Rank Pay Arrears: Draft Implementation Order Status

06 Nov 2012.
Dear Veterans,
Jai Hind.
After clearance of the Rank Pay Case by the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, has cleared the file for payment to the affected officers. MoD has asked the Services Headquarters to prepare the “Draft Implementation Order” and sent it to the Ministry of Defence.
It is reliably learnt that the Pay Cells of the tree Services had anticipated such a letter from MoD and have a draft order ready.
As already informed to you, a senior officer of the AG’s Branch Army Headquarters is/was at Pune to discuss the information that is needed by the PCDA (O), for implementation of the order. Ways and means will be found to get such information with least trouble to the affected Army Officers.
The AG’s Branch Officer now at Pune is the son of a retired Army Officer – so he very well knows all your problems.
As regards the other two Services, Navy and Air Force, their accounts offices have all the information required for implementation of the Rank Pay Case. In case of Army Officers the problem has arisen because of a major fire in the office of PCDA (O) about a decade ago. Lot of records were destroyed in that fire.
In service of Indian Military Veterans.
Chander Kamboj
SC Judgement 4th CPC
Sir,
1. It is reliably learnt that RM has cleared the file for Implementation of the Supreme Court order of 4th Sep 2012.
2. MoD has asked Service Hqs for draft implementation orders.
WBR,
President, RDOA
What the PCDA Pune webpage says
Regarding the implementation of Hon’ble Supreme Court Order dated 04/09/2012, it is reiterated that this office has not received orders from the Government. However PCDA(O), in order to prepare itself for immediate action on receipt of Government orders, decided to approach Retired Army Officers for the information, which might be required for calculation of arrears, but is not available with this office. We realize that there is little likelihood of availability of all this info with the Retired Army Officers. Therefore we are in touch with higher authorities for formulation of the alternate means of retrieving relevant information for calculation of arrears. This office is also awaiting decision of the Government on the matter.
CDA Form for Calculating Rank Pay Arrears

Pay and Pain of the Armed Forces Personnel

Volume 29 - Issue 22 :: Nov. 03-16, 2012
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE from the publishers of THE HINDU
THE ARMED FORCES
Pay and pain
PURNIMA S. TRIPATHI
Retired and serving defence staff feel that they have been taken for a ride in the matter of salary revision and that the government has been indifferent to their protests.
SUBHAV SHUKLA/PTI

Medals surrendered by retired soldiers at a demonstration demanding “One Rank One Pension” and other welfare measures, in New Delhi on March 14, 2010.
CAN you imagine a situation wherein a major general draws a pension lower than that of a lieutenant colonel, a position that is three ranks lower in the hierarchy? Can you imagine the embarrassment of a havildar who draws a pension less than that of a sipahi, which is a much junior rank? Can you imagine the humiliation of a lieutenant general who draws almost the same pension as a colonel or a brigadier, ranks that are lower, because he has been clubbed in the same pay band? These are not hypothetical situations but real incongruities that have been created with the implementation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations for armed forces personnel. On July 13, the Prime Minister constituted a committee, headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, to look into these and other anomalies in the pay structure of defence personnel vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts after the implementation of the recommendations. Significantly, the committee was made up of bureaucrats, and the government turned down the request from the three services chiefs that they be included in the committee because military concepts and nuances of rank and grade might not be understood by civilian bureaucrats.
The committee submitted its report to the government on August 8. On the basis of its recommendations, the government, on September 24, announced a Rs.2,300-crore package that would, an official release said, help bridge the gap in the pensions of those who retired before and after 2006, the cut-off year for the Sixth CPC recommendations. Besides, the government also announced an enhancement of the family pension and approved dual family pension and the continuation of family pension to mentally and physically challenged wards of defence personnel even after their marriage. But even as the government was patting itself on the back for having met the long-pending demands of defence personnel, including of “one rank one pension” (OROP), serving personnel and ex-servicemen were left seething with rage at what they saw as a betrayal. “This is peanuts. We are aghast. It meets zero aspirations of the armed forces personnel. We were apprehensive of something like this [happening] as the government had refused to include the three services chiefs in the committee. We have been taken for a ride by the government,” said Maj. Gen. (Retd) Satbir Singh, vice-chairman of the Indian Ex Servicemen Movement (IESM).
“This country does not respect the sacrifices made by a soldier who lays down his life for the country. There is no respect for those in uniform who would not think twice before making the supreme sacrifice. This is a very unfortunate state of affairs. The government is bluffing the country and the unsuspecting soldier,” he told Frontline. According to him, the concept of “pay band”, where four or five ranks are clubbed together, is “anarchic” and should have been replaced with a rank pay concept at every level. Besides, defence personnel should be given non-functional upgradation (NFU) like their civilian counterparts (in the Indian Administrative Service), wherein if some people from a batch get promoted to the next rank, those left behind get their salary upgraded despite not being promoted.
“In the armed forces, promotions are basically about rejections as there are limited vacancies. Out of 300 colonels, only 12 become brigadiers, out of these 12, only four become major generals and only one finally makes it to the lieutenant general rank. Those left behind may be equally competent, hence should be compensated with a pay upgrade to keep them on a par with their course mates,” said Brigadiar (Retd) V.A.M. Hussain. But none of these demands was even considered by the committee though the service chiefs had put them on the agenda.
Back to the streets
To protest against the government’s “betrayal”, members of the IESM, who have taken to the streets in the past on these issues, are protesting again. On December 1, they will hold a dharna and once again return their medals. “Over 10,000 medals have been returned by the veterans in protest. The government has refused to take them back. They are still lying in our office. We will once again return these medals to the government,” Maj. Gen. (Retd) Satbir Singh said. He said that all that the government had actually done was to just nominally increase the pension of various ranks by amounts ranging from Rs.400 to Rs.1,500 a month. “The government is misleading the country by exaggerating the benefits,” he said. The IESM has written letters of protest to the Prime Minister demanding justice, with copies to the Defence Minister and the services chiefs.
The sharp reaction from the soldiers has not spurred the government into any sort of action. In fact, the blame for the mess is being shifted between the Defence Ministry and the Cabinet Secretariat. “We have nothing to do with this issue. The announcement was made by the Cabinet Secretariat, and as far as we are concerned, there is no deliberation happening at any level as of now,” a senior Defence Ministry official said. The Army’s public relations officer (PRO) confirmed that the Ministry was not in the loop on this issue as yet. “No, I have no brief on this. We are aware the announcement has caused certain serious concerns and certain issues have emerged but we are not aware whether any deliberations are taking place at any level at all,” said the Army PRO.
Apathy and indifference
Serious anomalies in the pay structure of defence personnel and problems in the implementation of pay commission recommendations have been a point of concern for armed forces personnel since the Fourth CPC was announced. Until 1973, the armed forces had a separate pay commission, and the concept of military pay was prevalent, which gave them a certain advantage over their civilian counterparts. At the time of the Fourth CPC, the armed forces pay commission was merged with the pay commission for Central government employees.
Defence personnel allege the bureaucracy manipulated the implementation of the recommendations in such a way that the status of armed forces personnel was actually degraded. In order to retain the advantage in the salary of armed forces personnel, the CPC had recommended the concept of rank pay, which is an emolument over and above basic pay and perks and which varies from Rs.200 to 1,200, depending on rank. But during implementation, instead of being increased by an amount equivalent to the rank pay, the basic salary of armed forces personnel was reduced by that amount. So even when the rank pay was added to the salary, the net result was that there was no increase in their salaries.
S. SUBRAMANIUM

