT still enjoys funding from ISI and through donations from a wide range of domestic and overseas sympathisers, including Indian Muslims.

    Read the full article:
    India's political establishment on LeT's radar: Experts
    Related reading
    Karachi-based D-Company aided 26/11 attackers
    Deadliest Maoist Attack Highlights Mittal, NMDC India Challenge
    Politicians make fool of the Citizens
    One thinks these news are being spread purposely by the politicians so that they get more bodyguards and make the people fools. The Mumbai type attack has to be prevented at all costs. The terrorist funding by Hawala, Black Money, Money Laundering, Smuggling, Drug Peddling, Fake and Counterfeit Money, Real Estate Dealings, Illegal Mining, Swiss Money- mostly resorted to by Smugglers, Criminal Politicians and other Anti- Nationals need to arrested. Does the Nation have the Political Will to take on the Goons and dry up the Terror Funding?

    Signal Officer is a Hero: Book by Col I Jayakaran

    Dear fellow Signaller,
    You may not know nor have heard of me. I am of 1947 batch and retired in Nov 1976. But you and I are related because we both belong to the great Corps of Signals. I have written a fiction titled, "His Princess Royal" in which the hero is a Signals Officer. The book will be of tremendous reading interest to all Army Officers and Signals Officers in particular, especially those who have served in Army HQ Sig Regt (in the old location near Lok Sabha) and have done their SODE course. The book will be available shortly in Landmark outlets in all cities. It is priced at Rs 160/-. If not available in the book shops as yet, the buyers may approach the publisher directly: either send an email or contact on telephone and the publisher will send it to you by courier, of course, after you have made the payment. His id: "Ana books, Anna Nagar West, Chennai- 600040". Tele:(044)42611223, 64601100, Cell 9840080014 and email: sales@anabooks.net
    Those living in and around Anna Nagar, Chennai, may just walk across and collect the copy.
    Col Israel Jayakaran (Retd)

    Tuesday, April 6, 2010

    Fourth Pay Commission: Rank Pay Restored after 24 years

    Dear Friends,
    Jai Hind.
    The President of Retired Defence Officers Association, Lt Col BK Sharma, met the Raksha Mantri on 31 Mar 10 and handed over the Supreme Court order of 08 Mar 10 regarding the Rank Pay case. A copy of the court order and the covering letter handed over by Lt Col BK Sharma to the Raksha Mantri are reproduced below.
    In service of Indian Military Veterans
    Chander Kamboj.

    Letter to RM
    Retired Defence Officers Association (Regd)
    Regd. Office: 27-A, SFS, Pocket -1, Sector - 7, Dwarka, New Delhi – 110075
    31 Mar 2010.
    To,
    Shri AK Antony
    Hon’ble Raksha Mantryji Govt of India, MoD,
    104, South Block,
    DHQ PO, New Delhi – 110011
    SUB: 4TH PAY COMMISSION RANK PAY ANOMLY CASE
    1. Kindly refer our meeting held with you on the subject issue on 23 Dec 2006 in your office. It was very kind of you to give a patient hearing to the officers of the association.
    2. As per the recommendations of the 4th Pay Commission ‘Rank Pay’ which was to be paid in addition to the emoluments for officer from the rank of Capt to Brig, was erroneously deducted at the time of pay fixation resulting in financial loss to the officers of the three Defence Services. In this context the judgment of the Kerela High Court in the case of Major AK Dhanapalan Vis Union of India is well known to you.
    3. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India heard the case on 08 Mar 2010 and in it’s verdict, has ‘upheld’ the judgment passed by the single judge of Kerela High Court as confirmed by the Division Bench of the same court. The Apex Court has held that the judgment was correct and reasonable and as such the benefit of the judgment should be extended to all the affected officers of the Armed Forces. The Court also awarded 6% interest on the amount due to the officers. The Hon’ble Supreme Court disposed of the transfer petition and allowed the writ petitions of the petitioners. Copy of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India is attached for your perusal.
    4. In view of the above judgment, it is requested that necessary instructions/ notification may please be issued at the earliest so that the affected officers get their legitimate arrears.
    Yours Sincerely,
    Lt Col BK Sharma (Retd)
    President
    Lt Col Satwant Singh (Retd)
    Secretary

