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

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

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?
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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.

CPC's: Military Cheated in Fixation of Basic Pay

Ref: Army faces shortage of officers
COMMENTS:

Recently there was news that in police force there is huge shortage of officers, and now army too. In country with billions of population and unemployment among educated youth its hard to understand defence ministers logic.
from: ghanshyamGhanshyam Dwivedi Posted on: Sep 30, 2012 at 09:25 IST

As long as the bureaucracy continues to cheat the armed forces of their legitimate rights,parents will dissuade their children from joining the Force. In a judgement given on 4th Sept, the Supreme Court found fault with the implementation of the 4th CPC and ordered a payment to all affected personnel. The so- called steps towards One Rank One Pension is actually a disguised correction to a case of cheating in the 6th CPC recommendations where retired officers have lost a considerable amount in their pension fixation. To avoid paying a large amount of arrears this correction has been made prospective. Even if the case goes to the Supreme Court the UOI will try to waive of at least the interest burden. A retired Major lost over Rs.3500/-pm due to this. This coupled with Dearness Allowance has created a loss of nearly 4 Lakhs of rupees till now. Keeping these cases in mind the parents are apprehensive of their children joining the Armed Forces as they maybe cheated in future.
from: S N IYER Posted on: Sep 30, 2012 at 09:48 IST <>br>

Although pay structures in the armed forces have substantially improved in recent time, the honor & dignity associated with the uniform has taken a steep downward slide over the years.Earlier even the scions of the princely states used to deem it great honour to be officers in the armed forces -while now they all want to be in politics & why not. I do recall in the mid sixties a simple letter while commanding a unit to the District Collector could elicit favourable reply to resolve an airman's problem. Will it happen now-when feeling has gone around that one has to fight it out in the to get even rank pay after 25 years legal marathon. Govt must avoid bad publicity it is getting by ex servicemen coming on streets and improve service conditions substantially & restore the protocol as it was in the fifties. Soldiers must have their place in the society. Govt can take help of Defence Institute of Psychological Research of DRDO to find out why bright young men are avoiding career in the armed forces.
from: Air Cmde Raghubir Singh Retd Posted on: Sep 30, 2012 at 10:28 IST

OROP: Chiefs presentation not once but twice is double jeopardy

Dear Friends,
We have sent the following letter to all the Chiefs for doing the needful in getting our problems solved.
I do hope that they would take appropriate action to bring home the truth to the leadership which has never been found wanting.
The anxiety of the leadership to solve our problems was obvious from the MESSIANIC manner in which our Hon'ble RM took up the matter with the Hon'ble PM and the reaction of the Hon'ble PM in promptly appointing a Committee to solve our problems. All the papers that have been sent to you earlier and given below after the letter to the Chiefs were also sent to the Chiefs.
With best wishes
Lt Col Inderjit Singh

LETTER TO CHIEFS ABOUT OUR MEETING WITH THE HON'BLE RM
I wish to apprise you about our Meeting with the Hon'ble RM on 29 Sep 2012. I am therefore attaching all the papers about the Meeting for your kind information and necessary action.
2. The entire Veterans community is shattered by what has happened and expects you the Chiefs to get us our rightful dues by projecting the truth to the benign leadership as we have tried to do. My services are available if required by you.
3. The damage was done when all our respected Chiefs went and made presentation, not once but twice, to the Committee and demanded resolution of only few of our long list of anomalies pending with the Govt. It is sad that this happened when the entire Veterans community rejected it for our non representation on it. I am sure you will agree that it showed us all in a very poor light. Your request to the Leadership after first visit, for our representation, had no meaning as the Committee had already been legitimized by your presentations.
4. Whatever has happened cannot be undone. Now it is for you to figure out how you are going to repair the damage so that we can get our rightful dues.
5. We look forward to your positive response.
With best wishes,
Lt Col Inderjit Singh

Gen Bikram Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM,VSM, SM, ADC**, Chief of The Army Staff

Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, PVSM, AVSM,VM, ADC, Chief of Air Staff

