Are the defence bureaucrats misleading the Indian government and people?

During the budget presentation, Pranab Mukherjee's statements seemed to indicate that the Armed forces demand of One Rank, One Pension has been resolved. However Maj Gen (retired) Satbir Singh, the vice-chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Association, said to the Calcutta Telegraph (here) “This is not an acceptance of our demand for one rank one pension,”. So while the politicians and bureaucrats have convinced themselves that the issue of low morale in the armed forces has been resolved, our sources in the Armed forces say that neither has it been resolved nor are the relevant issues being addressed.

Separately, the Defence Minister A.K. Antony claimed that the armed forces are short of 15,000 staff. But the reality is that we have the third largest army in the world and the only battle we have seen in the last 10 years is in Kargil where a few thousand men were deployed. Globally there is a trend towards reduction in the number of personnel while using technology to increase the effectiveness of each soldier. This is thus an issue of a flawed long term strategy and also deploying of the army for issues that local bodies (police, CRPF etc) should be deployed. 8ak sources say that the shortage of staff at the levels like Lt Col is due to excessive promotions which have bloated the upper echelons of the forces. Read here

India Today said that the armed forces were unhappy that the French National day was given more importance than the anniversary of Kargil where our bravest men laid down their lives against an unprovoked Pakistani attack. Read it here.
Are the defence bureaucrats misleading the Indian government and people?

Rare Honour to Indian Army by France on "Bastille Day’

July 1, 2009 by roop
Indian Military is one of the finest and most professional armed forces of the world. This is evident from the fact that all developed nations take pride in conducting joint exercises with our armed forces and are spell bound by the way the operations are conducted. Continuing the trend, France has invited our troops to participate in the France’s ‘Bastille Day’ parade in Paris; an honour bestowed to very few countries.
Deccan Herald reports that for the first time in the history of Indian Army, jawans of Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Centre (MLIRC) here, will have the honour of participating in France’s ‘Bastille Day’ parade in Paris.
The Maratha contingent will participate in the France National Day celebrations on July 13. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest on the occasion and the contingent will participate in the parade in the prime minister’s presence and exhibit the Indian Army’s tradition.
On receipt of an invitation from the France government to the Indian Army, COAS, Gen Deepak Kapoor has chosen the contingent from Maratha Regiment comprising group leader Major Vivek Khanduri, three Junior Commissioned Officers and 144 jawans. The contingent has 70 per cent jawans, who are Marathas, 20 per cent Kannadigas and 10 per cent Tamilians, according to MLIRC sources.
The contingent had won the first prize twice at Republic Day parade in Delhi for the last two years, has continued its practice at Delhi. The contingent would leave for Paris on July 7 by France government’s special flight.
Rare honour to Indian Army by France