Veterans’ despicable talk
The veterans are back at it again – at their mephistophelean ways. The concern of many veterans for the serving military members may be genuine, but it is certainly misplaced. It is, indeed, disheartening to note that many gullible and naive veterans have chosen to follow this path of public protests and demonstrations. It not only lacks grace and decorum, but goes against the basic values and ethos [presuming that the professed and the practised values are the same] of the Indian defence forces.
Their former comrade, Colonel Bainsla’s success in securing the self-serving interests of his community has got some of the veterans’ leaders hyperexcited. AFP reports on the delirious reaction of the veterans’ leaders to the meeting between the Cabinet secretary, who happens to be the head of the SCPC review panel, the defence minister and the three service chiefs-
Military veterans spearheading an agitation for higher pay for serving personnel however warned they would step up the protests if New Delhi failed to increase salaries of soldiers by 62.5 percent and 56.5 percent for officers.
“Our expectation from this meeting is zero as serving officers are not invited to it,” said retired major general Satbir Singh, leading a spirited nationwide campaign for higher pay.
“If our demands are not met then from July 6 we will kick off protest marches in each of India’s 29 state capitals and in 300 districts on behalf of our comrades who are in service,” the general warned.
Enlisted soldiers in India, which has the world’s fourth largest military, are prohibited from taking part in demonstrations.[AFP]
Military veterans spearheading an agitation for higher pay for serving personnel…, …on behalf of our comrades who are in service–
Whoof! The veterans’ leaders seem to have appropriated some divine right to fight the battle for their serving brethren. Who authorised them to do so on behalf of the serving members of the services? The self-styled and self-anointed leaders of this movement only remind one of the numerous leaders in the militancy laden Punjab in the 1980s, who would declare themselves as Presidents and Prime Ministers of Khalistan. All that sounded ludicrous then, yes, and it doesn’t sound much different now for these veterans in the eyes of any discerning observer.
There is an organisation in place, with its own mechanisms and processes, to deal with any situation concerning the serving members. As this blogger has exhorted earlier, it is time for the three service chiefs to issue a categorical statement debunking the preposterous claims of the veterans. The actions (and the pompous talk) of the veterans not only publicly undermines the authority of the services’ top brass, but also points towards a total collapse of the systems and institutionalised mechanisms in place in the three services. Is this the message the services want to send to the common man and all its serving members? A clear, crisp and outright denouncement of this explicit [not implicit] association of the servicemen/women with the irascible veterans by the service chiefs will also deny the veterans’ leaders the moral high ground and rob them of their biggest bargaining chip with the establishment.
It is not only the bounden legal duty of the service chiefs, but their moral obligation as highest military leaders, to look after the grievances of their troopers. The service chiefs thus need to follow the denial statement up with a communication to all the serving military members, explaining in great detail, the actions undertaken by them to secure the genuine rights of the oficers and soldiers. On the other hand, this denial statement will be seen by the serving members as cosying up to the establishment, if they end up following the path of their predecessors and end up with a cushy post-retirement assignment from the government. Their actions, now and in the future, will speak louder than their words; their strong words will come to haunt them and their personal reputation. If the service chiefs do not have the will and gumption to display the moral courage, then silence [as being practised now] is their best course of action.
Notwithstanding the calamitous after-effects of their unsound course of action, the veterans have full rights to stage protests, lay sieges, start a political movement and even plan an insurgency to secure their own parochial ends in a democratic society. However, they have no right to demean the serving military members by invoking their benefits as an altrusitic motive.
…as serving officers are not invited to it–
So these veterans do not even consider the three serving chiefs as serving officers! And why stop at officers? Why not involve the soldiers, NCOs and JCOs, so disparagingly bracketed by that epithet called PBOR? After all, their interests are also at stake. Eventually, do these veterans envisage a democratic model for the Indian defence forces, where the soldiers will elect their platoon leader and then the officers will join in to vote for their choice of a commanding officer! Pardon my sarcasm, but if the aggregated self-serving interests of a group will be determined by the affected group themselves[as being advocated for the SCPC], then the next step will be other areas where aggregated self-serving interests of the groups will control the decision making process. Once you have moved on this path, there is no going back. Let us start penning the elegies, for then the time to give the services a decent burial will soon follow.