AFTER GIVING UP THEIR MEDALS at the demonstration, ex-servicemen used their own blood to sign a memorandum to the President listing their demands.
Nobody seemed to have noticed the problem until Major (Retd) A.K. Dhanapalan filed and won a case in the Kerala High Court in 1996-97. As the news spread, many officers filed similar petitions across the country. On the government’s request, all the cases were shifted to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the defence personnel on March 8, 2010, and ordered the government to pay arrears with 6 per cent interest to over 20,000 retired and serving defence personnel. The government, however, sought a modification/recall of the order. In 2010-11, the case came up for hearing 10 times, but the Solicitor General failed to appear each time.
On June 7, 2012, Lt Gen. (Retd) Raj Kadyan, former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff and chairman of the IESM, met Law Minister Salman Khursheed and requested his intervention. The case was finally decided by the Supreme Court on September 4. The government pleaded inability to bear the “extra expenditure” but was reminded by the court that it was not extra expenditure but the just due of the defence personnel that had fraudulently been denied them. Then, the government requested that only litigant officers be given the arrears, which again the Supreme Court rejected, saying all affected officers should be granted the arrears. The court, however, waived the interest up to 2006. Over 20,000 officers who had inadvertently been deprived of their due benefited. “What is disturbing is that even our own organisations have failed to protect our interests,” said Major (Retd) Dhanapalan. The three services chiefs should have ensured that their personnel got their due, but that did not happen.
But what pains the defence personnel the most is that the problem the political leadership kept silent when the problems were brought to light.
“Civilian control over the armed forces is indisputable, but should the political establishment abdicate its responsibility and give the executive unbridled power?” demanded Lt Gen. (Retd) Kadyan. Lt Gen. (Retd) Kadyan and Maj. Gen. (Retd) Satbir Singh said that the strict discipline within the forces was keeping things from going out of control, but this pent-up frustration could prove risky.
The government should stop fiddling with the emotions of soldiers, said many serving armed forces personnel. The government, they warn, would do well not to mess with things like the salary, pensions and hierarchy of soldiers because for them these things are not mere fiscal matters but form an integral part of their sense of dignity. Is anybody in the government listening?
Pay and Pain of the Armed Forces Personnel

Handbook for Military Pensioners

Dear Sir,
I will request you to get it published in Report My Signals blog. It maybe useful to veterans other than Signals.
With Regards
ID Sharma
Dear ID,
My congratulations for producing the Hand Book. Pse keep doing such things to help the veterans. We have to help ourselves and we have many like you who are doing yeoman's service.
Best wishes.
Sincerely, Harbhajan Singh
Handbook for Pensioners
Handbook for Pensioers

Tatra Trucks: CBI has evidence of links with a shadowy set of former defence officers

CBI probing Tatra’s two decades of monopoly
Neeraj Chauhan, TNN | Oct 21, 2012, 05.52AM IST
NEW DELHI: The CBI, which registered a case against Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh on Saturday for allegedly trying to bribe then Army chief General VK Singh to clear the purchase of Tatra trucks for the Army, is conducting a parallel inquiry into the complaint regarding the monopoly Tatra has enjoyed for two decades in supplying all-terrain trucks to the defence forces. Sources said the chargesheet in the case is in the final stages and could be filed in a Delhi court shortly. The agency is expected to charge officials of Tatra and the public sector Bharat Earth Movers Limited.
Sources said the raids were conducted at the residences of Rishi's aide Gautam Thadani, MD of Global Healthline Private Ltd, Rajan Madhu, director of F-Bar in Ashoka Hotel and Rishi's employees Anil Mansaramani and Vikram Kakia. CBI sleuths recovered Rs 98 lakh from Thadani's house.
CBI sources said preliminary investigation established Tejinder Singh's meeting with the then Army chief as well as that the latter was unhappy with what had transpired. During its probe, the CBI also established Tejinder Singh visited General V K Singh on September 22, 2010 because "the file related to procurement of Tatra trucks was lying on the table of army chief that day" and that "Tejinder Singh offered bribe on behalf of Ravi Rishi as he is closely associated with the latter".
Defence minister AK Antony's confirmation of General V K Singh's "oral complaint" was found to be strong corroborative evidence.
But what strengthened the case for a formal investigation was evidence of Tejinder Singh's alleged dealings with lobbyists for arms manufacturers, including a Korean company. Tejinder Singh has been booked under section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Under Section 12 of the Act, a person who abets the offence of making a public servant accept illegal gratification, whether or not that offence is committed in consequence of that abetment, can be punished with a minimum punishment of six months in jail which may extend to five years.
"We have evidence of his links with a shadowy set of former defence officers who were on the payroll of arms manufacturers and suppliers," said a senior CBI source.
CBI probing Tatra’s two decades of monopoly
Comment: "We have evidence of his links with a shadowy set of former defence officers". Do they include 2 decades of former chiefs? It is logical all must be investigated top downwards. MOD and AHQ need to gear up to let out their skeletons. Will they?

Gallant Ex-Servicemen and Veer Naris Felicitated

'Know Your Army' draws crowd
TNN | Oct 22, 2012, 12.09PM IST
ALLAHABAD: Know Your Army, the fair to make civil population more acquainted with the Indian Army was inaugurated at the Polo Ground of the city on Saturday. The mela was inaugurated by chief justice (designate) Shiva Kirti Sinha of Allahabad High Court in presence of Major General GS Chandel, Yudh Seva Medal and General Officer Commanding of Red Eagle Division.
Know Your Army Mela, showcased the rich heritage, customs, traditions and professionalism of the Indian Army. An array of latest weaponry, guns, tanks, radars and sophisticated communication equipment were put on display for the common public. Valuable information stalls regarding various schemes initiated by the Army with respect to career opportunities and welfare of ex-servicemen were put up by the event organisers.
Detailing on the fair, the Public Relation Officer of defence, Group Captain Amit Mahajan said that the thrilling air show by helicopters, stunning equestrian and Malkhamb show, melodious band display, daring para gliding & joyous tank rides drew the crowds by the hundreds. The weapon, tanks, guns and equipment display saw the inquisitive masses trying to get a glimpse and feel about the difficult tasks that the men in uniform perform. The recruitment stall received inquires for the young who wish to join the defence services including Territorial Army.
The felicitations of gallantry Ex-Servicemen and Veer Naris made one and all nostalgic about their army tenure and daring also interacted with the ECHS staff for their medical benefits and the CDA (Pensions) for redressal of pension related issues.
The PRO further informed that the event has become the talk of the town and the number of visitors at the equipment display is likely to multiply on the concluding day on October 21, 2012.
'Know Your Army' draws crowd
State of Bihar ESM
Col Singh said the condition of ex-servicemen in Bihar is pathetic even after 50 years of Sino-India war. "Welfare work for these brave-hearts is still being denied by the Bihar government.
Plea to hand over Sainik Rest House in Danapur to Army