    Court Order and Ruling
    WP (C) 96/09 etc
    427028
    IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
    CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
    WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 96 OF 2009
    Sunil Kumar Chand & Ors.... Petitioners
    Versus
    Union of India & Ors.... Respondents
    WITH
    TRANSFER PETITION (C) NO. 56 OF 2007
    Union of India & Ors..... Petitioners
    Versus
    N. K. Nair & Ors.... Respondents
    WITH
    WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 34 OF 2009
    K. K. Roghtagi & Ors..... Petitioners
    Versus
    Union of India & Ors..... Respondents
    ORDER
    Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Mohan Jain, learned Addl. Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India.
    Application for intervention in T.P. (C) No. 56/2007 is allowed.
    Since the issue involved in the writ petitions pending before the various High Courts is the same as in Writ Petition (C) Nos. 96/2009 and 34/2009· pending before this Court, this transfer petition is allowed. Writ petition Nos. 11056/2006, 11128/2006, 10810/2006, 13508/2006, 13497/2006 and 18176/2006 pending before the High Court of Kerala, Writ Petition No. 13904/2006 pending before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Writ Petition Nos. 1935/2006, 1934/2006, 1957/2006 and 47909/2006 pending before the High Court of Allahabad are directed to be transferred to this Court and taken on Board.
    The prayer in these writ petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution is for grant of benefits awarded by a learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court vide his judgment dated 5.10.1998 in O.P. 2448/1996 which has been affirmed by the Division Bench of the High Court in Writ Appeal No. 518/1999 by judgment dated 4.7.2003.
    We have carefully perused the judgment dated 5.10.1998 of the learned Single Judge as well as judgment dated 4.7.2003 of the Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala and we respectfully agree with the reasoning given therein for grant of rank pay retrospectively from 1.1.1986. We also direct interest to be paid thereon at 6% p. a . Accordingly , these writ petitions as well as the transferred writ petitions are allowed.
    No order as to the costs.
    ............................................. J.
    (MARKANDEY KATJU)
    .......................................... J.
    (R.M. LODHA)
    NEW DELHI; MARCH 08, 2010

    Comment: When will MOD issue the Notification for implementation is the real question? Does it have more tricks up it sleeve to scuttle the issue and deny Pension to the Veterans?

    China excels in Cyber Theft of Classified documents

    Turning the tables on a China-based computer espionage gang, Canadian and United States computer security researchers have monitored a spying operation for the past eight months, observing while the intruders pilfered classified and restricted documents from the highest levels of the Indian Defence Ministry.

    In a report issued Monday night, the researchers, based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, provide a detailed account of how a spy operation it called the Shadow Network systematically hacked into personal computers in government offices on several continents.

    The Toronto spy hunters not only learned what kinds of material had been stolen, but were able to see some of the actual documents, including classified assessments about security in several Indian states, and confidential embassy documents about India's relationships in West Africa, Russia and the Middle East. The intruders breached the systems of independent analysts, taking reports on several Indian missile systems. They also obtained a year's worth of the Dalai Lama's personal e-mail messages.
    Read complete cyber espionage sequence
    Researchers trace Indian Defence Ministry data theft to China

    Comment: We need to subject Chinese to our "Official Secret Act", which will screw them beyond redemption.

    Nation bereft of Humane Values

    We are proud Indians but I still feel there is something we must do to improve our nation. I do not have the answer to this but I feel basically the value of a human being is missing.
    Few lines for pondering:
    WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY
  • Where Pizza reaches home faster than the Ambulance and Police.
  • Where we get Car Loans @ 8% but Education loan is @ 12%.
  • Where Rice is Rs 40/KG but Sim Card is free.
  • Where a millionaire can buy cricket team, instead donate money in any charity. I personally hate this IPL nonsense- we as Indians should boycott this game in totality in its revised form.
  • Where everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to follow the path for betterment of the nation.
  • Where people standing at tea stall reading an article about child labor from a paper and says “yaar bacho se kaam karne walo ko to fansi pe chada dena chahiye”
    and then they shout - “oye Chotu 2 chai laana”
    FIR BHI DIL HAI HINDUSTANI
    JAI HIND
    Hemant Kamboj
    (Son of Brig CS Kamboj)
  • Dedicated to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

    Picture Courtesy Bharat Rakshak

    I am attaching an incident which took place 44 yrs. Back with late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, my first hand account, and I wish to dedicate it to his memory on his 96th Birthday. Kindly publish it for general information.
    Sqn Ldr AK Agrawala(Retd)

    In rememberance of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on his 96th Birthday on 3 April, I would like to recount a heart throbbing incident, along with late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw,more than four decades back but it is as fresh in my memory as it happened very recently. I was a very young officer and met (then) Gen Manekshaw for the first and the only time, not at any Air Force function nor on any occasion in the Air Force Mess, as a honoured guest or invitee, but altogether in a very different situation on an operational commitment. to continue click here to read the memorable episode

    National Security: Status of the Armed Forces

    PMF are trained to neutralise terrorists

    Dear Brigadier Kamboj,
    Going through the excellent article by Gen Oberoi, I am tempted to recall an article that I wrote for Deccan Herald in 1999 in relation to the sacking of the Naval Chief and also a brief that I had prepared in Aug 2009 for a VVIP on the "Status of the Armed Forces and National Security". I am attaching the two pieces as link below. I realise that I may be adding to your enormous volume of e-mail but thought that you may be interested in noting how things affecting the Armed Forces have not only not changed over the years but have gone from bad to worse. You may kindly deal with the features sent by me in whatever manner you deem fit.
    Warm Regards,
    Krishnaswamy
    (AVM S Krishnaswamy, Bangalore)
    Click link below:
    Sacking of the Naval Chief and Status of the Armed Forces and National Security