Admiral D K Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM, ADC Chief of Naval Staff

Rank Pay: CDA (O) Pune News Flash

Ref: CDA(O) Pune: News Flash

Supreme Court Verdict regarding Rank Pay and related matters and Undertaking (25/09/2012)
CDA (O) Pune Instructions and Undertaking- Click here

All reitred/ released Army officers who were in service in the rank of Capt to Brig as on 01/01/86, are requested to furnish their details in the appended format at the earliest to PCDA(O), Pune so that arrears on account of pay revision with effect from 01/01/86 in view of the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court may be credited in the bank account". (28/09/2012)
Click here for the Appended Format

Rank Pay and SCPC Anomalies: Military discipline and morale on the decline?

Recipe for disaster for the military
by Arun K. Singh.
The writer, a vice-admiral, retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam
The state of morale in the armed forces in general, and the Army in particular, should be a cause for worry because of the latter’s rapidly declining combat capability. Moreover, an Army with low morale, insufficient manpower and lacking in the required combat equipment is a recipe for national disaster at the hands of foreign invaders.
The recent Supreme Court ruling giving “rank pay” to those officers who were in military service between 1986 to 1996 following a 25-year-long court battle by a few retired officers shows how this rank pay, given by the fourth Central Pay Commission (4th CPC), had been withheld by unaccountable bureaucrats, who had issued the final implementation orders. Even if the rank pay is finally given in the coming months, many of those eligible have passed away or are bed-ridden, and, many had received lower pension also. Today, there are 39 unresolved anomalies from the 6th CPC, which gave its award in 2008...
The Army, for its part, needs to set its own house in order, weed out corruption, reward merit and concentrate on regaining its past glory, which was based on pure professionalism, discipline and leadership. Can the Prime Minister do something drastic to improve morale and combat capability of the military?
Extracted from original article click here for more

OROP: TV Panel Discussion- 29 Sep 2012

Defence Line - One Rank One Pension - 29 Sept 2012 - Part 1 & 2




Detailed TV Panel discussion after the announcement of pensionary benefits on implementation of recommendations of the PM appointed committee.
Earlier, a TV panel discussion was posted on the blog in the aftermath of the announcement of the Prime Minister constituted Committee of Secretaries looking into pay & pension anomalies of defence personnel.
The following is a panel discussion, recorded and telecast yesterday night, dissecting the benefits finally granted on the implementation of the recommendations of the PM constituted committee, and other issues.
The Panelists were Maj Gen Surjit Singh, former Chairperson of the 4th Pay Commission Cell, Prof JK Sharma, former member of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), and Major Navdeep Singh.
Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh

OROP: Army faces shortage of officers

VINAY KUMAR The Hindu Sunday September 30, 2012
Programmes under way in several colleges and universities to motivate the youth to join the force
The Indian Army is facing a peculiar problem – not enough youngsters are attracted to join the 1.1-million strong force as officers.
Expressing concern at the situation, the Army Chief, General Bikram Singh, has said that about 10,500 officers are needed. The shortage, he said, was impacting the officer-jawan relationship.
According to official figures, the shortage is around 10,500 in the Army, 1,400 in the Navy and 1,100 in the Air Force.
Union Defence Minister A. K. Antony has said the shortage is “partly attributable to accretions from time to time, tough selection procedures and difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk involved in recruitment and training.”
He said a number of steps to attract youth to the armed forces have been taken. These include increase in tenure of Short Service Commission (SSC) officers from 10 years to 14 years, increasing promotional avenues for officers by implementing the A.V. Singh Committee recommendations on restructuring of officers’ cadre of the Indian Army and implementing the suggestions of the Sixth Pay Commission report. Last week, the Government had broadly rolled out the one rank-one pension scheme for ex-servicemen and also hiked family pension.
For the purpose of recruitment, the country is divided into recruiting zones and every zone is allotted a quota based on a percentage of its population and ethnic grouping. A legacy, slowly being diluted, is that of combat arm units or regiments recruiting from a particular zone or mixture of ethnic groups.
The shortage of officers has been plaguing the force for several years, resulting in poor management at the unit level. The Army’s sanctioned strength is about 46,600 officers. Army officials attribute the shortage to accretion in force levels from time to time and say that as a career option the job is characterised by hardship in the form of unsettled life, disruption of children’s education, risk factor and early retirement age. Every year about 600 officers retire as Lt. Colonels and Colonels at the age of 54.
The Army Chief said programmes were being held in several colleges and universities to motivate the youth to join the force.
“The youngsters feel motivated to join but their motivation level goes down when they discuss the Army as a career option with their parents. We intend to reach out to parents. Risks are everywhere but in the armed forces these are managed well,” said General Singh.
“We are taking measures like spreading awareness and convincing parents to send their children into the force to address the shortage. The disenchantment is also affecting soldiers as more than 10,000 took pre-mature retirement from the force last year. In 2011, 10,315 soldiers opted for premature retirement, while the figure for 2010 and 2009 was 7,249 and 7,499 respectively. The jawans, who are better educated than in the past, retire around a productive age of 35 years to look for greener pastures instead of continuing in the force,” senior Army officials added.
They said the Government has sanctioned establishment of two additional Service Selection Boards (SSBs) under the selection centre in the North at Roopnagar, Ropar, in Punjab which would facilitate the intake of more officers.
With its motto of “Live for something rather than die for nothing”, the Army is planning intensive publicity campaigns targeting both urban and rural areas. Officials said a number of “image projection campaigns” have been launched by the recruitment directorate to attract quality youth and spread awareness about the “Army as a career”.
Army faces shortage of officers
Realted Reading
General Bikram Singh sees officers’ shortage behind face-offs

ESM protest central pension package

Ex servicemen protest central pension package
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Sangrur, Patiala September 27, 2012
Dissatisfied with the central government's pension package and decision to take steps in a phased manner towards one rank, one pension (OROP), ex-servicemen and their families from across the state held a protest rally at War Heroes stadium here on Thursday.
Addressing the gathering, Col Bhag Singh (retd) said that the announcement of Rs. 2,300-crore pension package showed that the government was not serious about considering the demands of ex-servicemen.
He said OROP was needed as these men have contributed their life for the security of the nation and were not getting the rightful pension in exchange of their services.
He added that there were many anomalies in the pension schemes of ex-servicemen that required immediate rectification for the betterment of their families.
The protestors also demanded an increase in widow pension.
Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Kumar Rahul and chief parliamentary secretary Parkash Chand Garg assured protestors that their demands would be forwarded to higher authorities.
Ex servicemen protest central pension package

OROP: Connect with Congress

Date: Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 11:20 AM
Subject: Feedback to Congress Party
This is what I sent to the Congress media, Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi.
Regards,
Brigadier V Mahalingam
The Government has played a cruel joke on the Veterans community by correcting a 6th Pay Commission anomaly and calling it a One Rank One Pension (OROP). Individuals and businessmen speak falsehood and mislead people but I have been brought up in a family where everyone believed that what the Government says and does will be nothing but the truth and correct. The present Government has betrayed this family belief and faith.
OROP is a method of compensating a solder for his early retirement due to which a Jawan losses over sixty lakhs and an officer over a crore of Rupees. If soldiers were not retired early at a time when their salary and their commitments were at its peak and allowed to serve as long as his civilian counterparts, this would have been unnecessary. Since the children of a soldier are very young at the time of his retirement he spends all is post retirement financial benefits on the education and marriage of his children with very little left for him and his wife for the later years. OROP only ensures that a soldier gets his pension revised after every pay commission to the level of his brethren serving officers and thus lives an honorable life at his old age and at a time when he has practically no means to earn a livelihood.
It is sad the Government running under your stewardship doesn’t think it necessary to provide an honorable living to a soldier after his retirement and consider him a spent force.
Veteran V Mahalingam
Connect With Congress: Tell them what you feel- click here

OROP demand diluted: Sugar Coated Ruse?