War Wounded Foundation Meet at OTA Chennai

Ex-Army Chief appeals for people’s contributions to War Wounded Foundation
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHENNAI, October 21, 2012
Former Chief of the Army Staff Gen (Retd.) S. Padmanabhan on Saturday appealed to the people to generously contribute to the War Wounded Foundation.
Speaking at a war disabled personnel meet in the Officers Training Academy here, he said the objective of the War Wounded Foundation was long-term rehabilitation of its members.
“Apart from corporate houses, individuals should also come forward to contribute to this noble cause. The foundation aims at rehabilitating the war-wounded personnel by enhancing their skills in different areas,” he said.
War Wounded Foundation president Lt. Gen (Retd.) Vijay Oberoi said the foundation was registered as a charitable NGO in 2002. There were about 10,000 war disabled personnel in the country and their financial condition was not satisfactory.
“The disability pension is not sufficient to live the life they want to … we want to enhance their skills in terms of spoken English, communication and computer applications so that they can become self-reliant and productive citizens.
Since there is no support from government agencies, funds remained a constraint for the foundation’s plans,” he said.
Mr. Oberoi said donations to the foundation were exempted from income tax. All disabled personnel of the armed forces would automatically become members of the foundation.
“This meet in Chennai marks the beginning of our activities in the southern States where there are about 500 war disabled personnel,” he added.
“Foundation aims at rehabilitating the war-wounded personnel by enhancing skills”
Ex-Army Chief appeals for people’s contributions to War Wounded Foundation

1965 War Wounded: A Day to Remember

1965: A love and war story which overcame handicaps
Arun Janardhanan, TNN | Oct 21, 2012, 03.03AM IST
CHENNAI: On a pleasant Saturday morning, Kamalam (70) held what remains of her husband K E Sherif's hand to guide him around the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. The couple joked and smiled, not showing a trace of the devastation the India-Pakistan war has had on their lives since 1965.

Sherif, then a 28-year-old jawan in love with Kamalam, lost both his arms below the elbow and both his eyes in a landmine blast while his battalion was crawling towards enemy posts near Sialkot. Incapacitated, Sherif decided not to marry, but Kamalam insisted that she would have a life only with him. On Saturday, Sherif, a father of three, was among the Army veterans brought together by the War Wounded Foundation in the city on Saturday.
"His was a miraculous escape, and I was fortunate to get him back alive," said Kamalam, "We were in love for two years. And then the war happened. Every one was against our marriage since I was a Hindu Malayalee girl and he a Tamil Muslim. But I would not leave his bedside as he was undergoing treatment." The two first met when Sherif, a friend of Kamalam's soldier brother, visited their house in Bangalore.
Despite Sherif's injury Kamalam insisted that they tie the knot.
Soon after the couple first met at the house of Kamalam's brother in Bangalore their romance bloomed. But, Sherif was called to the battlefield not too long after this. Though the 1965 war did not resolve the Kashmir conflict, Sherif proudly recalled his sacrifice for the country and appealed to the youth to join the Army.
He recalled that October night that plunged him into eternal darkness. "It was October 19. Six of us were crawling towards an enemy target in Sialkot, about 25km from Labore. Around 9pm, an air strike triggered a series of land mines near us. We were all believed to be dead. But all of us escaped, only I was severely injured," said Sherif, who lives in Coimbatore.
He was shifted to an army hospital in Jammu where doctors removed the mutilated parts of his forearms to save the rest of his body. Nothing could be done to save his eyes. As he underwent multiple surgeries for a year, Sherif knew life would never be the same again. He told Kamalam that their marriage was now not possible, but she would have none of it. Coming to know that Sherif was% recuperating in Coimbatore, she went there and convinced him to get married. They tied the knot in 1967.
Their 38-year-old son works for a soldiers' welfare board in Salem, while their two daughters are homemakers. The War Wounded Foundation brought together several such living martyrs of Independent India.Colonel (retd) T N Raman, convenor of the Tamil Nadu chapter of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement said soldiers from all major combats including the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947, 1965 and the Indo-China war of 1962 gathered for the collective.
1965: A love and war story which overcame handicaps

FAQ's: Pensioners banking nightmares addressed

Scheme for Payment of Pension to Government Pensioners by Authorised Banks
Reserve Bank of India (the Bank) monitors disbursement of pension by its agency banks in respect of all Central Government Departments (except the Department of Post) and certain State Governments. It has been receiving several queries/ complaints from pensioners in regard to fixation, calculation and payment of pension including revision of pension/ Dearness Relief from time to time, transfer of pension account from one bank branch to another, etc. We have analysed the queries/ complaints, rights and duties of pensioners and put the same in the form of answers to these Frequently Asked Questions. It is hoped that these will cover most of the queries/ doubts in the minds of pensioners.
Payment of Pension to Government Pensioners
Related
Master Circular- Disbursement of Pension by Agency Banks

