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| Give military good news for Diwali | | | Arun Kumar Singh
The last fortnight witnessed a continued "Alice in Wonderland" series of events, which surely must bewilder and demoralise the citizens of this "rising superpower". After Kashmir’s self-created crisis, we have had the armed forces stepping in to help in Bihar, due to the massive floods which have left some two million people stranded. The civil administration finally called in the armed forces nine days too late. The armed forces, who have been truly demoralised by the award of the Sixth Pay Commission, with reference to officers, have once again risen to the occasion, with the GOC-in-C, Central Command, taking personal charge of the operation from Purnia. Now in Assam, the Brahmaputra too has overflowed its banks and flooding was reported on September 5. If required, the armed forces will again rise to the occasion.
A few weeks before the government announced the pay package on August 15, it appears that the defence minister and the three service chiefs were assured by the 13-member committee of secretaries that all the issues raised by the defence services had been understood and catered for. A fortnight after the August 15 announcement, it became clear that while the jawans (PBOR, or Personnel Below Officer Rank) had been given a reasonable package, except that their pension still did not cater for the truncated career span of 15-17 years (a jawan in the paramilitary and the civil services equivalent serves till the age of 57, and averages about 37 years of service).
With reference to officers, it soon became evident that the lieutenant-colonels (and equivalent), who form about 35 per cent of the 54,000-odd officer cadre, had received a raw deal. These officers, who provide frontline leadership, as witnessed by the numerous casualties in the ongoing war on terror, have now been put in "pay band 3", while civil service cadre and paramilitary officers, some of whom received a lower pay than lieutenant-colonels before the Sixth Pay Commission, have been moved to "pay band 4". The Chief of Air Staff (in his capacity as acting chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee) wrote to the defence minister that now a coast guard commandant (equal to a Lt. Col.) will earn the same pay in 23 years of service as a service officer who becomes a rear-admiral (major-general) in 30 years. In addition, there is a new disparity in grade pay for all service officers and a fresh pay anomaly for lieutenant-generals, with the directors-general of police also having overtaken them.
The three service chiefs have taken the unprecedented step of writing to the defence minister, requesting that the armed forces officers’ pay hike be held in abeyance till these anomalies are resolved, notwithstanding that the rest of the civil services and paramilitary will have something to celebrate on Diwali.
Rattled by the response of the three service chiefs, and the palpable anger in the armed forces, but unmindful of the consequences of destroying morale and leadership in the services, the bureaucrats on September 2 made selective and incorrect leaks to the press about how the services are now "better off". The press has also reported that a rough equivalent (80 per cent) of the military service pay (MSP) has been "approved" for the paramilitary and would be promulgated soon — thus the existing disparity of about Rs 10,000 per month salary would be further aggravated for lieutenant-colonels.
Having served as director-general of the Indian Coast Guard, it is my opinion that the police and paramilitary too are doing a difficult job, and no one should grudge them the pay hikes. But in doing so, the morale of the services must not be destroyed since the armed forces are the last line of defence, as has been demonstrated not only in wartime, but also during insurgency in Kashmir and the Northeast.
Times have changed, and the young educated men who are needed to lead the armed forces in war, insurgency or natural disasters, are far more aware of their market worth, and are definitely not overawed by the scheming bureaucracy, whose palpable failures require them to swing into action and retrieve the situation. It is high time that the political leadership stepped in to prevent demoralisation and destruction of leadership in the armed forces. The consequences of poor leadership or the unwillingness of military officers to lead from the front and sacrifice their lives may result in removing the last line of defence of this nation. Other unpleasant consequences would be a further drop in volunteer response, a larger number of officers wanting to leave and, worst of all, greater corruption, lack of discipline and loss of esprit de corps. One only hopes that the political leadership acts in time so that the services too can join their civilian and paramilitary counterparts in Diwali celebrations. The time has also come for a military member to be a part of the Pay Commission.
Vice-Admiral Arun Kumar Singh retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam. |
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