Edits: The Statesman
26 September 2012
SUGAR-COATED RUSE
To dilute OROP demand
NOT for the first time has the central government, and this criticism is not UPA-specific, hypocritically and sinisterly come up with a seemingly attractive package of pension benefits for ex-servicemen ~ that is actually intended to dilute the demand for a one-rank one-pension regime (OROP). Terms like “close to”, “approximating with” or “bridging the gap” have been used by the establishment to camouflage the reality that the promise of reworking the principle on which defence pensions are calculated has been broken. While initially on Monday evening TV channels flashed misleading reports that OROP had been cleared by the Cabinet they subsequently modified their line: without admitting to have erred when raising the hopes of an anxious pensioners’ community. Once the gift-wrapping of the Rs 2,300-crore package was discarded, distinct dismay and frustration spread through the community that concluded that AK Antony, Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram had emulated their predecessors in a bid to “sweeten them” via a one-time handout. The reaction from veterans’ association has been scathing: a retired lieutenant-general accused the government of “deceit”, another said “it is a joke, they have cheated.” Some of their calculations point to anomalies persisting, and insisted the “disillusionment continued”. So should we expect a return to the disheartening scenes of veterans protesting in the streets, returning medals they had once cherished, even more drastic measures that could influence elections? Or that the sustained unhappiness impacts recruitment in regions where “serving the colours” has been a matter of family honour? And that the complications created by different scales render the pension disbursing agency hamstrung. The courts and tribunals are replete with horror stories about people spending years (and their limited funds) seeking “justice”.
Arguments against OROP (some do have validity) ought to have ceased after all major political parties promised it in their election manifestos, and a parliamentary committee averred that non-implementation was “not tenable”. So the allegation of political double-speak “sticks” ~ across party lines. The implied alibi (bureaucratically-inspired?) that other sections of government workers will make similar demands is cowardly: most soldiers retire in their early 40s, their pension-dependence is unique. The short-point is that if the government does not accept the OROP principle it should have the guts to say so. Perhaps the only “political” reason for the latest rejection of OROP is that granting it would appear to be buckling under pressure mounted by the previous army chief when taking a reckless exit route to build himself a “constituency”.
SUGAR-COATED RUSE To dilute OROP demand

OROP Joke: Government attempts to Mollify the ESM

Taking steps for one-rank, one-pension demand: Govt
TNN | Sep 27, 2012, 02.02AM IST
NEW DELHI: Stung by trenchant criticism of ex-servicemen who have called the Rs 2,300 crore pension package announced for them "a joke and mere eyewash", the government on Wednesday said it was taking "steps in phases" towards meeting the eventual aim of one-rank, one-pension (OROP).
"The journey towards the OROP goal is a continuous process. Despite the country's critical financial position, the government came out on Monday with the Rs 2,300 crore package for ex-servicemen," a senior official said.
"This is the third time that the government has increased the pensions of ex-servicemen after the 6th Pay Commission. On implementation of the latest package, the pensions of officers will go up from 10% to 28% (Rs 565 to Rs 3,741 per month), while that of other ranks will increase by 9.7% to 13% (Rs 500 to Rs 800 per month). Dearness relief would be payable in addition," he added.
Ex-servicemen, however, are furious with the government for trying to project the Rs 2,300 crore pension package as the fulfillment of their long-pending OROP demand, which basically means payment of uniform pension to personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement.
"The OROP story has turned out to be a government joke. The government has just rectified anomalies created by bureaucrats in earlier pay commissions. They in any case would have been enforced through court orders," said a retired major-general.
The government, on its part, said family pensioners have also been given the benefit of enhanced pensions, ranging from an increase of Rs 242 to Rs 2,500 depending upon their existing pensions.
"Moreover, defence and family pensioners will also benefit from dual family pension and family pension to mentally/physically challenged children even after marriage," the official said.
Taking steps for one-rank, one-pension demand: Govt
Related Reading
Ex-Armymen cry foul over ‘misleading’ pension plan

OROP hype Sepoys pension hiked by Rs 550 (peanuts or gratis?)

Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Army Pension Hike: Jawans to get Rs 550-800, Officers 570-3750
Against the backdrop of criticism by retired military personnel, Defence Ministry today said the recent pension package of Rs 2,300 crore for the ex-servicemen was a step towards achieving the goal of one rank-one pension (OROP) in future. The exact calculation of the amount of money by which the retired personnel would benefit is expected to be done within next two days, they said.
The sources said after the recent announcements, the pension of jawans will increase by Rs 550 to 800 whereas the pension of officers would register a hike between Rs 570 to Rs 3750.
The hike in pension of personnel below office rank (PBOR) will be between 9.7 to 13 per cent whereas for officers it would be between 10 to 28 per cent.
Ex-servicemen had expressed their unhappiness with the pension hike announced by the government on Monday, saying it amounted to "wrong and deceitful" treatment of their long- pending 'one rank-one pension' demand and vowed to continue struggle for their rights.
The sources said this was the third time that the government has hiked the pension of the retired defence forces since the award of Sixth Central Pay Commission in 2008. They said a total of 13 lakh jawans would benefit from the government's announcements at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore per annum. The government announced the decision to address the pensionary issues of ex-servicemen on Monday.
"The gap in pension of pre-and post-January 2006 retiree jawans will be bridged by determining the pension of pre- January 2006 pensioners on basis of notional maximum for ranks and groups across three Services as in case of post-January 2006 retirees," it had said.
(With inputs from Business Standard)
Army Pension Hike : Jawans to get Rs 550-800, Officers 570-3750

Is One Rank One Pension announcement short of demand?

The Last Word: Is One Rank One Pension announcement short of demand?

Video Link; Click Here
Karan Thapar: Why has the government's decision on One Rank One Pay left retired soldiers and officers dissatisfied? at 8 PM on #CNNIBN
The alienation between the Army and the bureaucrats is an issue that is making difficult for policies like ‘one rank one pension’ to be implemented, former Chief of Army Staff Gen VP Malik said.
“I am very worried about the alienation that is taking place between the people in uniform and those in the government,” Malik said to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN.
“There is a very strong feeling that the political leadership is not consulting the heads of services adequately on strategic issues, and not at all when it comes to financial compensation, terms and condition of service, welfare and morale,” he added.
General Malik also said that the relationship between the government and the Army “in the last few years it has gone bad to worse.”
When asked if the political management of the defense services have deteriorated under the UPA 2, Malik said, “Yes, I can say that because UPA 2 has been ruling for last few years.”

Rank Pay: CDA Pune letter to all concerned Officers

Arrears of 4th CPC wef 1/1/1986: Rank Pay Supreme Court Ruling

click on image for clarity
CDA Original Letter- Click here
1.This is for information and action by all Serving and Pensioners (of any kind) Armed Forces officers who were in service on 1/1/1986.
2. The time bound SC judgement for payment of dues to affected officers is required to be implemented by MoD, GoI and as usual, there is utter confusion in the implementing agencies as to the modelities and methodologies to be adopted. As anticipated, the basic action first will lie with CDA(o) and equivalent paymasters in Navy and AF for calculating and preparing fresh LPCs. They will have to credit dues of the retired offrs pertaining to "while in service period" into pension accounts after DEDUCTING LEVY BY Chidambaram and party (30% ?) and intimate PCDA (P) Allahabad for post retirement calculations?
3. I am placing the pdf file as above which is a scanned copy of a CDA(o) Pune letter. 4. The veterans at Pune who have visited Pune office have confirmed the chaos prevailing in AOs. The communication is a confirmation of the same. 5. It is adviseable that all affected veterans must dig into their regulation pattern BLACK STEEL TRUNKS and retrieve as many PERSONAL ACCOUNTS files as they can especially those labelled by their earstwhile accounts and PRI clerks as " Statement of Account" and "Pay and Allownces" files. 6. The Navy and Air Force collegues will be better placed then Army veterans since their PAY MASTERS are better organised. As you can see, the CDA Pune has already shifted the onus on the officers to proove and provide evidence for their dues. Anyhow wish you all a happy hunting into your archived files. please do keep an Avil tablet and bronch dialaters near by if you are allergic to dust and mouldy decaying files lying in your boxes. I tried to retrieve and had to abandon due to a severe bout of sneezing.
Brig (Dr) C P Joshi