The need of the hour is top class military leadership, which understands the implications of these misguided actions and unholy associations. Where are those military leaders in India today? Impostors feigning as military leaders, wearing epaulettes of generals, admirals and air marshals or self-appointed veterans’ leaders fighting for their own selfish interests, in the garb of helping their former mates, are not prepared to let organisational interests prevail over aggregated individual self-interests.
The spineless political leadership and the rusted steel frame bureaucracy have let the nation down many a time since independence. They must be rejoicing that military top brass has also joined their ranks of self-serving, inept and rudderless leaders.
This blogger in his post titled On the SCPC review committee had advised the serving military members to take the media reports on SCPC review panel with “a bucketful of salt”. Now comes a media report [Hat tip: Common Man] that the SCPC review committee was not even on the main agenda of the meeting.
It seems the armed forces will have to wait some more for their fresh pay package. The chiefs of the three armed forces, in their meeting with defence minister A K Antony on Thursday, are not likely to finalise the much anticipated new pay package, as it is not quite ready yet, government sources said. Issues related to the new airfields being reopened along the borders in the North east side of the country and other security concerns are on the agenda.
Sources said while the pay commission’s recommendations will be discussed in the meeting, no fresh recommendations have been adopted yet for the armed forces. There have been some news reports stating that a fresh package as suggested by the empowered group of secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar is to be finalised during Thursday’s meeting
Rubbishing these reports, officials clarified that the fresh pay package as suggested by the empowered group of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar is not ready yet . “These are just pressure tactics being adopted by the armed forces, “sources claimed.[FE]
Satisfaction of being vindicated, yes. Smug, no! Robert Half’s words come in handy here-
No one can be right all of the time, but it helps to be right most of the time.
[Note to carpers only] Before hitting the comments button and overworking the monkeys on your keyboard, consider the wisdom in the words of John Kenneth Galbraith-
Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
It seems pragmatic is one of those egoistic civilian beurocrat who has a problem with the military.
He puts up this facade of military ethos in all his arguements!What’s wrong in the veterans going out on the street and asking for the rights of serving officers/men.At least they have conducted themselves in the most disciplined manner.People in uniform are also human beings with families and mentioning ethos grace,decorum etc whenever it suits will not fill up his stomach.
Serving soldier has no right to protest.Someone has to speak for him.If it is by the veterans,let it be so!Be grateful, depite all this, this army still readily takes orders from an ungrateful political leadership!
@disgruntled
This fella is not a bureaucrat.
Read the following by a retired bureaucrat: -
UPA’s death blow to the morale of Indian Armed Forces-I
V.SUNDARAM | Tue, 24 Jun, 2008 , 04:28 PM
.
B.R.Haran has rightly observed: ‘If Parliament is the ‘Heart’ of Democracy, then the Armed Forces can be called as the ‘Central Nervous System’, which is vital for the democracy to survive and succeed.
The political class might feel proud of being the Members of Parliament of the world’s largest democracy, but it had miserably failed to take care of its ‘central nervous system’, which is now threatening to complicate the system of democracy, which is not good for the health of the country’.
The Armed Forces, serving as well as retired, have been deeply perturbed by the callous attitude of the UPA government. They are all disappointed and demoralized by the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission headed by Justice B.N.Srikrishna. In fact, the resentment in the Armed Forces has actually started from the third pay commission (1976) itself and it has been growing since then and has reached a boiling point now due to the total neglect of the essential needs, fundamental feelings, emotions and sentiments of the Armed Forces of India as a whole, by the Sixth Pay Commission. It is high time that the government wakes-up to the issue and solves it, or otherwise, a volcano is waiting to erupt with disastrous consequences for our already weak nation’s future.
The Armed Forces and the organizations like ‘All India Veterans Welfare Association’ (AIVWA) have been repeatedly airing their grievances to the government, but to no avail. Even at the time of constitution of the Sixth Pay Commission, they had requested for the inclusion of a few serving and retired military officers as members of the Pay Commission, but the government had turned a deaf ear to this very reasonable request. The Armed Forces of India today strongly feel that the government has acted in a partial manner according to the whims and fancy of the bureaucracy, resulting in the total neglect of the Armed Forces and its requirements. The Sixth Pay Commission, which comprises of members only from bureaucracy, has allegedly taken care of its self-interests while turning a blind eye to the legitimate urges and aspirations of Armed Forces.