Welfare of troops an example

Dear Veterans,
Couple of days ago, I had been to the Office of Embarkation HQ at Chennai and ran into Nk Manivannan of 5 MADRAS Bn, presently posted at Embarkation HQ at Chennai. What he narrated reminded me of the famous saying by Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode:
"The Safety, Honour and Welfare of your Country come first, always and every time. The Honour, Welfare and Comfort of the Men you command come next. Your own ease, Comfort and Safety come last, always and every time."
An Example of how our officers look after the men is placed below.
Regards,
Veteran Cdr Vaidyanathan
Nk Manivannan recounts...
5 MADRAS Bn is deployed in the J&K in counter-insurgency Ops. It was in the beginning of March 2011, that I approached Col Harinder Singh Sidhu, the CO, regarding my problem. My father aged 55 years has been suffering from acute back ache, so much so, that, he can not walk and is bed ridden. My wife at Chennai took him to MH Chennai; but, for want of a Neurosurgeon, could not be operated upon. When approached, my CO, a quintessential Commanding Officer embodying compassion, spoke to Col Srinivas, a Veteran at Bangalore, actively involved in the welfare of Ex-Servicemen, if he could do something to ameliorate the sufferings of my father. In the meantime, my CO was kind to have me posted on compassionate grounds, to Embarkation HQ, Chennai, as my family was stationed there.
I arrived at Bangalore on 25 March, and met Col Srinivas; who then immediately took me to Air Cmde Nanda, the Registrar, Comd Hosp Air Force Bangalore (CHAFB). Air Cmde Nanda having heard me, asked me to get my father immediately to Bangalore; and, requested Wg Cdr Dr Datta, the Neurosurgeon to take up my case.
My father & I arr at Bangalore in the morning of Monday, 28 Mar 2011. Col Srinivas picked us up from the Rly Stn and took us to Comd Hosp Air Force Bangalore (CHAFB), where my father was admitted after examination by Wg Cdr Dr Datta, the Neurosurgeon. Surgery of the spine below the neck was carried out by Neurosurgeons Gp Capt Dr Sridhar and Wg Cdr Dr Datta on 15 Apr. After the surgery, my father was initially kept in the ICU for couple of days; and then, shifted to the General Ward. Thanks to the Registrar, who made available accn to me, I was able to stay next to CHAFB and take care of my father.
Col & Mrs Srinivas visited my father at CHAFB on Sunday, 24 Apr 2011. On hearing from me that my father was being discharged the next day, ie. Monday, 25 Apr; and that, I propose to take him by bus from Bangalore to Tiruvannamalai to Gingee; and from there to my village, 17 km from Gingee; Col Srinivas said a firm NO. Seeing the condition of my father who was bedridden and fitted with a Catheter; Col Srinivas said undertaking a journey by my father by bus from Bangalore to my village would result in undoing the Surgery; and, asked me to collect his Maruti van from his residence and for conveyance of my father to our village, loc nearly 300 km from Bangalore. On 25 Apr when I went to Col Srinivas’ residence to collect the Maruti van; Col Srinivas said that he himself would drive my father to our village, as I was not conversant with the route.
My father was discharged from CHAFB at 4 PM on 25 Apr; and, immediately thereafter, we left for Krishnagiri, 100 km away. We reached Krishnagiri at 7 PM and it was raining cats & dogs. We then stayed put for the night at Tamil Nadu Hotel. Having come to know that the road Krishnagiri to Tiruvannamalai was in a bad state, Col Srinivas decided to take the longer route via Vellore. The next morning, Tuesday, 26 Apr, we hit the road at 5.30 AM; and driving via Vellore – Arcot- Gingee, we reached our village, in the interior, at 1.30 PM. We were received by all our friends & relatives and there was jubilation on arr of my father in the village.
We then had our lunch; and having rested for a while and refreshed ourselves, Col Srinivas & I left for Bangalore at 4 PM. We reached Bangalore at 11.30 PM, after a gruelling drive of 18 hrs, covering 550 km, in one day. And it was Col Srinivas who drove the vehicle.
After having spent the night at Col Srinivas’ residence, I returned to my village on 27 Apr, to attend to my father.
Expression of Gratitude. I am deeply indebted to all Officers starting with Col HS Sidhu, CO 5 MADRAS, Air Cmde Nanda, the Registrar CHAFB, Gp Capt Dr Sridhar & Wg Cdr Dr Datta, the Neurosurgeons, Gp Capt Dr Lalla, the senior anesthetist and to Col Srinivas; for all their help, assistance & support extended to me, an Inf soldier of the Indian Army, in discharging my filial obligation to my father.
To say the least, I am over whelmed; and say with conviction, that the Men of the Indian Army, Navy & Air Force are indeed blessed to have Officers who genuinely care for the welfare & well-being of their Men & their families.

ESM welfare rally: Kapurthala

Ex-servicemen and veer naris felicitated
IP Singh, TNN Oct 18, 2012, 06.07PM IST
KAPURTHALA: To mitigate woes of ex-servicemen and to alleviate their problems, an ex-servicemen meet was organised at New Military Station Kapurthala on Thursday.
Approximately 300 ex-servicemen, including gallantry award winners and 30 Veer Naris (war widows) attended the rally.
The chief guest for the function was station commander, Kapurthala Military Station. Some retired and serving officers were also present in the rally. Year 2012 being the Year of Veterans, the meet was organised with the aim to welcome all the ex-servicemen of Kapurthala district and inform them regarding initiative taken by army for their welfare.
Representative of District Sainik Welfare Board enlightened the veterans and ex-serviceman about the various projects taken up by the government.
Representative of Station Canteen and Ex-Serviceman Compensatory Health Scheme also gave out information to ex-serviceman.
Veer Naris, whose husband/son sacrificed their lives in service to the nation, were also felicitated. There after Station Commander, Kapurthala Military Station addressed the gathering and updated the veterans regarding the latest welfare measures being taken up by the army. Grievances of Ex-Servicemen & Veer Naris were addressed by Station Commander and he assured all of them to solve their grievances as early as possible.
Arrangements were also made to extend banking and medical facilities to Ex-Serviceman. Canteen facility was also set up to facilitate procurement of daily use items and groceries by Ex-Serviceman at concessional rates.
Ex-servicemen and veer naris felicitated

OROP: Letter to President

Ex-armymen write to President, PM
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Lucknow, October 16, 2012
Ex-servicemen of the state capital have approached the President with their demand of implementing ‘One Rank One Pay’ (OROP) with an immediate effect. This scheme, if implemented, means that personnel retiring at the same rank and putting in the same tenure of service gets the same pension irrespective of the year of retirement. Nearly 40 former soldiers have written to the President and the Prime Minister requesting them to clarify the government’s take on the issue to ensure a time-bound implementation of the scheme. As per the present system, exservicemen under the Sixth Pay Commission get more pension than their counterparts who have retired under previous pay commissions.
The demand comes days after UPA government’s recent Rs. 2,300- crore package for pensioners in the armed services. The ex-servicemen have expressed dissatisfaction over the package saying that even it has fallen short of their expectations.
“The pension-hike is deceptive. The government has wrongly interpreted the term OROP. They have merely made an enhancement in pension,” said Major (retd) SK Saxena, who is one among those who signed on the memorandum sent to the President. A copy has also been sent to the PM, finance minister, defence minister, leader of opposition, and chief of army staff among others.
Incidentally, a few days ago, some section of electronic media flashed that the government has accepted the demand only to be refuted by print media reports next day.
“A lot of confusion exists because of the contradictory reports in media. We request you to please ensure that OROP be implemented without any further delay,” said Col (retd) MC Papnai. Last month, Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) a pan India federation of ex- servicemen’s organisations wrote letters to PM and three service chiefs explaining how the government decision does not meet their long- pending demand to ensure equitable pensions.
“To illustrate, a sepoy, naik and havildar have been given an increase of only Rs 400 per month, whereas a sepoy who retired on January 2012 draws approximately Rs 4,000 more than those who retired prior to 2006,” the letter explains, adding that similarly disparity exists in the officer ranks too.
In all, there are 18 lakh exservicemen in the country. Of them, about 5.5 lakh, including 80,000 widows, are under the central command. In UP and Uttarakhand, the number is four lakh. In Lucknow there are nearly 20,000 ex- servicemen.
Ex-armymen write to President, PM

Celebrities conferred honorary ranks absent from annual parades

Navy decides not to confer honorary ranks henceforth
Dehradun: In a significant move, the Indian Navy, after sensing the apathy of the honorary-rank holder celebrities towards armed forces, has decided to not to confer anyone with these prestigious ranks henceforth.
Navy has concluded that the celebrities previously conferred with such ranks have remained apathetic towards the armed forces. Chief of Navy staff, Admiral DK Joshi said that the Indian Navy is now not in favour of conferring prestigious titles to the civilians.
Recently, following the footstep of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni, who also holds the honorary rank of Lt-Colonel in the Territorial Army, had chosen to give a miss to the Army’s annual parade ceremony. Last year, Dhoni was conferred with the honorary rank of Lt-Colonel in the Territorial Army amid much fanfare.
Tendulkar was inducted into the Air Force as an Honorary Group Captain in September 2010.
The absence of Dhoni and Tendulkar from their respective organisational events had sparked off a debate on whether the celebrities should be conferred such titles or not. The Ministry of Defence had started conferring such titles to the celebrities in a bid to attract the youths for opting defence as their career. But the non-participation and non-commitment of these celebrities towards their duties have caused disappointment which has culminated into the fresh decision of Indian Navy to stop honouring any celebrity with these titles. JPN/Bureau
Navy decides not to confer honorary ranks henceforth MS Dhoni skips Territorial Army Day parade
Comment: Absent from parade means they should be discharged from service.