    Monday, April 5, 2010

    Redressal of Grievances of Defence Pensioners

    Effective redressal of the grievances of the Defence pensioners has been the constant endeavour of Government to strengthen the mechanism for prompt disposal. In this regard, following steps have been taken:
  • Action has been taken by the agencies concerned with pension sanction and disbursement viz. Service HQrs, Record Offices, Pension Sanctioning Authority and Pension Disbursement Agencies to computerise the records
  • Pension sanctioning at Principal Controller of Defence Accounts ( PCDA( P) is fully computerised . PCDA( P) has placed the relevant orders and instructions relating to pension in their web site (www. pcdapension.nic.in ) which also provides a calculator so that the pensioner could find out correct entitlement.
  • Regular Defence Pension Adalats , six in a year , are organized in different parts of the country to redress the grievances of the Armed forces pensioners near to place of their residence/work. In addition, mini pension Adalats are held by the Defence Pension Disbursing Offices ( DPDOs ).
  • All branches of the Public Sector Banks and 4 Private Sector Banks have been added to the existing pension disbursement network
  • A single window system has been introduced in DPDOs to facilitates hassle free and prompt release of first payment cheques or any working day after retirement.
  • Endorsements of family pension in PPO of pre – 1989 retirees, numbering about 2 lakhs were pending. A special drive has been launched for joint notification of family pension in these cases.
  • Role of Medical Adviser (Pension) has been dispensed with for adjudicating disability pension claims w.e.f . 1.9.2005. As a result, the recommendations of IMB/RMB, as approved by the prescribed authorities would be treated as final unless the individual himself asks for a review.
  • Periodical Resurvey Medical Board for continued grant of disability pension has been done away with. Now, a one time board known as Re-Assessment Medical Board will be held, whose recommendation shall be final and for life, unless the individual himself asks for a review.
  • ECOs/SSCOs would now get service element at par with Regular Commissioned Officers for the purpose of disability pension, which provides that they will get service element for the entire length of service rendered as against upto the date of occurrence of disability.
  • A copy of the specialists' opinion on the percentage of disability attributability /aggravation would be provided to the individual at the time of IMB/RMB.
  • The advantage of the higher pay scale granted under Assured Career Progression has been given for the purpose of computation of pension. Simplification/liberalization of provisions relating to pensionary matters is a continuous process so that the grievances of the pensioners are reduced considerably and even if there are grievances the same are attended to promptly.
    Resettlement & Welfare Schemes

    Pension to Armed Forces Personnel
    As on April 1, 2007 the number of Defence pensioners is estimated to be about 21.91 lakhs. The estimated budget provision for the year 2007-08 (RE) is Rs.15 ,244 crores. The pension is disbursed through all branches of the 27 Public Sector Banks, 4 Private Sector Banks viz. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, UTI Bank and IDBI Bank, 640 Treasuries, 61 Defence Pension Disbursing Offices DPDOs), 2 Post Offices, 5 Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) scattered all over India. For the Armed Forces pensioners residing in Nepal , disbursement of pension is done through 3 Pension Payment Offices(PPOs).
    The budget estimates on Defence pension is as given below:
  • 2006-07(RE) 13806.00 Crores
  • 2007-08(RE) 15244.00 Crores
  • 2008-09(BE) 15564.00 Crores
  • 2009-10(EP) 15800.00 Crores extrapolated
  • 2010-11(EP) 18000.00 Crores extrapolated
  • ECHS: Let it be a Healthy Network rather than a Cobweb

    Few years back as a serving officer I had written “ECHS – A Failed Concept” as a Dy Cdr in J&K after interacting with a cross section of ESM in the hill cum border districts of J&K and HP. Now I write as an ESM Veteran. Aim is to sensitize the system towards improvement and move forward ‘Onwards & Upwards’ and NOT – Backwards & Downwards.

    The feedback expressed is after my first ‘Novice’ visit to ECHS BH Delhi Cantt– Malice towards None & All. The evolved system! Following suggestions are put forth towards streamlining the system towards efficiency and making ‘Veteran Friendly’:
  • Shuttling within the ECHS. Need for further decentralization and not make the patient a shuttle cock between various rooms/ counters.
  • Referal Powers. Empower the ECHS doctor and leave the choice to the patient of the location irrespective where the patient has reported. Eg referral powers now lie with ECHS BH/RR or Both after numerous bouts of shuttling.
  • Addl ECHS for Dwarka. This will help in decongesting ECHS BH Or shift ECHS Palam to Dwarka. Infact ECHS Palam should have been co-located with one of the Gurgaon AWHO Societies.
  • Reporting directly to Empanelled Hospitals. Need to work out on a system allowing the veteran to report to nearest Empanelled Hosp to save travelling time, distance, expenses and inconvenience to the sick veteran.
  • Extending the Arm of Medicare. ECHS launch had aimed at spread and enhance the reach near door steps. Instead at place too much of centralization has possibly failed. (Eg Chamba (HP) ECHS shifted to Bakloh (HP) mil stn where a MH exists).
  • Physiotherapy. I am told only BH is auth. Is it possible for the BH Physiotherapy Centre singularly take the load of serving and ESM which is ever increasing?
  • What’s in a Name! Smart Card Name: click here to review status. Surname first has changed the life long name eg ‘Sharma Jung Bahadur’ to ‘SJ Bahadur’ instead of ‘JB Sharma’ Could be an error I'm not too sure! Also requested to ensure Veterans rank is used and NOT Mr.
  • My ‘Novice’ experience of shuttling within the ECHS web- Self Explanatory–
    Star Imagery Lab TILAKNAGAR->R&R->DENTAL
    Approval Authy out of Stn!?
    DENTIST?->ECHS->BH->RXN->DENTAL CENTRE->GK???
    Star Imagery Lab TILAKNAGAR->repeat for four days!!!!
  • Wonder how much a veteran PBOR will spend/shuttle and how many days will he take especially if he is genuinely sick! ‘Veteran’s desire to get treated are literally made more sick encountering the ECHS laid down bureaucratic Hurdles’ A patient on report my signal blog.
  • Attn: Authorities may like to surf the blog for suggestions to improve ECHS functioning click here. For more click older posts at the bottom of the page.