In this context I would like to quote the appropriate words of Major General Eustace D’Souza (Retd.): ‘Never before since Independence have the Armed Forces reacted with such unison to express their deep disappointment at the recommendations of Justice B.N.Srikrishna’s Sixth Pay Commission currently being hotly and emotionally challenged by all ranks serving and retired, of our Armed Forces. The Babus or the Mandarins in Delhi who considered the issue bring back to mind an incident at the Course no: 7 of the National Defence College New Delhi in 1967. The speaker for that morning was the then Defence Secretary. At the conclusion of his presentation, three serving Officers Captain (IN) E.Chandy Kuruvilla (later Vice Admiral), Air Commodore Idris Hasan Lattif (later Air Chief Marshall, Chief of the Air Staff) and myself, then a Brigadier fresh from facing the PLA (the Communist Chinese Peoples Liberation Army) on the high altitude of East Sikkim Watershed, rose in unison and posed this question: ‘The Armed Forces have been on the qui vive ever since Independence: the Punjab Boundary Force, Kashmir, counter insurgency in the North East, the ill-fated 1962 War against the Chinese, the 1965 War against Pakistan yet keeping a wary eye on China in the East – there were four skirmishes at Yak La and Nathu La — that there was no National War Memorial to the thousands of our gallant soldiers, sailors and airmen who had sacrificed their lives for the Nation. Yet, the British had erected the most impressive War Memorial, the India Gate on the high visibility Raj Path, a tourist landmark, for Indian troops that sacrificed their lives in World War I’. Pat came the typically suave Babu reply: ‘Whatever for? They are only doing their duty’. That wooden, lifeless and irresponsible Defence Secretary whoever he was has been rightly consigned to an ineluctable oblivion’.
Let us salute our Armed Forces “A glorious death is his Who for his country falls” – Homer in his ‘Iliad’ in 9th century B.C.
According to Major General D’Souza, it was only after the 1971 War that the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi agreed to put up a National War Memorial in the form of a Samadhi but under the Imperial National War Memorial. Indira Gandhi was a mean, vicious, graceless and small-minded woman. In a very touching manner Major General D’Souza has lamented: ‘Dwarfed by the imposing landmark of India Gate very few of our countrymen stop to say a silent prayer or place a posy of flowers’. If we have any national self-respect, we should compare this meager Indian Memorial with the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London or the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysee in Paris, or Arlington in Washington, or Sofia in Bulgaria, wherever. I have mentioned this incident only because it is a true reflection of the very same Babus, who comprise the Pay Commission. It is obvious that their callous motto is: ‘I am alright, you are alright, so what is the problem?’ This attitude has become glaringly evident in the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations.
Crooked and corrupt Indian Politicians (mostly belonging to the Congress Party) have been constructing innumerable statues and memorials at public cost to perpetuate their dastardly public deeds of crime and infamy. They have no time or grace or heart for the un-mourned and unsung heroes of our Armed Forces who have laid down their lives for the safety and integrity of our Motherland. Thousands of Indian Soldiers have died fighting for our Country after our independence. No memorial has been raised for them. All the War Memorials in India were raised during the days of British Raj.
The fact of the matter is that right from day after our Independence, the Congress Party and the government of India became two sides of the same coin. Though the message of Satyameva Jayathe (Truth alone Triumphs) was inscribed on the Official Emblem of the government of India, yet the working motto of all our Prime Ministers starting from the infantile and nervous Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 till the tottering and faltering Dr.Man Mohan Singh of 2008 has been: Asatyameva Jayathe! (Untruth (Congress Falsehood) alone Triumphs).
According to Col. S S Rajan, it is indeed a matter of shame that right from 15 August 1947, the Government of India, i.e. the Prime Ministers starting from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi down to Sardar Manmohan Singh, the present Prime Minister, have never consulted, nay even ignored, the Chiefs of the Armed Forces while taking policy decisions in matters affecting the security and territorial integrity of our Nation.
A few examples by way of illustrations would amply illuminate what has been stated above.