Rank Pay: The conspirators of deceit and cheating need to be identified

Repost
Dear Friends,
We had the pleasure of meeting the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri on 29 Sep with regard to the latest announcement on OROP.
Brig Bhagwan Singh, Air Cmde Sushil Soni, Col Raj Singla, Lt Nar Singh Dass and Capt Mangal Singh were part of my Delegation.
The exchange of pleasantries were followed by the submissions we had gone to make. Before we however got down to talk about the problems, we presented the RM with a Memento commemorating the 30th Anniversary of our Association.
To begin with we presented him with a paper about the recent award prepared by our team led by Lt Nar Singh Dass, our Gen Secy on Pensionary Matters. This dealt with what we got as a result of this announcement in real terms. (Paper follows). This was prepared with whatever little information we had. We welcome comments from all of you on what we have stated so that the entire paper can be corrected to give as true a picture as possible.
We apprised him that what has been given is no where near OROP and it all tantamounted to bureaucracy cheating us the Veterans and misleading the leadership. He agreed that what has been given is not OROP but assured that they have given this much for now. More will follow.
We then submitted that the recent Koshyari Committee had worked out the expenditure of Rs 1300.00 crores for grant of full OROP. The Cabinet Secy's Committee has not even given 25 % of what OROP signifies and has announced the sanction of Rs 2300.00 crores, almost twice the amount required for meeting this one single most important demand of OROP for the last 31 years.
With this one stroke, not only they achieved their aim of denying us our rightful dues but also conveying to the leadership how generous they are, as against our demand of Rs 1300.00, they have sanctioned 2300.00 crores. Indirectly also conveying to the leadership how ungrateful and greedy we the veterans are that an amount of Rs 2300.00 crores also does not make us feel grateful to the Gov't and satisfied. We also submitted what we feel may have been done to bloat this figure.
Bureaucracy has been misleading the leadership for over 15 years on Rank Pay which the Fourth CPC had granted and very proudly denied to the Veterans by the bureaucracy. Recently the Govt lost that case. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has directed the Govt to pay the dues amounting to Rs 1600.00 crores within three months with interest. This being the Supreme Courts final order has to be carried out. We submitted that obviously, the bureaucracy has clubbed this amount of Rs 1600.00 crores with another Rs 700,00 crores of the total amount of Rs 1300.00 crores required for OROP and made it Rs 2300.00 crores.
We then appealed to him to please have the matter investigated. Any body found guilty of misleading the leadership should be punished. We further appealed that the Gov't should also take appropriate action to find out the persons who were responsible for the sufferings of the veterans in Rank Pay case. Once they are identified they should not only be proceeded against but also made to pay the interest amount to the affected veterans. I am glad to say that The Raksha Mantri gave us a very patient hearing and we expect that the more to follow comes up fast.
Lt Col Inderjit Singh
Chairman
Related Reading
The Conspiracy against Indian Army!
Advise from Maj AK Dhanapalan- Role of the Service HQs?
Comment: It is evident that General K Sundarji (CAOS 1986 to 1988) was totally misled by his stooges in AHQ- The AG's branch shares in this conspiracy to cheat the Military- we need to identify them too.

Civil Military Relations: The pivot has become unstable

Army will Continue to Play A Pivotal Role in the Nation Building : Pallam Raju
Minister of State for Defence Dr. MM PallamRaju has said that the Army has always in the past and also in the future will continue to play a pivotal role in the nation building and for that it must emerge as a national symbol and represent the nation’s unique characteristics which is ‘Unity in Diversity’.
Delivering Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture on ‘Army’s Contribution to Nation Building – The Way Ahead’ here today, Dr.Raju said the military virtues of sacrifice, loyalty and discipline have always remained and must serve as objects of veneration for the rest of the nation.
Following is the text of the speech delivered by the Minister: Army will Continue to Play A Pivotal Role in the Nation Building: Pallam Raju- click here
Civil-military relations in crisis
Civilian bureaucrats, who in any case are not specialists, lack the ability to inform themselves adequately and constantly re-invent the wheel. As a result, they show a poor grasp and understanding of military matters and are unable to engage in an informed dialogue. Many members of India’s strategic community have recognised these problems and offered some sensible policy measures to enable more harmonious civil-military relations. For instance, Admiral Arun Prakash, among many others, has argued in favour of integrating bureaucracies and fostering teamwork by cross-posting civilian and military officers. Recognising the problems stemming from a generalist civil service, N.N. Vohra has advocated the creation of a civilian Ministry of Defence, or even National Security cadre. Almost all members of the strategic community have called for a more logical and mature declassification policy.
Read more: Civil-military relations in crisis by ANIT MUKHERJEE- click here