    Request do not treat it as a complaint rather consider it as constructive suggestions and genuine feedback and let the ‘Healthy Team of ECHS’ resolve issues and arrest the downward satisfaction level which is sliding down at an alarming rate. Fresh feed back/ suggestions may kindly be obtained from senior serving AMC General Officers, retired Cols & below and cross-section of PBOR across the country. ‘Let the ECHS be a healthy facilitating network and not a cobweb’.

    Tailpiece
    Military Leadership - Internal Health A Point of View:
    “Army has very strong traditions, core values... We can fight well if our Internal Health is good “ says COAS Gen VK Singh.
    The ECHS health needs to be tuned upwards and not downwards!
    Col RC Patial, SM (Retd)
  • MOD and AHQ negate Judicial Rulings on Soldiers Pension

    MOD negates Soldiers Pension
    Sunday, April 4, 2010
    Supreme Court rings the bell but would we ever wake up?
    “Why are you after disabled military personnel?” was the query of a Division Bench of the Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court recently while dismissing a Letter Patents Appeal (LPA) filed by the Union of India against a Single Bench decision awarding disability pension to an old veteran. In reply, the Central Govt Counsel very fairly informed the Hon’ble Court that though legal advice was tendered against filing of an appeal and the issue involved was a covered matter, the authorities still insisted on challenging the decision.

    It is time to tame these legal pundits in Delhi who are acting like raging bulls and filing mindless appeals against verdicts rendered in pensionary matters in favour of disabled veterans. These scheming legal minds work in a simple and rudimentary fashion – file appeals in almost all cases, take the cases to the Hon’ble Supreme Court - take a chance and in case of even one single verdict in favour of the govt, the same would be flaunted all over to introduce impediments in the system of grant of benefits to released and retired service-members. These old hands in the legal advisory system clearly know that poor veterans would not be able to (afford and) represent themselves properly before the Apex Court which in turn gives them a free hand to twist legal issues while articulating them before the Supreme Court which sometimes results in decisions that can hardly be labelled well-rounded.

    Two examples that come to mind are Lt Col P K Kapur’s case where the govt faultily, incorrectly and misleadingly informed the Apex Court that rounding-off / broad-banding of disability percentage for calculating disability element was introduced as a benefit to cater for decreased service tenure of invalided personnel and hence was not applicable to personnel who retire on completion of terms of engagement or superannuation. The retired officer concerned, who was arguing in person without proper legal assistance, could not rebut the contention leading to a verdict against him. Needless to say, broad-banding / rounding-off was actually introduced to counter medical subjectivity and mistakes & disagreements of medical boards and not to cater for shortened tenures on invalidation. In yet another case, the govt appealed to the Supreme Court against grant of disability pension for an injury sustained while on leave and contended that the verdict of the High Court was untenable since the person did not have the requisite length of service to earn a disability pension, again there was no proper assistance rendered to the Court and the decision of the High Court was reversed. But the decision of the High Court was reversed on the basis of a false statement again by the Union of India, since in reality, there is no minimum service requirement for earning a disability pension and disability pension in fact is even admissible to recruits under Regulation 181 of the Pension Regulations. Fortunately this false statement of the Union of India which was not rebutted by the poor veteran’s counsel (if there was any) is recorded in the order of the Apex Court and shall ultimately prove to be an albatross around the Union’s legal neck, mark my words.

    The buck stops there, at Delhi, at the offices of the Legal Advisor (Defence), the Director (Pensions) and to an extent the Director PS-4 (Legal). Mr Antony should instill a sense of judiciousness in these authorities. By filing frivolous and mindless appeals and by tacitly misleading Hon’ble Courts, they are not showing any loyalty to the Indian State or the Auditors but on the contrary are displaying a sense of insensitivity and disregard to this great nation and its even greater protectors. The disparaging remark of the Hon’ble Supreme Court is landmark in the sense that it signifies that from now on frivolities may not be accepted. There is a requirement of a shriller alarm bell, I see it coming round the corner, but would we still wake up ? Beggary is illegal, ban it here too !.
    Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh
    Read the complete Game Plan of MOD
    Supreme Court rings the bell but would we ever wake up?
    Comment: The greater game plan of MOD is to post pliable Officers to AHQ to downgrade the chain of command and stall the Judicial Rulings with sinster designs!