1.When the Pakistan Army, in the garb of Tribals attacked India in Jammu & Kashmir to capture and annex the State of Jammu & Kashmir forcibly, and when the Pakistan Army was on the outskirts of Srinagar, the Indian Army was flown into Srinagar and soon, the Indian Army not only stemmed the tide but also drove back the Pakistan Army and was in the process of rolling back the Pakistan Army out of Jammu & Kashmir. And General Cariappa, the then Commander of the Indian Forces in Kashmir told Nehru that the Indian Army would accomplish their task of throwing out the invaders from Jammu & Kashmir in a matter of just two weeks. Unfortunately, Nehru without consulting General Cariappa, foolishly went in for a cease fire in Kashmir, the starting point of the problem which has festered for the past 60 years.
2. The brave soldiers of the Indian Army captured the strategically important ‘Haji Pir Pass’ in Jammu & Kashmir during the 1965 Indo-Pak War. After shedding much blood, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minister, without consulting the Armed Forces gave back the ‘Haji Pir Pass’ to Pakistan following Tashkend Talks after the War.
3. The brave soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces fought gallantly in the 1971 war leading to the liberation of Bangladesh and captured of 94000 Pakistan soldiers as prisoners of War. These prisoners were treated as Royal Guests and kept by the government of India for two years and were returned to Pakistan after the Simla Talks with Zulfikar Ali Bhuto of Pakistan. Indira Gandhi took this disordered anti-national decision without consulting the chiefs of Armed Forces. Indira Gandhi treated them as Bangladesh refugees. The message Indira Gandhi gave to the nation was ‘Our soldiers have indeed died in vain. 94000 Pakistan soldiers who were imprisoned and later returned to Pakistan did not go to war without a cause’. In the garb of exercising civilian control over the Armed Forces by the Civilians in a Democracy, successive govt. in power have not only diluted the Combat Effectiveness or Worthiness of the Armed Forces, but also lowered its stature & image in the eyes of the public.
Every war after independence has been viewed as a SKIRMISH from the point of view of the Armed Forces and as great WARS for National Liberation from the point of view of our wicked unpatriotic politicians. That is how Nehru became the Hero of the Kashmir War in 1947, and the Chinese War in 1962; Lal Bahadur Shastri in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965; and Indira Gandhi in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. That is why 94000 Pakistan Soldiers taken as prisoners by the Great General Arora and his heroic men, were returned in a shamelessly submissive manner to Pakistan by Indira Gandhi.
Her egoism was such that whenever she was attending a wedding, she wanted to replace the bride; and whenever she was attending a funeral she wanted to replace the corpse. All our politicians (particularly Congress) are mortally scared of Muslims of India and Pakistan. That is the reason they always fight shy of declaring our Martyrs from the Armed Forces of India, who have triumphantly fought against Pakistan, as War Heroes and build memorials for them. No wonder, any act of Islamic Terrorism – either in India or outside – is viewed by all our Political Leaders as acts of grace and compassion.
And, one is thus reminded of Francis Quarles’ poem:
God and the soldier, all men adore,
In time of danger and not before;
When the danger is passed and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted.
(To be contd…)
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)
e-mail the writer at
vsundaram@newstodaynet.com
So what say you?
@Mahatma:
I am no fan of the UPA but Admiral Bhagwat was sacked by NDA govt. 1971 operations had Mrs. gandhi seek advise of Sam manekshaw and Rajiv brought Arun Singh and Sundarji.
You are hell bent on proving Galbraith right
I have never ever read such crap. Evidently the author is a smart and cunning bureaucrat who has no knowledge of the Defence Forces and the rights of an Ex Serviceman (ESMs).
There are thousands of instances where bureaucrats have subverted the democratic process in league with politicians. Servicemen and ESMs have never done so. They are the last bastion of patriotism who do not need the crap that is being doled out.
