Well after yesterday direct attach to the rich, financial centre and financial capital of India, for the first time they have come in the open and attacked us. This is the cost we are paying for not giving its due he Army … Just think if there is no strong man guarding or doors i.e. borders ,Sea and air…………… more brothers , sisters friends will die cause we think what’s the role of army.

Well lets see are we still so selfish for our own Security ????????

After months of discussions with the decision makers, the pay commission was finally announced. Whether it benefits all of us in the long term interest for the services is highly debatable. In my opinion, the demand for salary increase was not properly made. We focused on mere seeking a hike ‘for a few dollars more’. Whatever the hike was done, I am sure the present rate of inflation and economy downswing will get us back to square one within two years. The real issues were however left out.

The first issue was, are we at par with the civil servants? The Times of India reported that a civil servant will get double the salary compared to his Defence counterpart with same age and experience in 14 Years. Also a Defence officer after putting in 30 Years of service will get 30 Lakhs less than his civil service counterpart with same service period.

Now this report is alarming. The country remembers us only during war. A Colonel sacrificed his life with two soldiers this weekend amidst heavy fighting at J & K. I was partying at a pub on leave and felt guilty watching the news on TV, but I could notice the next generation was not bothered. They were flicking the channel for update on a program ‘The Big Boss’ . The crowd was feeling sorry for the participant who was voted out from the Big Boss and not the Colonel who died fighting for the country . The point I wish to bring out is, this insensitivity to own officers and jawans, who is to be blamed for it . The Government bureaucracy or the media or the services themselves or the blame is of the Youth.

I merely seek an explanation that why a class of bureaucracy is dictating terms to us, why are they treating us like second rate citizen that youth of this country do not find it important enough to even hear a news of a Colonel’s Death. What right they have to make us so unimportant? Is this fair that Armed Forces have to be treated like second fiddle? Why was there no representatives in Pay Commission to bring out concerns of middle rung officers till Lt Col /Jawans/Ex Servicemen/Widows. They form the bulk of forces.

The issue is not why we haven’t got enough, the issue is why we haven’t got equal to IAS /IPS counterparts? If the country economy is bad, let us all share the burden. Why only services have to bear the brunt of reasons of strain on the Country economy. What great work a Babu is doing in IAS than a soldier. Even a traffic Policeman who is busy making easy money from ladies /kids on traffic point is earning Rs 950 more in white money than the salary of a Jawan. Hence the issues of pay commission should have been only one point agenda that IAS/IPS/ Defence service pay to be equal even if it is pea nuts or a few rupees more .

The next point is the promotion schemes. 90 to 100 percent civil servants or IPS reach from an Under secretary to Deputy Secretary to Joint Secretary to Secretary . Same is in IPS, from a probationer to ACP to Collector to Div Commissioners. In Defence service 75 percent gets washed out at rank of Lt Col. Balance keeps dwindling till last one and the only one. AV Sing Part 2 will get some semblance but not much. It will not be enough to divert the next generation in filling NDA forms, from filling IAS/IPS forms. The result will be that we will have bright lots making selfish but realistic choices. The call for duty will not be heard in many young minds due to the manner Defence services are being reduced as second fiddle to IAS/IPS.

I also wish to however acknowledge the counter point of salary increase what ever it was. We must justify that bit increase with our productive work. We were only harping that we need a salary equal to the corporate world. We forget that the corporate world will not tolerate the baggage of corrupt/ inefficient / time wasters which are there in our organization. The civilians in Depots/BaseWksp/ MES and many officers especially after super secession having no self respect and not looking forward to next rank are the biggest culprits. If we all take credit for Vikram Batra sacrifice in the Kargil war or the Colonel sacrifice this weekend, We have to carry these other culprits of our organization also on our shoulders, who are corrupt, fraud and non productive to the organization. We have to justify to the country that the rise in pay for Defence services was less, as majority of the Officers and Other Ranks are worthy earners for more recognition with pay as one of the incentives. The country should treat us as worthy first rate citizens.

To conclude, the pay rise is immaterial what ever it was, as first we are professionals and next we will be in the same boat within two years. The issues are assured service ranks and same status with IAS/ IPS. The real issue is getting our due as first rate citizens in a democracy. The main issue is we are no less than IAS/IPS. These are the issues that will challenge the intake in Defence Service in coming years. With all due regards to Para Military Services , what happened to them? What happened to one rank one pay for Ex Servicemen? What happened to the Widows? They all are worse than us. These all issues could have been answered better had IAS lobby allowed a service representative to be at par with them in deciding the salary structure. I think that is where our political masters will have to play an important role to unshackle the services from IAS lobby. The question is will it happen? Maybe we can learn our lessons for ‘next Kirinji Flower’ which comes out once in a while after many years ie the pay commission.

What are you a general?
If you were planning to do all these things with a 450% hike in you current salary then you all must be paid really well and you dont require a pay rise.

Anyway enjoy in Dreamland.

common club for enlisted men and officers, not mess, off course there is nothing called separate ‘q’ for officers. good thing about US navy is that officers literally put a gun against smart men’s head and march them to officers academy, indian navy have very few officers like that. US officers doesn’t maintain the social buffer as indian officers do, indian officers are true custodian of colonel legacy, even brits have done away with various traditions, which is not apt in a modern social economic setup. I am sure IN will change, the question is when?

Jai Hind

“Somebody told me that in the US they have common mess for all ranks. Even the ‘Q’ for food is single and people pick up their plates as per their turn in the ‘Q’ and not as per weight of the brass. ”

maybe you can throw some light on this??

u r most welcome, when u visit Tampa, Florida.

as u quoted:-

“But “equality” does not exist in the forces at all. In fact the basic principle is heirarchial in nature. It does not exist within officers, within men and definitely not between officers and men”.

the “equality” i stand for is – treat sailors a citizen of this country, for heaven sake, stop treating them as colonial bosses use to treat indians. For example can u treat a civilian as u treat a sailor, i bet u will land in hospital. The training imparted tells only one thing “follow orders and subordination” that does not mean slavery.

80% of naval officers exploit sailors, 20% true leaders and they are worshiped literally, every word or request spoken by these officers are obeyed and followed to the last letter. unfortunately few out of these 20 % officers goes the distance, to bring about positive changes. Navy survives because of few good men. trusty u might be one among them.

to sum it up, i am ex sailor, going great guns in civil life, navy has taught me how management should not be, which is helping me out in my second career.

I want to see navy changing, it is important to since i have given prime of life to it, i want my efforts to bear fruits.

jai hind

Sorry! Actually I was in a different world when I punched in my comments. I was actually in US (though I have never been there). Somebody told me that in the US they have common mess for all ranks. Even the ‘Q’ for food is single and people pick up their plates as per their turn in the ‘Q’ and not as per weight of the brass.

High time this hierarchy in the fauj is disbanded. After all beyond the cantonment, don’t we follow the ‘Q’ system? If we do not feel small in waiting for our turn in the bank/ bus/ post office/ etc, why should we feel bad in waiting for our turn within the cantonment?

To put it in pragmatics’s word, the colonial mindset needs an urgent overhaul. Even the ‘angrez’ have changed!

In my opinion MSP should be a % of basic and this % can be reduced as we progress from PBOR to JCO to Officers. The Indian soldier is the finest amongst all in the entire world. And he needs to be adequately compensated.
Unfortunately, these decisions are handled not by service personnel but by others who have little knowledge of the dynamics of the forces.