एक रैंक एक पेंशन

मयंक सिंह | नई दिल्ली, 26 सितंबर, 2012 09:44
पूर्व सैनिकों के पेंशन में वृद्धि करने के लिए 'एक रैंक - एक पेंशन' (OROP) की उनकी मांग की ओर खाई पाटने के लिए सरकार की ओर से एक प्रयास किया गया अनुमान है जिस तरह से नाखुश हैं.
"सरकार एक विसंगति है जो इसके द्वारा 6 केन्द्रीय वेतन आयोग के दौरान लिए OROP की मांग के प्रति खाई पाटने के लिए एक कदम के रूप में प्रतिबद्ध किया गया था की एक परिहार की घोषणा करके निर्दोष सैनिकों को गुमराह किया गया है" मेजर (सेवानिवृत्त) जनरल सतबीर सिंह ने कहा है, जबकि करने के लिए बोल TSI. वह भारतीय पूर्व सैनिक मूवमेंट के उपाध्यक्ष (IESM).
सोमवार को कैबिनेट की एक रुपये को मंजूरी दे दी है. 2300 करोड़ के पूर्व सैनिकों, उनकी पत्नियों और शारीरिक रूप से विकलांग बच्चों की पेंशन बढ़ाने का प्रस्ताव. के रूप में पूर्व सैनिकों से कहा, जबकि एक सैनिक की पेंशन के लिए अपने वेतन के आधार राशि रखते हुए वह सेवा में से गणना की जा रहा था, ", लेकिन गलती गणना के कारण राशि और सैनिक के वेतन बैंड के आधार पर किया गया था यह एक वित्तीय नुकसान में हुई थी, "सोमवार को उठाए गए कदम के रूप में 'नामक एक कदम OROP की दिशा में खाई पाटने के लिए कुछ भी नहीं है, लेकिन इस विसंगति को हटाने था.
लेफ्टिनेंट जनरल राज कादयान, IESM के अध्यक्ष ने कहा, "है के रूप में OROP दिया नहीं किया गया है कि हम अपनी मांग के लिए लड़ने के लिए जारी रहेगा."
"तीन समितियों और पेंशन समिति पहले ही मंजूरी दे दी है कि OROP सैनिकों को दिया जा" मेजर जनरल सतबीर सिंह ने कहा. मंगलवार को IESM से प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह, रक्षा मंत्री एके एंटनी और तीन सेवा समझा कैसे सरकार के फैसले को काफी समय से लंबित मांग को पूरा नहीं न्यायसंगत पेंशन सुनिश्चित करता है प्रमुखों को पत्र गोली मार दी.
"उदाहरण देकर स्पष्ट करने के लिए, एक सिपाही, नायक और havlidar केवल 400 रुपये प्रति माह की वृद्धि हुई दिया गया है, जबकि एक सिपाही है जो जनवरी 2012 को सेवानिवृत्त लगभग 4000 रुपए है, जो 2006 से पहले सेवानिवृत्त उन से अधिक ड्रॉ" उन्होंने पत्र में बताया गया है, उनका कहना है कि इसी तरह असमानता अधिकारी में मौजूद भी शुमार है.
प्रधानमंत्री को लिखे पत्र में लिखा है, जनरल सतबीर, "एक ही रैंक और सेवा का एक ही लंबाई के साथ रक्षा कार्मिक ही पेंशन सेवानिवृत्ति की तारीख और भविष्य में किसी भी वृद्धि के बिना आकर्षित उन्हें स्वचालित रूप से करने के लिए प्रदान किया जाएगा."
सतबीर आगे कहा कि हमारे खिलाफ discrimnation मुख्य रूप से समिति की अध्यक्षता कैबिनेट सचिव, एक अनुरोध है जो तीन चीफ्स रक्षा मंत्री बनाया लेकिन उसे स्वीकार नहीं किया गया था में रक्षा कार्मिक से सदस्यों के शामिल किए जाने के कारण है.
कई सालों के लिए पूर्व सैनिकों को 'एक क्रम से एक वेतन' के कार्यान्वयन की मांग की है जिसके तहत रक्षा कर्मियों को एक ही पद पर सेवानिवृत्त हो रहे हैं और सेवा की इसी अवधि में देने के लिए एक ही पेंशन दी जानी चाहिए सेवानिवृत्ति के वर्ष के बावजूद.
वर्तमान प्रणाली के अनुसार, 6 वेतन आयोग के तहत पूर्व सैनिकों अपने समकक्षों के जो पिछले वेतन आयोगों के तहत सेवानिवृत्त से अधिक पेंशन मिलता है.
Click here for the English Version