OROP: Bureaucrats mock the Military

Posted on October 12, 2012
One Rank One Pension
GOVT’S FRAUD ON EX-SERVICEMEN
By Col (Dr) PK Vasudeva (Retd)
New Delhi, Oct 12 : Ex-servicemen have reason to be angry. The Centre’s grant of Rs 2300 crore to the defence services and its claim that it has moved towards granting One Rank One Pension (OROP), as demanded has sadly proved to be a fraud. The ex-servicemen who have been agitating for OROP for over three decades had an initial sense of relief with the grandiose announcement by the Government last month that the Cabinet had approved their demand, but it was short lived.
Once the details of the decision unfolded, it came to light that the approval is nowhere close to the OROP they had been agitating for. What has been given, albeit grudgingly, does not even meet the provision of the Armed Forces Tribunal Judgements in favour of the Defence Personnel, which is effective since 01.01.2006. Till the 60s, OROP was in vogue as Military Pension, and the faujis got 65 per cent of their last pay because most had to retire in their late 40s/early 50s while civilians got 33 per cent since all served up to 58 years. The 3rd Pay Commission abolished Military Pensions, reduced it to 50 per cent, increased civil pensions to 50 per cent, and added a proviso that to earn full pension a Government servant must serve for 33 years. Thus, most military men seldom got full pension because very few could serve for 33 years, but the civil servants invariably did because they served till the age of 58, and met the criteria.
The perfidy of this rule and shabby treatment meted out to the Armed Forces is indeed unfair. The Supreme Court has already declared that pension is “delayed wages for services already rendered”. Thus, Colonel ‘A’ who retired with 24 years of service at the age of 48 years in 1989 must get the same pension as ‘B’ who retires today at the age of 50 years with 24 years of service. Why must Colonel ‘A’ need to beg when he is only seeking justice as he had to retire at a much younger age than his civilian contemporary who joined the IAS at the same time?
The civilians do not retire with only 24 years service at the age of 50 as they carry on till the age of 60. In fact, the Supreme Court recently was constrained to rebuke the Government for “treating soldiers like beggars”. Regrettably our media, which is the fourth estate and takes up issues, has not cared to highlight the military’s issues.
Indeed, the OROP story has turned out to be a cruel joke on the defence personnel by the Centre. Not for the first time, has the Union Government spread canards, to slow down the momentum of demands, and package implementation of court orders to pass off as OROP. It is a sad state of affairs when our establishment treats its people as though they belong to the other side of the border. The neglect of Armed Forces shall prove to be suicidal for the nation as the morale of the troops is low and god forbids, hostilities erupt with our neighbour. Recall that after his recent visit to J&K, Defence Minister A K Antony had apprised the Prime Minister about this low morale, following which a committee under the Cabinet Secretary was set up to address the anomalies in the defence forces pay and allowances.
However, the OROP issue that has been analysed for over seven months by members of a Committee of Parliament had an awkward situation wherein a Committee of secretaries gave evidence against its grant. Little else could be expected from it and the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the three Chiefs were apprised of the apprehensions.
Worse, it is a great pity that the demand by three Chiefs to include members from the serving and retired defence personnel in the Committee was not accepted.
At the end, the Government not only has left 39 serious anomalies in pay & pension of defence personnel unresolved, it has also not implemented the judgements of Armed Forces Tribunal & Supreme Court given in favour of defence personnel. This apart, the recommendations of Rajya Sabha Petition Committee on OROP strongly recommending it for the defence personnel too have not been implemented.
OROP basically implies payment of uniform pension to personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement. Consequently, any enhancement in pension rates is automatically passed on to past pensioners.
Officials said the recent package had sought to “bridge the gap” between the pensioners who retired before January 1996 and those who superannuated after that date and was “expected to largely meet the demands on OROP”. However, OROP is meant to ‘remove the gap’ rather than ‘bridge the gap’. There is thus a situation where “a sepoy, Naik and Havaldar have been given an increase of only Rs 400 per month, whereas a sepoy who retired in January 2012 draws approximately Rs 4,000 more than retirees prior to 2006”.
The Supreme Court, in its latest ruling set right another anomaly of the bureaucracy where rank pay granted by the 4th Central Pay Commission was illegally deducted from the pay of the officers of the rank of Captain to Brigadier. A large number of such officers have already died and the number may be 15000 of nearly 40,000 affected. There is all likelihood that the veterans and the next of kin of the deceased officers will be able to get this benefit.
This apart, the 6th Pay Commission gave non-functional upgradation to all the Central services (51) including the paramilitary forces, whereby every officer from these services retire in the grade of additional secretary, irrespective of vacancies. Sadly, the political and bureaucratic leadership seems to have closed its eyes when it comes to the defence services.
Well, playing games with faujis all the time can’t be a coincidence and appears to be a sinister design. It is highly de-motivating factor for the military as it makes defence services a low priority career choice, and weakens the fabric of our national security.,BR> The ex-servicemen propose not to give up their fight and expect the Government to do justice. The fraternity is all set to intensify their all-India protest from December 1, 2012 but in a dignified manner. Will the Government pay heed gracefully? — INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
One Rank One Pension: GOVT’S FRAUD ON EX-SERVICEMEN

Rank Pay: Supreme Court Ruling of 3 months is too short a time for babus to deliver

Important Draft orders: Rank Pay Arrears Fourth pay Commission
Dear Sir,
It is brought to your kind notice that a draft letter on the likely notification to be issued in the IV CPC Rank pay case covering all aspects and the re- fixation tables from IV CPC to 6CPC in case of each rank from Capt to Brig is in circulation on email. The authenticity of this letter is questionable.
Such mails will only add confusion and chaos and put the cart before the horse in the instant case. It may also give food for thought to the sputniks who may not be keen to give us our desired dues.
It is requested that this information be put on "Report my Signals' so that further circulation and speculation stops. Please accord Priority.
Thanking you
With regards
Secy RDOA
Comment:
Some veterans are acting in a very irresponsible manner and spreading rumours regarding Govt letter having been issued regarding the Rank Pay case. There is NO TRUTH in such emails.
The fact is that the draft instruction on Rank Pay case is yet to finalised by the three Services Headquarters. After the draft is finalised, it will be sent to MoD. The MoD will take its own sweet time and do its usual amendments to the draft before it is issued as a letter to the three Services Headquarters. CDA (O) in the meanwhile is assessing the final outgo of funds on account of the Rank Pay Ruling by Supreme Court of 04 Sep 2012. This is an ongoing bureaucratic winding process under the umbrella of the Supreme Court Orders. The 3 month time criteria is no guarantee that our babus will deliver.

OROP: The viral mutates to a damp squib

80th Raising Day of IMA and OROP
MONDAY, 01 OCTOBER 2012 00:17 BRIGADIER (RETD) CS THAPA
The news regarding one-rank-one-pension first emerged on the ticker around 7.30 and by 8.30 pm it went viral, thanks to mobiles.
There is a trust deficit between the veterans and the Government and none was keen to pour out the bubbly even though a neutral press was saying so, every one wanted to see the fine print. The veterans are further divided into the haves and the have-nots, or the ‘we’ and ‘they’ between those that retired before or after the sixth pay commission. The pre-veterans refused to believe it and sure enough they were proved right the moment the fine print was out. The fiasco regarding the one-rank-one pension clearly shows the misleading tendencies both of the Government and a Press which does not verify before broadcasting -- all this shows the establishment in a poor light. This is at best a gap removal exercise -- the OROP is miles away. A jawan has got a paltry increase of four hundred rupees, is that what costs the exchequer Rs 2,300 crores? The farmers got Rs 42,000 crores from UPA-I as loan waiver and the State Government electricity boards got a waiver from UPA-I for transmission losses (means stealing electricity) and the soldier for all his sacrifices gets peanuts. All this clearly shows that the veterans have a long way to go -- as long as there is babudom, we all need to read the fine print. The Tehri area has a large number of ex-servicemen one has not heard the issue of OROP being thumped on the table by any of the Tehri Parliamentary bye poll candidates- wonder if it matters to them.
Closer home, the Indian Military Academy gets ready to celebrate its 80th Raising Day, and it’s been a long journey for the Academy. The Academy has seen a passage that has been eventful and is getting ready to be dressed for the occasion. The event is likely to be a two-day event, needless to say most of us are looking forward to a good round of golf and the celebrations the next day on October 1. Such occasions normally start with a solemn ceremony wreath laying at the war memorial in honour of those who sacrificed their today for our tomorrow, and other events such as the sound and light display in front of the Chetwode building followed by dinner. One has learnt that the CM is attending the sound and light display -- wonder how he finds the time in the middle of electioneering?
The last time one attended the sound and light display it was when my friend Raj Sujlana was the Commandant. Raj is busy now recruiting people in Punjab but the sound and light legacy that he left behind is going to be seen all over again.
Forty years ago when one passed out of the Academy it was producing officers for a victorious army. The mood was different and the Academy was the connoisseur as far as officers’ training was concerned. The Americans were licking their wounds of Vietnam andPakistan was a dismembered state. The seventies and early eighties were iconic years as far as operational thought and plains warfare in the army was concerned
Then came the rebound, by Pakistan burning the Kashmir flame and starting the strategy of death by a thousand cuts, the academy had to modify its curriculum. Counter Insurgency (CI) operations and small unit operations took center stage due to a proactive media, during that stage one was a battalion commander at IMA. The academy responded well with a CI operation capsule and other changes. Suddenly Kargil dawned and the blood and guts story of the academy was highlighted. Its tough physical training had stood the test of high altitude and high endurance, some of the bravest of the brave were just out of the academy our cadets of yesterday are national heroes of today, and the academy had delivered again.
Today in its 80th year the academy again stands at crossroads. The road ahead is difficult and full of challenges. The current requirement is of a soldier scholar whom the academy is trying to nurture and bridge the intellectual gap. There are many challenges that the academy faces, needless to say it can be a separate topic of discussion but the nature of warfare is changing and the academy has done well to take measures to address this change. It becomes difficult to make changes in established mindsets and set norms therefore; one does not grudge the commandant, but he is up to doing the needful.
There is an air of expectancy as a lot of changes have been carried out to the curriculum. The bulk of the Academy has shifted to South Campus and Gentleman Cadets go scurrying about their training. The academy still attracts good material because the academy is over subscribed and there is a marked difference in the body language of a third term GC about to pass out to that of a first termer, but language skills are definitely on the decline.
The challenges for the academy not withstanding most intend to line up our stomach with butter as we wait to see the sound and light display. I know for a fact that all events done on the drill square ground in front of the Chetwode are always nostalgic and memorable; it’s the ambience of the surrounding. No wonder how many passing out parades one may witness, the last one is always the best so also will be the sound and light display. As my wife and I walk down for dinner to the new South campus mess we always miss the old mess, it was so cramped that we met one another out of sheer lack of space.
80th Raising Day of IMA and OROP