[1] Vetted
‘Field’ Militaries would be happy if the Retired and Released just go away and stop cluttering up their Hospitals, Canteens, Institutes and Pay Commissions. (In the USA; heard they don’t like these fellows too – for an additional reason – they overstock Arlington where now < Major Generals and spouse are timeline multi tiered in the same grave. Ref. to this available)
[2] Value
The original caste system wisely (?) designed to keep Indians placed, received value addition from mil spec with 3 more classes; Officers, PBOs & PNVs (Personnel; Nuisance Value/ Veteran)
[3] Bulk Stores
“PBORs” is a bad description even though the military is very happy to continue using it –it slots, shaft people; prevents ‘belows’ from getting uppity. Soldiers, NCOs and JCOs would be right and polite in lieu. Institutionally, MIML perhaps deals with the categories.
[4] NIVs
Officers now seem obsessed / classed as UCOs, MCOs – Middle Class (Major to Col), ICOs – Inter Class – like as in the old railway compartments (Brigs), ECOs Entry level to Flags (Maj Gens), SCOs, PCOs (ok for DTC, Govt Boards etc), ACOs (Ambassador Class, FFI for) GCOs (Governor Class). And CBO’s – commenting on blogs types.
[5] The Desi Milvets Party (DMP)
This week ‘officially’ clarified that they speak only on behalf of vet wants and on pay issues etc only insofar only as these impact on retds/released. Maybe thousands of old coot boots tramping on Jantar Mantar next week have the incidental benefit of leveling the astronomy lab to original geometric functionality destroyed by landscapers years ago.
@PS:
CBOs – commenting on blogs types
We need more of this type, Sir
@Blake
Old foggy read this: -
I think I too can start my own blog and get a lot of disgruntled type CBOs to respond.
I too can collect material from the net and pretend to be an intelectual writing endless ‘CLAPTRAP’.
UPA’s death blow to the morale of Indian Military-II
Thu, 26 Jun, 2008 , 03:49 PM
.
The Officers and Men in the Armed Forces of India today are in a sad state and mood of general disappointment, depression and dissatisfaction, which is having an adverse impact on their morale.
I have just finished reading an article by Major General E.D’ Souza, PVSM which was published in the June 2008 issue of Freedom First The Liberal Position under the title ‘Whatever For? They Are Only Doing Their Duty’. In Post-Independent India we seem to be more concerned with corrupt and unscrupulous politicians and their innumerable concubines! The nation never tries to recall or remember the lives and achievements of outstanding Officers and Men from the Armed Forces of India who have distinguished themselves in selfless national service.
Before I deal with the substantive issues Major General E.D’Souza has raised relating to the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission relating to the Armed Forces as a whole, I would like to refer to the distinguished life and achievements of Major General E. D’Souza as an Army Officer from 1942 till 1977. Born in 1921, he graduated in Science from St.Xaviers College, Bombay in 1941. He joined the Army in 1942 and was commissioned from the Indian Military Academy in 1943 and posted to the Mahratta Light Infantry. His Army Unit fought in the Italian Campaign from May 1944 to September 1945 in all the major battles after the fall of MONTE CASSINO to the crossing of the PO. Later he moved with his Unit to Japan as part of Brigadier Thimayya’s 268 Indian Infantry Brigade of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces from February 1946 to September 1947. After becoming a regular Officer of the Indian Army in November 1945, Major General D’ Souza distinguished himself in operations in the Uri Sector in Jammu & Kashmir in 1948 and was mentioned in Dispatches. At the young age of 28, he went to the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, Nilgris in 1949. In 1952, he was posted on the Staff of Military Adviser HICOMIND London and he served in that position till 1955. He commanded a force of 25000 regular and para military forces during the 1971 War against Pakistan and was awarded PVSM. He retired as GOC Delhi Area in 1975, after 33 years of very distinguished and meritorious service. Even after his retirement, he has kept himself busy in very meaningful social and public service. Several organizations have honoured him for his public-spirited endeavours. The Rotary Club of Bombay honoured him with its Public Award for Courage and Perseverance during the 1995 Mumbai Riots.
Referring to the low level of emoluments in the Armed Forces, Major General D’ Souza states that there is a great disparity between emoluments of the Private Sector and the Armed Forces which is not only dissuading young Indians from applying for Commissions in the Armed Forces, but is also pushing Serving Officers to seek premature retirement in order to move to greener pastures. Why not? Officers of the Armed Forces need to live decent lives, educate their children and plan for an early retirement between 50 and 60 depending on their ranks and not as in the Civil Services at 60.
