The Indian Army is facing the ire of a parliamentary panel over its continuing practice of employing trained soldiers as sahayaks (personal assistants) of officers.
New Delhi |Wednesday, 2011 6:35:06 PM IST
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on defence strongly condemned the system of employing sahayaks to carry out menial domestic chores of officers in one of its reports about three years ago. It has for the third time now slammed the defence ministry for defending the practice and for not heeding its recommendation of abolishing it.
The report on 'stress management in the armed forces', 31st by the committee during the 14th Lok Sabha, has said the sahayak system was "inhuman". It has also stated that the trained soldiers were for fighting wars for the country and they should be used only for such purposes and not stationed at the residences of officers.
But the committee's current report on the budgetary demands for grants, presented to the Lok Sabha Wednesday, said it "places on record the anguish over the disrespect of one of their important recommendation" to abolish the system.
The committee, headed by Congress MP Satpal Maharaj, has also declared that the defence ministry owed it an explanation for not implementing the recommendation.
Dismissing the repeated justification of the defence ministry that the sahayak system was a necessity, the committee said it was "not convinced" with the reasoning given by the defence ministry that the army personnel functioned in pairs and the soldier was the buddy of the officer.
--Indo-Asian News Service ncb/rn/vt
MPs panel slams army practice of soldiers as assistants
Comment: The Buddy system draws a flak. There is no justification for having Sahayaks in Peace Stations and Training Institutions. Senior Officers (Red Tabs) should set the trend and shed this Buddy system in Peace Stations and Cantonments.
Showing posts with label Poor Professionalism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poor Professionalism. Show all posts
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thursday, September 23, 2010
CWG: National Shame Personified
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Saturday, August 21, 2010
Quantum jump for MsP: No accountability to the citizens they serve?
The government on Saturday assured agitating MPs that their concerns on salary hike would be addressed, NDA convenor Sharad Yadav said in the Lok Sabha, a day after several opposition parties conducted a 'mock' Parliament. Yadav made the statement during Zero Hour, shortly after he along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, BJP deputy leader Gopinath Munde and BSP leader Dara Singh Chauhan met Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee.
"The matter regarding the hike of salary of MPs has been resolved," Yadav said, apprising the House of the meeting. "The House will now function as per rules," he said.
Matter over salary hike resolved: Sharad Yadav tells LS
Dear Veterans,
... edited ...
To night's 'Times Now' debate anchored by Arnab Goswami, covered the hot topic of MPs salary hike. For a change, all the participants were given adequate time to express themselves. It was heartening to see that both Gen Shankar Prasad & Capt Siddhu put across their points forcefully.
The crux of the problem, as Arnab put it, is not the Salary hike to the MsP, but the deprivation of the soldiers who are guarding the Nation day in and day out. They are the first one to be called in any calamity, the latest one being the Common Wealth Games. He, and the other two Veterans explained, as to how the Parliamentarians or the Law Makers, got together, cutting across the party lines, to forge an unity amongst themselves, to force the Cabinet to hike their salaries to a whopping 300 per cent, in just four days. Whereas, it has taken 10 years for the Armed Forces personnel to get a hike of just 38 percent.
When the OROP issue was considered, the Govt said that was not viable. This theory of viability is going to be further tested by the Law Makers with their demand of 500% hike. One wonders as to what Sekhar Gutpta has to say now, since he was the one to dub our Chiefs as Trade Unionists, when they refused to implement the Sixth Pay Commission Recmmendations.
Shankar Prasad pointed out that the Govt is planning to induct the Army to salvage the Games, free of cost. The Urban Minister, Jaipal Reddy, has indicated that even an allownce of 20,000/ - per month for the Officers & Rs 10,000/- per month for the other ranks may not be possible. Arnab pointed out that this amount is just a fraction of the 15 additional free air flights, now sanctioned to the MsP.
Capt Siddhu, was blunt in stating to Manu Singhvi, that it was his Govt which went for a review of the disability case which was settled by the Supreme court (Veterans will remember the 'Beggars' comment by the Court). Even after the Govt failed in its last atttempt to block the case, it never paid him, till he filed a Contempt of the Court pettition. In all it had taken him 30 years. But Manu Singhvi & other MsP could get all within four days.
Manu Singhvi conceded that he was not aware of all these cases & the OROP. But, Shankar Prasad pointed out that the entire Nation is aware of the OROP & the depositing of medals by the Veterans to the President, in protest. How a big wig from the Ruling Party can feign ignorence. Manu Singhvi, at least on the screen, assured that he is prepared to take up the cases of the Veterans in the Supreme Court against the Review Pettitions filed by the Govt.