OROP: Koshyari Committee negated and fudged by Cabinet Committee

M 35 Palika Bhawan, RK Puram, Sector 13, New Delhi 110066. Dear Friends,
We had the pleasure of meeting the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri on 29 Sep, 2012 with regard to the latest announcement on OROP.
Brig Bhagwan Singh, Air Cmde Sushil Soni, Col Raj Singla, Lt Nar Singh Dass and Capt Mangal Singh were part of my Delegation.
The exchange of pleasantries were followed by the submissions we had gone to make. Before we however got down to talk about the problems, we presented the RM with a Memento commemorating the 30th Anniversary of our Association.
To begin with we presented him with a paper about the recent award prepared by our team led by Lt Nar Singh Dass, our Gen Secy on Pensionary Matters. This dealt with what we got as a result of this announcement in real terms. (Paper follows). This was prepared with whatever little information we had. We welcome comments from all of you on what we have stated so that the entire paper can be corrected to give as true a picture as possible.
We apprised him that what has been given is no where near OROP and it all tantamount to bureaucracy cheating us the Veterans and misleading the leadership.
He agreed that what has been given is not OROP but assured that they have given this much for now. More will follow.
We then submitted that the recent Koshyari Committee had worked out the expenditure of Rs 1300.00 crores for grant of full OROP. The Cabinet Secy's Committee has not even given 25 % of what OROP signifies and has announced the sanction of Rs 2300.00 crores, almost twice the amount required for meeting this one single most important demand of OROP for the last 31 years.
With this one stroke, not only they achieved their aim of denying us our rightful dues but also conveying to the leadership how generous they are, as against our demand of Rs 1300.00, they have sanctioned 2300.00 crores. Indirectly also conveying to the leadership how ungrateful and greedy we the veterans are that an amount of Rs 2300.00 crores also does not make us feel grateful to the Gov't and satisfied.
We also submitted what we feel, may have been done to bloat this figure-
Bureaucracy has been misleading the leadership for over 15 years on Rank Pay which the Fourth CPC had granted and very proudly denied to the Veterans by the bureaucracy. Recently the Govt lost that case. The Hon''ble Supreme Court has directed the Govt to pay the dues amounting to Rs 1600.00 crores within three months with interest. This being the Supreme Courts final order has to be carried out.
We submitted that obviously, the bureaucracy has clubbed this amount of Rs 1600.00 crores with another Rs 700,00 crores of the total amount of Rs 1300.00 crores required for OROP and made it Rs 2300.00 crores.
We then appealed to him to please have the matter investigated. Any body found guilty of misleading the leadership should be punished. We further appealed that the Gov't should also take appropriate action to find out the persons who were responsible for the sufferings of the veterans in Rank Pay case. Once they are identified they should not only be proceeded against but also made to pay the interest amount to the affected veterans.
I am glad to say that The Raksha Mantri gave us a very patient hearing and we expect that the more to follow comes up fast.
Lt Col Inderjit Singh
Chairman

LETTER TO RM ABOUT OUR ASSESSMENT OF THE OROP AWARD - 29 SEP, 2012
In July this year, after assessing the situation arising as a result of ongoing unrest in the Armed Forces, you were very truthful when you warned the Prime Minister about the possibility of things turning bad.
The entire Veterans community admired you for that as that was the strongest representation of our cause by any Raksha Mantri I had seen in the past thirty one years. Our hopes and aspirations rocketed sky high as it was the first time any body had ever put across the true picture about our legitimate demands. These were however short lived.
The first knock we got when the Prime Minister appointed a Secretaries Committee under the Cabinet Secretary to attend to our most legitimate and some very longstanding problems. The most important of these being OROP. When all this happened I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister and also sent you a copy. I enclose a copy for your kind information. I never expected it to reach his desk and I have been proved right.
The disastrous trends started showing up when there was no representation of the Armed Forces or Veterans in the Committee. The turning down of the appeal of even the three Chiefs on this issue was an ominous sign of impending disaster. Which did finally happen.
I wish to most emphatically state that over the past thirty one years, what ever we got, it was through the Congress Gov'ts. Other parties firstly did not understand our problems, when we did explain to them they flattered to deceive.
Since the Congress genuinely wanted to solve our problems they had developed a culture of forming committees with our representation on these, so that correct decisions based on facts are taken for solving our problems. Thus earning the sobriquet of being the most friendly party of the Armed Forces. This reputation is at stake with all the latest developments.
The High Level Empowered Committee, 1990 was the last one in which we were represented when we ensured that the bureaucracy did not get away with their lies. Many problems including OROP as a result got solved.
That is what the bureaucracy could not tolerate and set about creating a new culture of forming inter ministerial committees, Cabinet secretary's committees or a GOM in which we were left out to enable them to play havoc with every demand of ours. All such committees are set up to get rejection certificates of our demands by lying to the leadership. The more powerful the Chairman the more powerful the rejection certificate. In 2009 they got a certificate which they have been throwing at us. Now they have got another one which they will utilize to bury OROP for ever.
What they must be doing in the proceedings of the Committee is evident from the Rs 2300.00 crores expenditure on our demands they have sanctioned.
Recently Koshiary Committee had worked out the expenditure on grant of full OROP as Rs 1300.00 crores. They have not given us even a fraction of OROP but want us to believe that the expenditure on what trash they have worked for us is Rs 2300.0 crores. Can the leadership ask them to explain how this figure has been worked out.
I cant say for sure till I inspect the files, but what I can make out is that they fudged the figures to brow beat the leadership into accepting their views of rejecting OROP.
As you are aware, the Govt has finally lost the case with regard to Rank Pay after a prolonged litigation. The expenditure for that is Rs 1600.00 crores with which the bureaucrats can no more fool around as it has to be paid within three months Add to that Rs 1300.00 crores for OROP, the total works out to Rs 2900.00 crores. To my mind they have clubbed the Rank Pay amount with Rs 700.00 crores of the Rs 1300.00 crores of OROP and made it Rs 2300 .00 crores. Rs 1000.00 crores more than what Koshiary Committee recommended. How clever and a half. They killed two birds with one stone. First, they have achieved their aim of denying OROP and more than that they have impressed the leadership of their generosity in giving more than their dues. In fact what they have given is a matter of disgust.
By denying the Veterans OROP the bureaucrats have not only shattered the hopes and aspirations of the veterans, but have also added salt to their injured feelings.
I therefore appeal to you to kindly scrap the recommendations of the Cabinet Secretary and grant us all that is our legitimate due before it is too late. You perhaps would recollect that your promise of 21 Feb 2010, to give us full parity with Sixth CPC rates, is yet to be fulfilled.
Further start an inquiry for making an example of the bureaucrats responsible for lying to the leadership about OROP and delaying the dispensation of justice to the officers in Rank Pay case for more than 15 years.
That is the least we expect from our Messiah who took up our cause strongly earlier.
The Hon'ble Sh AK Antony The Raksha Mantri Govt of India New Delhi 110001
Letter to Our Prime Minister- OROP of 17, July 2012