In the context of hardships and ordeals faced by Army Officers during their official career, I would like to cite the example of Major General D’ Souza. After serving in the Army for 16 years from 1942, he was posted to the militant-prone sector of Poonch in 1958. Thus he was separated from his family from 1958 till 1969. He kept his wife in a private bungalow in Mhow Cantt. He was forced to send his two sons to Mt.Abu because there were no good English Medium Schools in Mhow Cantt. at that time. Thus he gives us this sad story relating to the difficulties he had to face on account of his having to maintain three family establishments with his meager salary in those days. As a result of these prolonged separations, his wife suffered a nervous breakdown! There are innumerable examples of this kind relating to family trauma in the Armed Forces. As Major General D’ Souza puts it in poignant terms: ‘Which Babu sitting in his luxury office in South Block sends his sons to the Army? Because of his cozy stability, he is able to send his children to Ivy League Institutions in India and Abroad. How can such a bureaucrat ever get the feel of the inbuilt hazards of soldiering in its current avatar?’
When GEORGE FERNANDES, our former DEFENCE MINISTER, went to visit our troops in Siachen, he was shocked to see the conditions of service in the highest battlefield in the World, facing a live and deadly enemy. He was aghast to note the shortage of Snowmobiles that were available for transporting supplies to our Armed Forces in Siachen including kerosene from helipads/dropping zones. On his return to his office in South Block in New Delhi, George Fernandes called for the files and was shocked to learn that his Babu’s were totally unconcerned about processing the case for acquisition of additional vehicles for military use in Siachen. To teach them a lesson, George Fernandes packed those wooden, insensitive, and irresponsible Babus to get a taste of Siachen. The files thereafter were never held up by these Babus and were cleared expeditiously!
Never since Independence have elemental passions and emotions——not only among serving Services Personnel but also among Ex-servicemen — been aroused to such an extent as in recent weeks in different parts of India. All of them have made it clear to the government of India that they can never hope to get any justice from the Sixth Pay Commission. When the disgruntled and agitating ex-servicemen wanted to air their legitimate grievances in a silent and disciplined manner by paying their homage to the martyrs who have died fighting for our country at the Amar Jawan Jyothi Memorial at India Gate in New Delhi on 27 April 2008, the government of Delhi (which does not exclude the government of India!) covered themselves with everlasting shame and infamy by imposing a ban under Section 144 of the IPC. Un-subdued, unshaken and un-seduced, the ex-servicemen of India conducted 30 meetings at War Memorials in different parts of the country — Delhi (Jantar Mantar), Chandigarh, Amritsar, Bangalore, Nerul Navi Mumbai etc. Protesting through demonstrations and speeches (quite contrary to the Armed Forces culture) several meetings were organized in a dignified manner. In all those meetings, the services of thousands of men who have sacrificed their lives for our country were remembered and recalled. The three Service Chiefs, in a demonstration of solidarity, met the Defence Minister A K Anthony and expressed their strong sense of dismay and unhappiness at the Sixth Pay Commissions recommendations on which there was no representative of the Armed Forces.
An Ex-Army Chief General Malik made an impassioned written appeal to the Prime Minister bringing these patent instances of injustice done to the Armed Forces of India to his notice. As a poor consolation prize, the impotent government of India nominated its no less impotent Cabinet Secretary to conduct a lunch meeting with the three Service Chiefs. This is a classic instance of ‘Sonia-Congress UPA hypocrisy at its pseudo secular anti-national (anti-Armed Forces!) best’. In this context, I am only reminded of the following rapier-like words of W.Somerset Maugham (1874-1965): ‘Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practiced at spare moments; it is a whole time job’.
In my view the following are the main legitimate grievances of the Armed Forces of India:
1. There is an imperative national need to have a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces of India.
2. One representative each from the Army, Navy and the Air Force will have to be included in all such Pay Commissions.
3. There has to be a revision of emoluments in the Armed Forces in an issue based manner and the long-standing demand for ‘One Rank One Pension’ has to be conceded forthwith to boost the sagging morale of the Armed Forces.