    Challenges before the new Army Chief

    General V.K. Singh has taken over as the 26th Army Chief in an environment full of challenges. Nearly half the army is committed in fighting various insurgencies and a proxy war. The combat potential of the army is at an all-time low of nearly 50 per cent.
    There has been little modernisation in the last decade or so. The budget for the army gets reduced every year in real terms. The deteriorating civil-military relations do not bode well for the safety and security of the nation. And the regional security environment is cause for concern.
    The status of army personnel is dwindling continuously, adversely affecting the morale of the rank and file. The shortage of officers is again at a precariously high level. The veterans’ resentment consequent to the dragging of feet by the government on their long-pending demand for one rank one pension (OROP) threatens to boil over.
    The situation reminds this writer of the battlefield message sent by a General to his Emperor: “Am surrounded both sides. My centre cannot hold. Situation excellent. I shall attack.” Will the new Army Chief, who had cut his professional teeth in a proud and valorous regiment, replicate this by being proactive? The citizens, who have a great affection for the army, do expect it from him.
    Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (Retd)
    The writer is a former Vice-Chief of the Indian Army
    Click link below to read the full account
    Challenges before the new Army Chief by Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd)

    IESM: Capt Sidhu's 40 years march to Justice

    Retired Army Captain expresses bitterness


    1. Read your write-up on Capt Sidhu's effort, which has resulted in what is an unprecedented but richly deserved put-down for the Govt.
    2. You will also be proud to hear that Capt Chanan Singh Sidhu, who was posted at Pathankot after the '71 war, was very much a brave and dauntless soldier: even without his right arm, he would drive a Rajdoot motorcycle all the time, of course with a prosthetic attachment, and a steel claw like device to hold the handlebar! He was a good friend of most of us IAF officers posted at Pathankot, particularly in No 2 Mess. I got to see him often, because he was very close to my room-mate, Flt Lt AG Chitre {now Gp Capt AG Chitre (retd)}. One never found him complaining about the his unfortunate injury.
    3. There are a few like Capt Sidhu, some who have been more fortunate in being able to rise to high ranks in the Army, but they all deserve our salutes!
    Regards,
    Ravi Mani
    Wg Cdr(Retd)

    Dear Veterans,
    Today evening I was watching Times Now News. Arnab Goswami anchored the bulletin. Top of the show was the famous Supreme Courts' condemnation of the treatment meted out to the Veterans. The Hero, Capt CS Siddhu was shown live. A tall man, Sardar, looking every inch a soldier, must have been quite handsome in his younger days, which is evident from his bearing even today. 1970 to 2010, is a very long march indeed. Spanning four decades, fighting for the last vicissitude of pride & justice, his victory may well be termed as symbolic. But for the consolation that all the rest of Emergency Commissioned Officers of 1965 vintage & the Short Commissioned Officers from then on, as per his own words, 'will stand to gain'.

    His march led him to India gate in 2006, where on 22 March, he burnt his artificial Arm to the full glare of the public & the media, surrounded by his colleagues who were also without a leg or arm. The same month Gen JJ Singh, our previous COAS, was shown in a clip stating that the justice will be done to the Veteran. Another clip was shown of Pranab Mukerjee, the then RM, who also assured of help. The only help the Veteran received was to see the case being dragged from Court to Court. Even the favourable Verdict of the Punjab & Haryana HIgh Court which the Veteran received, was contested by the Army under the orders of the MOD, which led to such a humiliating judgement from the Supreme court. The Govt Pleader could hardly manage to salvage some decency by requesting the Court for the removal of some critical comments, from the written order.

    Capt CS Siddhu, has lost his valuable 40 years before some semblance of justice is done. In this long period, most of the affected Officers would have reached their heavenly abode. Like Siddhu rightly pointed out, having served as Class 1 Gazetted Officer, he could not take to begging, which could have been more lucrative as the Court itself pointed out. He also said that till 1985, his pension was just Rs 380/- pm.

    In the march of IESM also, we are witnessing such morale boosters like Maj Dhanapalan & now Capt Siddhu. Unfortunately, Siddhu belonged to a different class. He was not a Permanent Commission Officer. Class within a Class!! Hence the plight of the EC & SSRC Officers were overlooked by almost all the ESM Organisations. Is it a wake up call to all of them?
    Veteran Raman

    Broad Banding Disability Pension Explained

    Dear Viru,
    Please refer to your mail addressed to Chander Kamboj.
    Broad banding, in brief, means that the percentages of disabilities sanctioned to service personnel (and presumably civilians) have been rationalized by rounding off, only in the category of invalidment. The following table gives the details:

    The broad banding as explained above does not automatically translate to war injury component of pension, as you have queried.

    As you must be aware, there are two broad types of disabilities that the government recognizes and for which personnel get benefits. The first is disability that has occurred in a non- warlike situation, which entitles a person to get ‘disability’ component in his pension. The second is disability on account of injuries sustained in war or warlike situations. In this case, the person is entitled to ‘war injury’ component that is added to his pension. In broad terms, ‘war injury’ component is double that of ‘disability’ component and is added to the pension.