OROP: Misleading Headlines- Media and ESM taken for a Ride?

References- Economic Times:

Cabinet clears Rs 2,300-crore package for one-rank-one-pension for armed forces

One Rank One Pension: Ex-servicemen unhappy with govt's announcement of pension hike

Amarinder Singh hails one-rank-one-pension for ex-servicemen
Dear Editor of Economic Times,
I would like to bring to your notice of a misleading Headlines in ET dated 25 Sep 2012.Click Here. The Government Press Note, of Course, has mislead thousands of Ex-servicemen on granting of OROP.
6th Pay Commission had recommended a Pension Formula for Pre-2006 Defence Retirees. Further, the Commission had recommended that Pre 2006 retirees should at least get a minimum pension that is half of lowest end of the revised Pay scale/fitment scale granted to serving personnel of equivalent rank. But the Bureaucrats in implementing this recommendation wrongly interpreted that the Retirees would get half of the minimum of PAY Band where their rank along with other ranks figured. This simple anomaly was pointed out by pre-2006 retirees to the Government but the Bureaucrats did not take any corrective action. This forced the Ex-servicemen of rank Major to approach Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) for directions to Govt. AFT accepted their plea as genuine and asked Government to take immediate remedial action.
Meanwhile a group of Civilian officers also approached Civilian Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for corrective action in lines of AFT Judgement. This was upheld by CAT and necessary directions were issued.
The Secretaries Committee ordered by PM used this opportunity to show that they were making efforts to "bridge" the gap between pensions of Post 2006 pensioners and Pre-2006 pensioners holding same rank and years of service. If the first step in a 100 meters sprint is considered as a major step to bridge the distance between start to the final destination, then Govt can take credit. But Govt cannot surely take any credit for the bogus claim "One Rank One Pension Okayed" as prominently published by your Political Bureau in the second page of ET. I am afraid that your correspondent has been taken for a "ride" just like thousands of Ex-servicemen taken for a "ride" yesterday based on the announcement of PM on Aug 15 on OROP.
A Major lesson from this episode is obvious. Why Bureaucrats oppose inclusion of Serving Defence Personnel or even Ex-servicemen in high power study teams on their demands is because the members from the Services would have prevented the Bureaucrats taking them as well general public (including Media) on "ride" like they did every time a Study team submitted its recommendations that were then approved by Political Bosses without even consulting the affected personnel. S.Murugan.
Air Cmde (Retd)

More Comments...
Ashok Ganguly (New Delhi)
25 Sep, 2012 11:50 PM
If what is stated is correct, I wonder why this Government can’t keep a simple issue simple and display Honest intent. To a normal layman (not an intelligent crook) an OROP is like a Havildar with say 24 years of service, who retired in 1947 or 1997 or 2007, should get the same pension drawn by a Havildar with 24 years of service retired on 31 Aug 2012. This is what is called “Removing the Disparity”. Anything else amounts to simple cheating and an attempt to fool ex servicemen. Why can’t the Government make an honest attempt and erase the mistrust? Do they think that fooling people is the only way to win votes? How can they forget the services and sacrifices rendered by the servicemen? Why must they get entangled in a beaurocratic mess every time and in every thing?
VK Khurana (New Delhi)
25 Sep, 2012 10:13 PM
The very least expected of this Government, governed by the unfair bureaucrats, is that it should not misinform the nation that what they have given is OROP, which is clearly not the case.A small increase in the crumbs -yes, but nothing more. But then , we may be living in a fool's paradise if we still think this Government has any graceful side to it. The fight for true OROP should be continued with all our might. Jai Hind An ex-service man.
Tailpiece- Military and Police made Dummies