Rank Pay: Whither Equity, Justice and Welfare?

"It is worrying that since 2003 1,018 soldiers have committed suicide and that the ‘causes were domestic problems, mental discord, stress and financial problems"
Ref: A recipe for Disaster by Arun K. Singh- The writer, a vice-admiral, retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam
Air Cmde Raghubir Singh(Retd) writes... 28/09/2012 - 02:21pm
Had the rank pay been given during late eighties we could have perhaps seen a few more smiles and earned a hug or two of our children by buying some sports goods we could ill afford at that time.What use is the devalued money which comes 25 years later when we have reached the fag end of our journey with teething troubles, poor eye sight & old age taking the toll otherwise? Six percent interest from whatever date does not interest most of us now. But what happens to those who did this' kolavri di' to an entire generation of officers lowering even their place in the Sun? Fixing every one virtually at the lower end of PB-4 has also been outsourced from the same dirty tricks deptt? Soldiers look upto the Govt for equity, justice and care and don't like to fight cases or come on streets. May be younger generation of leadership may realize it at some point of time.
We unnecessarily became victim of the Bofors gun-undoubtedly an outstanding gun of calibre which showed its mettle in the Kargil.Bigger tragedy was that its manufacturing documents for which we had paid heavily-had been gathering dust for two decades while we were hunting all over the smaller countries of the world to get 155x52 calibre gun or so. We have all the wherewithal, technology to produce arty guns & arty rockets but lure of the foreign has always come in the way. Indian Navy has excellent development programs backed by forward thinking. One of their bright officers had planned to convert old missiles into targets by modifying to supersonic regime. Dont really know if free gift of the aircraft carrier was good decision.
click here for more
Comments
The Army has no hope...
Rahul 01 Oct 2012 - 07:07
The Army has no hope. No wise Indian will join this lousy force. The Armed Forces in India is for the unemployed or people who live below Rs. 32 a day. Let any prospective candidate ask himself a simple question? Join the army for what? Protect what? Protect whom?
click here for more

Rank Pay: Unwinding the Bureaucratic Tangle

09 Oct 12
Dear Veterans,
Jai Hind.
I have received some important emails from Head of Pension Division of IESM. The emails are appended below for your information.
On behalf of you all I thank IESM in general and Pension Division of IESM in particular, for putting in all out efforts for the welfare of the veterans. Keep it up Gp Capt SS Phatak and all members of the Pension Division.
Regards
Chander Kamboj
MY third visit to CDA(O) Pune
From: Suhas Phatak
Dear All,
I visited office of CDA(O) Pune this afternoon to find out progress or otherwise on following pending issues:
1 Rank pay arrears after SC judgement
2 GOI letter dated 24 Sep 12 about further clarification on AI2/S/98.(Major's revised minimum guaranteed pension)
3 Enhancement of pension for officers.
Addl CDA(O) Pune was on leave today. I met Mr Agashe, Dy CDA and discussed Rank Pay case. As per him office of CDA(O) Pune is working out financial effect(burden) from whatever data is available which will be transmitted to higher authorities. By all estimates Govt will ask for some more time beyond three months.
Once Govt orders are issued CDA(O) will remit all arrears including gratuity, encashment leave salary difference if any directly to officers account submitted by him.
Action on point no 2 above will be taken suo moto by PCDA Allahabad by issue of Corr PPO.
Similarly PCDA Allahabad will action point no 3 by issue of Corr PPO.
It is now important that IESM Gov Body members at Delhi must find out about the progress on issue of Govt letters in question either from MOD or Law ministry etc. I am sending Form No 10E of Income Tax Act: Click here for submission as and when arrears are credited. Please examine this in detail and submit when you get arrears.
Regards,
Gp Capt Suhas Phatak(retd)

From: Suhas Phatak
Sent: 09 October 2012 18:20
To: cda-albd@nic.in
Cc: CGDA New Delhi-10
Subject: Govt letter dated 24 Sep 12
Dear Sir,
I have attached govt letter dated 24 Sep 12 which is now revising pension of Majors and equivalent ranks from IAF and Indian Navy authorizing them minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 25,700.00 wef 01 Jan 2006 in Pay Band -4. I was told by officers at CDA (O) Pune that your office will take suo moto action on this letter and issue Corr PPO in respect of all officers affected thus. This letter has not reached office of CAD(O) Pune as yet.
You are requested to confirm this and time frame for completion of this task. Second Addressee:- You are requested to clarify whether all those officers who have completed 15 years before 31 Dec 2005 in absorbed PSU/ Govt Dept / Ministry and who had opted for 100% commutation while joining such organization , will now be paid pension as per VIth Pay Commission at par with other officers of same rank and QS. This question has assumed importance with this letter and also decision of the Govt to enhance officers pension as per GOM's recommendations.

From: IESM Suhas Phatak
Sent: 09 October 2012 21:18
To: IESM
Cc: GB IESM
Subject: Points for GB Meeting on 15 Oct 2012
Dear all,
I may add some points.
A) check from min of Defence or min of Law about issue of all letters after PIB announcement.
B) letter to CGDA asking him not to pass the responsibility of payment of Arrears to Banks(PDA).
C) Letter to PCDA to prioritize issue of PPOs for Pre 2006 retirees in the order suggested earlier in one my e mails.
D) All CDAs must carry out special review of all F and F/BC PPOs for correctness of payment to widows.
E) Consult experts and take up with CBDT or Min of Fin for exemption of income tax while paying arrears of Rank Pay. Govt has shifted it's responsibility of paying interest from 01 Jan 86 to 01 Jan 2006, ie 20 years.
Regards,
Gp Capt Suhas Phatak(retd)
Comment: Further delay in Payment of Arrears should entail payment of arrears with interest from 1986 and not 2006. We need to approach the court again for extended delays.