    As I have mentioned above, till date, broad banding is only applicable to personnel invalided out and not to personnel who continued to serve and then retired or were discharged. It is not logical, but who said the government was logical in any thing it does!!!
    Hope your doubts have been clarified.
    Best wishes.
    Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi (Retd)
    Former Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS)

    Dear Friends,
    Jai Hind.
    I have received a few emails enquiring about the meaning of “Broad banding of Disability Pension”.
    Please read the email above, received from Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, Former Vice Chief of Army Staff and President War Wounded Foundation, which clearly explains the term broad banding of disability pension.

    Please help in disseminating of this information to all concerned. THANK YOU.
    In service of Indian Military Veterans
    Chander Kamboj.

    DISABILITY PENSION
    Dear Sir,
    Thanks for the info relating to broad banding of disability pension. I’m afraid, I’ve no idea as to the term of brad banding in the context of disability benefits. Could someone, elucidate on this as how does it really translate to War Injury Pension? Does it mean that the disability pension will now be paid on percentage basis of the basic pay as sanctioned by the 6th Pay Commission to those who are being invalidated out of military service now and its applicable to all disabled personnel of pre-1996 cases.
    Looking fwd hearing from you.
    War regards,
    Veteran Viru Swarup

    CHECK YOUR PENSION: PRE-2006 RETIREES- Para 9 Broad Banding of Disability

    WWII: Japanese Surrender aboard Missouri


    A piece of history on the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945.....This is an actual film made of the surrender ceremony of the Japs to McArthur in Tokyo Bay.
    Historical Footage: Japanese Surrender Signing Aboard Battleship Missouri Sunday Sept 2, 1945.
    This draws parallel to Pakistan troops Surrender to Indian Army in Bangla Desh in 1971 Indo Pak War

    Sunday, April 4, 2010

    Domestic helps are not Sahayaks: Military Officers need to exercise caution

    Choose your domestic help with care- by T A Santhana Raman 03 Apr 2010
    In all metro and other big cities, life becomes a stand still without the domestic help. The reason for searching a dometic help are umpteen.

    Modern sophisticated life, shifting from joint family system to micro family structure, both members taking job assignments, choosing posh living system, spouse's novice nature to cooking, for taking care of the young ones, grown up sons and daughters settling abroad leaving the senior parents helpless may be some strong supporting reasons. Self-boasting nature of women having too many domestic servants is the order of the day. Your prestige and grade in your friends' circle is based on the number of servants you have and you are highly rated! I heard my niece conversing with her friend that she was unable to maintain the house in spite of having four servants(in New Delhi). Her remark was with a punch of elation.

    A close circuit and well-knit family taking care of themselves is far better than going for servants. It is very difficult to get sincere, honest, caring and duty-bound ones, for, it is a short-lived contractual relationship that cannot last long. Current scenerio witnesses these prospective helpers are greedy to the core, dishonest, viloent and of unsound mind mostly. They are further pretentitious.

    It is highly essential for us to verify the credentials of the servant well in advance before employment. Many gory incidents have taken place throughout the country....senior citizens (including military officers families) baterred with iron rods and killed, servants decamping with jewellery and cash, kidnapping the children for ransom, cases like Aarushi's, drugging the inmates and killing for petty quarrels and abuses, single males misbehaving with servants in teens.

    If one hires a servant just like picking up a displayed item in the mall things would turn very difficult for him/ her. It is always wise to check the antecedents of domestic help to be on the safer side. The necessity is many of them are chosen from the floating populace to the urban and suburban areas or from the migrants group about whom our knowledge and info is zero. It lands the police department into a helpless situation and tiresome hunt for them once incedents take place.

    There are some suggestive steps in this angle:
    1. Never hire any servant before you come to know about him/ her even if your relatives or friends recommend.
    2. Do not sympathise with their look/ appearance. They may be the best actors if consigned to the Bollywood.
    3. When someone is suggested, demnd their papers and pass on the papers and the servants to the nearest police station for verification.
    4. Never keep them even for a day without a nod from the police.
    5. Fix their wages and other non-monetory concessions well in advance. Dont deviate from that norm even if you feel impressed that they deserve more than your offer.
    6. Avoid discussing your financial position in their presence whatsoever.....like leaving your debit/ credit cards unattended, leaving your cheque books, bank pass books, property documents to their reach. This might lure them to vulnerable indisposition.
    7. Avoid doldrums from your end on the landline or cells when they are at work.
    8. Never let them know your daily chores or itineray.
    9. Don't keep servants for overnight stay. It may result in problems rather than of any help.
    10. Especially married women, dont encourage the servants talking about your spouses or make them follow the husbands like the CID sleuths. This will demean your dignity and can be misuesd by the servants to blackmail you for gains.
    11. Keep the servants at a distance and show them their place. Never entertain any of their relatives or friends in your flats.
    12. Keep in touch with the police officers and make a request to them to monitor their movements periodically.
    13. While going for shopping with them, dont allow allow them a chance to sneak into your fat wallet.
    14. Keep all your safe lockers shut and dont allow the keys hanging.
    15. Above all dont entertain them talking to you about your neighbours in any manner, because they may be doing so similarly with them. It may result in the estrangement and you may miss the neighbours' valuable help at the time of crises.