"Sir, will you stick to your Words?" I request the Leaders of IESM to send a procession to his house or office to sanctify his promise.
I am deliberately omitting the presence of Rahul Bajaj in the show, since he did not have much to say but to support the cause of the MsP salary hike. But, he mentioned that the present salary of the MP, which is 16,000, is what he is paying his chauffer. So, in our country the lives of Soldiers are cheaper than the Chauffers. The minimum that the old Industrialist & ex MP could have done is to draw the attention of the Govt to this great disparity. But if he does that, he will be deprived of the use of his Private air craft, by the DGCA.
Arnab's pro Armed Forces stand was supported by facts & figures. He rightly pointed out to Singhvi & Bajaj, that the comparisson of the MsP to the salaries of the Army personnel is inescapble, since the IAS, IPS & the rest do the same. The MsP are demanding 500% hike only to overtake the Cabinet Secretary in the Salary structure.
I did not know Siddhu has sense of humour. He emphatically supported Singhvi & Bajaj & demanded that the salary of the MsP should be hiked to 700%, because of the unruly behaviour & shouting they indulge in the House, which may add to their expenditures.
... edited ...
Veteran Raman
Col (Retd) TN Raman
Sunday, July 18, 2010
CRPF Jawan was gunned down after 4-hour drama
The Hindu 17 July 2010
A “drunk” CRPF jawan allegedly opened fire from his AK-47 rifle killing six of his colleagues, including an officer who had reprimanded him for consuming alcohol on duty, minutes before the shooting spree in Saraikela district of Jharkhand.
The alleged shooter was gunned down after a four-hour drama by other CRPF personnel on Friday night, preventing any further casualties.
Shocked by the incident, CRPF headquarters in New Delhi has rushed its Additional Director General (Headquarters) J.C. Dabas to the spot to find the facts about the fratricidal incident, along with other senior officials posted in the State overseeing anti-Naxal operations.
Constable Harpinder Singh of the 196 battalion of the CRPF, who was on sentry duty at a camp in Kuchai village of Saraikela district, started firing indiscriminately on his colleagues at around 10 p.m., a CRPF spokesperson said.
Six of his colleagues, including Assistant Commandant Bikau Singh, were killed in the firing.
According to sources in the force, an altercation broke out between Singh and other CRPF men over the quantity of food being wasted in the company mess. Singh, who was the mess in-charge, started arguing.
Assistant Commandant Bikau Singh then called these men into his tent to solve the issue.
Bikau found Singh to be “drunk” and ordered a medical test, which enraged him, the sources said adding, he picked up his AK-47 rifle and shot dead four personnel, including the officer.
Shooting spree
The men at the camp tried for three hours to persuade Singh to drop the gun and surrender but the last straw came when he killed a sentry atop a watchtower, the sources said.
Then the other jawans fired at him to disarm him and stop further killings.
As Singh continued to fire, CRPF personnel at the camp shot him dead at around 2 a.m., the officer said.
The dead included Head Constables M.C. Patil and I.R. Khairnar from Maharashtra, Head Constables P.T. Rao of Andhra Pradesh, Jatav Bhav Singh from Gujarat and Constable Vijay Kumar from Uttar Pradesh.
The District Superintendent of Police and the Commandant of the battalion reached the site in the night itself. Police have registered a case, they said.
Sources said Singh had resumed duty on June 18 after returning from a vacation.
A report from Saraikela-Kharswan district said an FIR has been lodged in connection with the firing incident.
Superintendent of Police Abhisekha Kumar said Constable Harpinder Singh, who opened the fire, was made accused in the FIR.
Post-mortem of the bodies was conducted in a local government hospital on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Saraikela-Kharswan district A.K. Mishra said.
A jawan, who was injured in the firing, has been admitted to MGM Hospital, he said.
The SP, who visited the spot, said the preliminary investigation suggested that Harpinder Singh opened fire in a drunken state.
Jawan was gunned down after 4-hour drama
A “drunk” CRPF jawan allegedly opened fire from his AK-47 rifle killing six of his colleagues, including an officer who had reprimanded him for consuming alcohol on duty, minutes before the shooting spree in Saraikela district of Jharkhand.
The alleged shooter was gunned down after a four-hour drama by other CRPF personnel on Friday night, preventing any further casualties.
Shocked by the incident, CRPF headquarters in New Delhi has rushed its Additional Director General (Headquarters) J.C. Dabas to the spot to find the facts about the fratricidal incident, along with other senior officials posted in the State overseeing anti-Naxal operations.
Constable Harpinder Singh of the 196 battalion of the CRPF, who was on sentry duty at a camp in Kuchai village of Saraikela district, started firing indiscriminately on his colleagues at around 10 p.m., a CRPF spokesperson said.