Concert of Chiefs~I- Making A Public Issue Of Demands

Pay Commission Award DESERVING BEFORE DESIRING By Ashok Kapur, IAS (Retd)
Comment: Any student of psychology will tell you that a very thin line divides a genius from a lunatic and many geniuses cross this line sometimes but certainly at later age.
Veteran Ram Gulrajani

रिटायर्ड सैन्यकर्मियों के लिए 'समान रैंक, समान पेंशन' को मंजूरी

रिटायर्ड सैन्यकर्मियों के लिए 'समान रैंक, समान पेंशन' को मंजूरी
समान रैंक, समान पेंशन योजना
एजेंसियां | Sep 25, 2012, 09.52AM IST
नई दिल्ली।। सख्त आर्थिक सुधारों के चलते बने कसैले माहौल को कम करने के लिए केन्द्र सरकार सक्रिय हो गई है। मंत्रिमंडल ने रिटायर्ड सैन्यकर्मियों के लिए समान रैंक, समान पेंशन (OROP) लागू करने को मंजूरी देते हुए 2300 करोड़ रुपए के अतिरिक्त पेंशन पैकेज की घोषणा कर दी है। करीब 21 लाख सैन्यकर्मियों को कैबिनेट के इस फैसले से फायदा होगा।
लंबे समय से मिलिट्री कर्मियों में इस बाबत कोई कदम न उठाने के चलते रोष था। इस कदम से पहले तक इस मांग को पूरा करवाने के दबाव के लिए अब तक कई रिटायर्ड सैन्यकर्मी अपने मेडल लौटा चुके थे और रैलियां कर रहे थे। सरकार के इस फैसले के मुताबिक, रिटायर्ड सैन्यकर्मियों के बीच पेंशन में असमानता को खत्म कर दिया जाएगा। इसके तहत जनवरी 2006 के पहले और उसके बाद तीनों सेनाओं से रिटायर हुए जूनियर कमीशन अधिकारियों की पेंशन में अंतर की खानापूर्ति के मद्देनजर यह कदम उठाया गया है। पेंशन के लिए सिपाही स्तर, नायक स्तर और हवलदार रैंक पर जनवरी, 2006 से दो साल पहले या फिर दो साल बाद रिटायर हुए लोगों को इसका पात्र माना जाएगा।
और, 2006 से पहले या बाद में रिटायर हुए कमिशन ऑफिसर्स को न्यूनतम पे-बैंड की जगह न्यूनतम पेंशन टेबल में डालकर यह गैप खत्म कर दिया गया है। इसी तरह कमिशन, जूनियर कमिशन या अन्य अधिकारियों-फौजियों को न्यूनतम पे-बैंड के बजाय इन्हें न्यूनतम फिटमेंट टेबल के हिसाब से अब ज्यादा पेंशन मिलेगी। रिटायरमेंट के बाद जिन जूनियर कमीशन अधिकारियों या अन्य की मृत्यु हो गई है, उनके परिजनों को अब 30 प्रतिशत के बजाय अधिकतम 60 प्रतिशत तक के स्केल पर पेंशन मिलेगी। फैसले का एक और 'अच्छा' पहलू यह है कि जो लोग फौज के अलावा सिविल सेवा में भी रहे हैं, उन्हें दोनों ही ओर से रिटायरमेंट के बाद पेंशन मिल सकेगी।
रिटायर्ड सैन्यकर्मियों के लिए 'समान रैंक, समान पेंशन' को मंजूरी