    Finally it may be wise to keep changing them after a reasonable time because the intimacy developed results in crimes and you may be caught in them unaware! Good Day and Good Luck!!!
    Choose your domestic help with care

    Precaution: Domestic servants form the main intelligence source for the thugs and criminals. Information regarding your travel/ shopping plans or absence from home is passed on by cell phones to enable criminals to take advantage. Many couples proceeding on journeys for weddings/ shopping and other social functions have been robbed at the Railway Platforms, Bus Stands or driving their cars. Veterans need to be doubly cautious of Home Security. Installation of a security camera in the house is an wise option for those employing domestic servants and personal drivers.

    SCPC: Recommendations Skewed by IAS manipulators

    Sixth Pay Commission comments dated Oct 2008 reproduced for the information of our Readers
    Air Marshal Savur has, indeed, done eveyone of us a great service by correctly analysing and very cogently articulating the perfidious role played by Ms. Sushma Nath in skewing up the recommendations of the VI Pay Commission, aprops the Armed Forces and the Veterans, while concurrently feathering the nests of the IAS or the Indian Anomalies Service and the Indian Farce Service. Thank you, Air Marshal.

    Unfortunately, in the heat of discussions and the scramble to get the wrongs righted, all of us have overlooked the root cause of all the trouble, the Armed Forces and in particular the Veterans, are now saddled with. In order to set things right and surgically lance the abscess of IAS fiddling and fudging, it is necessary to make an example of the Committee of Secretaries and Sushma Nath, in particular. Concurrently, it is also necessary to point out that, in failing to reconvene the VI Pay Commission to consider and decide upon the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries, the implemented VI Pay Commission award is legally untenable.

    Logically, therefore, it appears that matters can only be set right by filing a Writ, in either the Delhi High Court or the Supreme Court and bring out the entire perfidious role played by Sushma Nath and the Committee of Secretaries (COS). Here, it wll be necessary to bring out the increases the IAS and the IFS have given themselves over and above what had been recommended by the VI Pay Commission and as approved by the Union Cabinet.

    This was, very lucidly and in great detail, brought out and documented by 'Outlook India' immediately after the announcement by the PM regarding the VI Pay Commission. This will set the 'Cat among the Pegions' and then, the IAS, IFS, Sushma Nath, and the COS, will really have to scramble to effect damage control, as things start unraveling, without let or hindrance. A request will have to be made to the Court to appoint a Court Commission under a Judge of the Apex Court or the High Court to conduct an enquiry and report back for action, as deemed fit by the Court. And, that is the time to push for the Defence Services Pay Commission apart from other matters!

    Here below, I am extracting the details rgarding the 'Outlook India Article' ibid from the reply given by me to Shekar Gupta of Indian Express, in response to his preposterous article on the Sevice Chiefs, way back in October 2008:

    Quote
    "Having said my piece, out of anguish and deep hurt, it is time to bring to your kind notice the fraud that the IAS and the IFS Mandarins have perpetrated on the nation by giving themselves fat raises, not authorised by the Union Cabinet! I am furnishing herewith, a link: click here that I have taken from OUTLOOK INDIA Online which I had accessed yesterday, 04 October 2008. In addition, a copy of the contents of the link, is also separately furnished as a document and given as an Attachment. Your paper has earned a very good and well earned reputation for investigative reporting. Kindly, therefore, investigate the facts as brought out in the article in OUTLOOK INDIA and pursue the issue like a bloodhound, for inquiry by a Commission of Enquiry, headed by a Judge of the Supreme/High Court, known for his independence and professional integrity and thereafter, for such accountability, as may be necessary, under the Law of the Land. Here, it is very necesssary that, all those bureaucrats involved in the VI Pay Commission process, irrespective of their status or pre-eminent position, be made answerable, so that such a fraudulent act is never, never attempted again by any other person, howsoever high he/ she may be.

    In doing this, you will be doing a great service, not only to the the country and the Armed Forces but more definitively, redeeming yourself from the wrong that has been done by your article ibid to the Services, the Veterans and the Indian Republic.
    Veteran Christopher D'Silva

    Comment: Now that the Anomalies Committee has been laid to rest, the IESM and all other Ex- Servicemen Organisations need to jointly expose the Fraud Committed on the Nation by the IAS Predators though the Judicial and Legal route confirming to the rules of the land. The opportune time has also come for activating the Military Pay Commission immediately to address all the anomalies created by the SCPC in respect of Pension for the Veterans

    IAS deceit exposed by Outlook India in October 2008 revisited

    Sixth Pay Panel: IAS Advantage Dated:Oct 13, 2008
    Primus Inter Predators?
    The IAS lobby has cornered for itself far more pay than the Union cabinet cleared
    Saikat Datta

    Smash & Grab
    •The Union cabinet had cleared two additional increments for IAS officers, but bureaucrats gave themselves four
    •Even the two additional increments cleared by the cabinet were meant only for a limited period. But the IAS lobby has manipulated to see that this incremental edge over others stays throughout service period.
    •The additional fiscal burden for these increments not sanctioned by the cabinet is Rs 12 crore a year
    •New notifications scripted by the babus have ensured that junior IAS officers will draw more than their seniors in other services
    •Those in other services who were drawing the same pay as their IAS counterparts will now get less
    ***
    Who is supreme, the Union cabinet or the bureaucrat? There was never the need to raise this question. But the flurry of notifications from babus of the department of personnel and training after the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations were approved by the cabinet on August 14 makes one wonder whether bureaucrats—IAS officers—have overriding powers. Documents accessed by Outlook show that the cabinet approved a certain pay structure, but it was subverted by the IAS lobby for salary gains.