I fully endorse the following words of Major General D’ Souza: ‘Logic demands that service in the Armed Forces of India based on historic grounds since Independence cannot be equated with other Civil Services. Unless the whole procedure and composition of Pay Commissions are revised, the Services will no longer be sought by our youth as careers, especially in the Officer cadre. This is obvious from the marked short fall in intakes for Commissions and the increasing number of Service Personnel seeking premature retirement. Can the Nation afford to reach such a dangerous impasse with cross border militancy on the increase as evidenced in the recent Samba and Pulwama incidents; the growing problems of Naxalites; the location of Chinese Nuclear Missiles on the Indo-Chinese border facing India and its strident claims on Arunachal Pradesh; the growing Maoist influence in our immediate neighbourhood and our UN Commitments’.
Against this background, Major General D’ Souza has made the following recommendations on the sensitive issue of emoluments in the Armed Forces of India:
A. As a long-term measure, there should be a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces.
B. In the case of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, a GOP of Ministers from all parties representing all States should be set up to examine and rectify the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations. This high level group should be divided into sub-groups to examine the serving conditions of the Services in Siachen, the desert, the tropical jungles of the North-East, Jammu & Kashmir and North-East Frontier Agency and the plight of Ex-servicemen.
C. The equation with the Civil Services should be rectified.
D. The Supreme Commander, our President, should be apprised of these glaring deficiencies.
E. Early retirement ages should be compensated by lateral entry into the public sector.
F. All our TV channels should have a debate on this issue both in Hindi and English and the regional languages so that the person in the street is made aware of these disparities.
(To be contd…)(The writer is a retired IAS officer)e-mail the writer at
vsundaram@newstodaynet.com
@mahatma
Thanks. Always respected the views of Maj Gen E. D’Souza. Served under him 40 years ago.
Mr Sundaram’s views are well considered and interesting. However, the 4 to 5 child per family fertility norm in rural and urban (lmc, bpl) India will make all discussion and action points – civvy or mil sterile 20 years on. Any solutions ?
@PS
The only solution is Voodoo. I have already started the rituals and we shall awaken the great ”SANJAY GANDHI”
@Mahatama
To quote from Ashok Mahajan again:
The military has to kick start the good works. Ramadoss needs help.
RED TRIANGLE
Verse 1
The Divisional Commander, Ram Krishan,
Made family planning Formation’s mission.
He counselled his boys
Against conjugal joys
And banned c…lation without permission.
Verse 3
And Colonel Mann, most enthusiastic,
Explained with a contraption elastic
At his monthly Durbar
That effects of a War
Versus overpopulation are less drastic
Verse 5
Virile Quarter Master Hazara
At Baisakhi goes home to Phagwara.
Each year, during leave,
His eve must conceive
And punctually deliver at Dussahra
In fact this article can be called a nice piece of ‘journalism’ and why not ? after all the stock markets , industrial growth and the nations progress , in general are all are immune to the presence or absence of a first class armed forces . We should see what legacy the army has left this country !!
Firstly , We still have kashmir , which remains a problem !!
Secondly , Our neighbors are scared of us , which is really , really bad !!
Thirdly , China dare not attack us in present state !!
Fourthly and most importantly , we still have officers who can motivate their men to die like they did in Kargil !! such a pity!!
All the above are anathema to a breed and generation of Babus brought up in the marxist environment of JNU !! If India has not become fractured , become Communist or not got destroyed it is the “FAULT” of the armed forces !!
Otherwise these babus have done us a great deal of favour , and they would have done better had it not been for the armed forces . Today a majority of development contracts in all states are taken by the DC , in proxy !! The SP et all take some cut from each police station , based on the crime committed !! Such things are Indian !! and these army people are not behaving like Indians when a large chunk remain loyal !!So what is the solution ? try and bankrupt the morals of the army !! how do you go about it ? by reducing his salary to such an extent that he is forced to become like any other Indian ! and India truly develops on the path to development !!
Regards ,
Pragmatic Euphony “proudly” (?????) owned?
Come on that is the best – way above Mayawati taking money, Mulayam changing side; Karat ad-libbing asides; Baradan needing D Raja to interpret; Hu needing you know who to make sure India remains at 8% growth rate!
hey come on show us your versatile vocab by taking on the politicos
[...] bookmarks tagged despicable Veterans’ despicable talk saved by 3 others kameotoluvsgaara bookmarked on 07/12/08 | [...]