Six of his colleagues, including Assistant Commandant Bikau Singh, were killed in the firing.
According to sources in the force, an altercation broke out between Singh and other CRPF men over the quantity of food being wasted in the company mess. Singh, who was the mess in-charge, started arguing.
Assistant Commandant Bikau Singh then called these men into his tent to solve the issue.
Bikau found Singh to be “drunk” and ordered a medical test, which enraged him, the sources said adding, he picked up his AK-47 rifle and shot dead four personnel, including the officer.
Shooting spree
The men at the camp tried for three hours to persuade Singh to drop the gun and surrender but the last straw came when he killed a sentry atop a watchtower, the sources said.
Then the other jawans fired at him to disarm him and stop further killings.
As Singh continued to fire, CRPF personnel at the camp shot him dead at around 2 a.m., the officer said.
The dead included Head Constables M.C. Patil and I.R. Khairnar from Maharashtra, Head Constables P.T. Rao of Andhra Pradesh, Jatav Bhav Singh from Gujarat and Constable Vijay Kumar from Uttar Pradesh.
The District Superintendent of Police and the Commandant of the battalion reached the site in the night itself. Police have registered a case, they said.
Sources said Singh had resumed duty on June 18 after returning from a vacation.
A report from Saraikela-Kharswan district said an FIR has been lodged in connection with the firing incident.
Superintendent of Police Abhisekha Kumar said Constable Harpinder Singh, who opened the fire, was made accused in the FIR.
Post-mortem of the bodies was conducted in a local government hospital on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Saraikela-Kharswan district A.K. Mishra said.
A jawan, who was injured in the firing, has been admitted to MGM Hospital, he said.
The SP, who visited the spot, said the preliminary investigation suggested that Harpinder Singh opened fire in a drunken state.
Jawan was gunned down after 4-hour drama
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Army officer under scanner over misconduct
TNN 14 July 2009, 08:55am IST
NEW DELHI: The bad news for the 1.13-million strong Army shows no sign of stopping. After a series of meat, cereal, liquor and fuel scandals,
Lucknow-based Central Army Command chief Lt-General J K Mohanty has now ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) against a Brigadier posted in Uttarakhand after charges of misuse of funds and misbehaviour with a woman were levelled against him.
Incidentally, the accused infantry officer was recently approved to become a Major-General. ‘‘If he is guilty, he will be punished. But till now, there are just some charges against him, the veracity of which have to be inquired into,’’ said an officer.
‘‘Only after the CoI will we be able to say if there is a preliminary case for him to be tried through a summary of evidence and subsequent court martial,’’ he added.
Though the case is yet to be established, it is another indicator of the declining standards of probity and discipline in the armed forces.
The court martial against Maj-Gen A K Lal, removed as commander of the strategically-located 3 Infantry Division at Leh in September 2007 after a woman officer accused him of ‘‘misconduct’’ and ‘‘misbehaviour’’, held that he should be dismissed from service.
Incidentally, the names of two Lt-Gens, four Maj-Gens, nine Brigadiers, a Navy Commodore, two Commanders, a Lt-Commander, an IAF Group Captain and a Coast Guard DIG had figured in an earlier list of 21 senior officers facing corruption charges.
Army officer under scanner over misconduct
NEW DELHI: The bad news for the 1.13-million strong Army shows no sign of stopping. After a series of meat, cereal, liquor and fuel scandals,
Lucknow-based Central Army Command chief Lt-General J K Mohanty has now ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) against a Brigadier posted in Uttarakhand after charges of misuse of funds and misbehaviour with a woman were levelled against him.
Incidentally, the accused infantry officer was recently approved to become a Major-General. ‘‘If he is guilty, he will be punished. But till now, there are just some charges against him, the veracity of which have to be inquired into,’’ said an officer.
‘‘Only after the CoI will we be able to say if there is a preliminary case for him to be tried through a summary of evidence and subsequent court martial,’’ he added.
Though the case is yet to be established, it is another indicator of the declining standards of probity and discipline in the armed forces.
The court martial against Maj-Gen A K Lal, removed as commander of the strategically-located 3 Infantry Division at Leh in September 2007 after a woman officer accused him of ‘‘misconduct’’ and ‘‘misbehaviour’’, held that he should be dismissed from service.
Incidentally, the names of two Lt-Gens, four Maj-Gens, nine Brigadiers, a Navy Commodore, two Commanders, a Lt-Commander, an IAF Group Captain and a Coast Guard DIG had figured in an earlier list of 21 senior officers facing corruption charges.
Army officer under scanner over misconduct
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