    The notification that gives IAS officers a pay advantage

    At a conservative estimate, this manipulation entails an additional annual burden of Rs 12 crore on the exchequer, not taking into account the proportionate gains the IAS lobby has allowed the IFS, or foreign service. Besides, in terms of arrears, 4,000 IAS officers will end up being paid Rs 32 crore. All this is money that wasn't authorised by the cabinet in the first place. Here's how the interpretations and manipulations took place:

    •On August 14, the cabinet okayed two additional increments for the IAS in the fifth year of service. This would put them ahead of other streams vis-a-vis salary till the completion of sixteen years, after which there is pay parity across all services.

    •However, while interpreting the new pay band system, the IAS lobby slipped in an additional two increments in the tenth year as well.

    •The bureaucrats have also ensured that the pay edge they have got over others remains till they retire. There will be no cutoff after the 16th year in service.
    These machinations haven't gone down well with the other services. They have already shot off strong letters to the cabinet secretary and have also taken up the matter with senior members of the cabinet. "This malafide manipulation raises a basic question about who is supreme in the government—is it the Union cabinet or the IAS? The fact that this has been done shows that even the cabinet has no sanctity when it comes to the self-interest of a particular lobby in government," a senior police officer told Outlook.

    State associations of IPS and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers have sent in strong protests and representations, demanding not only a reversion to the original intent of the cabinet but also action against the officials responsible for "misinterpreting a cabinet decision."

    In response to a fax to the Union finance ministry, an official associated with the pay commission told Outlook that the intention of the cabinet was to continue with the advantage for the IAS and IFS at three levels. "This was discussed at several meetings and has the sanction of the government," the official insisted, and pointed out that "members from the other services, including the IPS and the IFS, were present, they were fully aware of the implications, and gave their stamp of approval." However, the meetings took place on July 2, much before the issue came up before the cabinet.

    Besides awarding themselves additional increments, the bureaucrats have also arbitrarily awarded themselves a higher salary structure than what was recommended through several arbitrary means. While the commission recommended Rs 9,000 as grade pay for joint secretary level officers, it has been increased straightaway to Rs 10,000.

    The justification runs thus: an IAS officer of the director rank is equivalent to a colonel in the army or an SP in the police. The next step up the ladder makes a bureaucrat a joint secretary, equivalent to a major general or inspector general of police. However, police officers and those in the army and other defence services have to pass through one more rung—the brigadier-DIG level —before they are on par with a joint secretary. The commission's increment for DIG-level officers meant a grade pay of Rs 8,400—just Rs 100 more than an IAS director. The former protested and the grade salary was raised to Rs 8,900. This upset the joint secretaries, as their grade pay was Rs 9,000. The IAS lobby promptly raised it to Rs 10,000.

    The cabinet mandated that the IAS has an edge over other services at only 3 middle levels, with 2 additional increments. But the new notification means that IAS officers get 4 additional increments, which continue throughout their career

    The manipulation of recommended pay structures doesn't end here. In a bizarre move, the slew of new pay notifications have also ensured that junior IAS officers get more money than their seniors in other services. For instance, a junior IAS officer drawing Rs 16,300 in the old pay structure will now get a gross of Rs 40,890 under the new scheme. But officers from other services, who were his seniors and were drawing a higher pay packet of Rs 16,400, will now get Rs 39,690.

    The other services have also been crying foul at the way grade pays have been fixed for them, while keeping the IAS at an advantage. In representations to the Centre, other service associations have pointed out that their increments have been proportionately much lower than that of their IAS counterparts. While increments for other ranks have been higher, for the DIG/brigadier level the ratio has been kept at a measly 0.14. This has led to IAS officers at a lower level drawing more than DIGs and brigadiers.

    Similarly, an IAS officer drawing Rs 15,100 today will now get Rs 39,690. But his counterpart in the other services, drawing the same salary, will now, inexplicably, get Rs 38,500. "It is not just about money," a police officer says. "Pay structure also decides seniority, perks and powers. By ensuring the superiority of one service at the cost of all other services, you are ensuring bad governance. This will mean that other services will remain subservient to the wishes of the IAS. Is that desirable in our framework of good governance or in view of the efforts that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is making to bring about more professional delivery of governance in India?" he asks.

    In the end, even as bureaucrats bestow increments and sops on themselves, can citizens expect better governance? All government employees associations have rejected a key recommendation made by the commission: to link twenty per cent of annual increment to performance. So, while the exchequer is drained at the expense of the common man, the babu has ensured that he will continue to reap benefits—even as he shortchanges the government he is supposed to serve.
    Primus Inter Predators?: The IAS lobby has cornered for itself far more pay than the Union cabinet cleared by Saikat Datta

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