I must say that they have been dishonest brokers, to say the least.
This can be seen in the way they have been selective in stating previous CPC positions.

1. In the chapter on Armed forces they have shown only one pre-IV CPC civil NFSG for comparison with the armed forces. This was the highest NFSG among the many available then. If they had also shown the other civil NFSGs of the time(as shown in the chapter on Gp A civil services) the logic would not have held.

2. The pre-IV CPC scales of Major(SG) and Lt Col(TS),crucial for equation upto NFSG level have not been shown.

3. The pre-IV CPC scale of DIG shown,though technically correct, is misleading . The DIG’s scales were revised by the Home Ministry just prior to the IV CPC placing him above Cols. This was corrected by the IV CPC in its report and who again placed them between Lt Col and Col. Actually with Lt Col and then upgraded.

4. The civil scale of SAG II(Brig’s nearest eqvt), that was merged with SAG I after IV CPC has not been shown. By the same logic the Brig should also be on the SAG scale.
In effect, what has been attempted is to enlarge the disparity that existed between ‘the most advantaged in the civil services’ vis-a-vis the armed forces while narrowing the gap between the various civil services. No mention has been made of the uniform progression upto 14 years available across the board so far and was to be maintained.
If parity with civil pay structure has been accepted, why is it that only military officers don’t get paid during training. Unless the Services confused the issue by clubbing NDA trg with IMA trg.
Services walked into the trap with the ‘we are different’ argument.
In places where the same logic has been applied like inter-se equation of JCOs with civilians, disability pension etc, the civil logic has been beneficial to the Services.
Regarding the SDA, I suspect the IV and V CPCs did away with the concept if you see the pay progression. The starting edge and late commencement of pay was maintained. But it may be clearer if the reports are read, I am not sure if the extracts quoted by the VI CPC would give the complete picture.

Read my blogpost above quoting the SCPC report again. It is not about the inclusion of the rank pay in the Basic pay. Even the SCPC has used that. It is about the edge given by the 3rd CPC for discontinuing the SDA. Pre-SCPC equivalence is with that edge. Once you remove that edge, the Lt Colonel comes into S-21 or S-22. That edge has now been given as the MSP, on services’ own request.

This is the logic of SCPC, which I am tired of repeating. No comment so far, including yours, counters that logic. Thus, I am not hopeful at all about the Lt Colonels moving into PB-4.

2) I am a votary for the best compensation package for the govt servants that is available in the country. But when we talk about compensation packages, we entially
discuss “who is getting what, for doing what and why.” All the reasons/justifications being forwarded for better pay,allowances and other compensatory facilities for defence forces/IPS/IAS are more relevant for the paramilitary forces and certainly with much more urgency. The discontent that you speak about in the defence forces is much more profound in the paramilitary forces.

3) The defence forces predominantly harp on following reasons for grant of exclusivity and special treatment. While some of these may not be that relevant to IAF and Navy but certanly Indian Army has been bitterly crying loud about these.
-securing the nation to extent of the peril of life.
-restricted rights.
-difficult deployment conditions.
-extensive deployment in internal security duties.
-disturbed famiy life.
-short service span.
-not being represented in the pay commissions despite being one of the largest group of central Govt employees.

4) And defence forces cite following as the results of the denial of the exclusivity and “commensurate compensation” for the reasons in para 3 above:-
- lower preference for defence forces as a career
-shortages
-increased disciplinary/court cases
-suicides
-fragging/fratricide
-recruits opting for services rather than fighting arms within the force.
-lesser time for rest/training in between deployments.

5) Following are some of the assumptions they make & myths they propagate:-
-every recruit at any level was a promising talent and would have been the future CEO in private sector if he had not joined the forces!
-they are the most hard pressed service doing all the good things for nation while others are out to undo these acts!
-They are exclusively involved in securing the nation making the “supreme sacrifices” at every step!!

6) Now consider the factual position.

a) Constitutional provisions & Restricted rights :-
All paramilitary forces are raised under the constitutional provision by which the Central Govt can raise any Armed Force of the Union for security and ensuring integrity of the nation and the matters connected with these. It does so by acts passed by the parliament like the CRPF Act, BSF Act, ITBP Act etc. just like the ARMY Act. AirForce Act etc. In
the constitution, and hence, in these acts also, the paramilitary forces are defined as the “Armed Forces of the Union”. Infact, if you go through these paramilitary acts like
ITBP act, BSF act etc. you will find these are exact copies of the Army act. These acts define similar conditions of service including offences, punishments and justice delivery system for individuals subject to these acts as are stipulated in the Army act. At places even the language has not been
changed! So, if there are GCM, PCM & SCM in defence forces, the paramilitary forces have corresponding GSFC,PSFC &SSFC where SFC stands for security force court and the rest including powers, composition etc are same!
As if this was not enough, in addition, the paramilitary forces function under all the rules & regulations which govern the civil services and remain appliable to them too.

b) Difficult service conditions, extensive deployment, disturbed family life & securing the nation:-
There is nothing exclusive that Defence forces have done that has not been done by paramilitary forces too. Take the case of Army, Except Siachen, there is no other area where one paramilitary force or the other is not there with it. Be it the LoC, insurgency in J&K and north east. All the things ie field area, fidayeens, insurgency, LoC, hieghts of Kashmir, wars, kargil, assam, tsunami, floods, peace missions abroad, cyclones, earth quakes…. are being handled by these paramilitary forces too. Yes, i know, i left out siachen, that is the only thing that armed forces can claim to be their USP today which is not being handled by paramilitary forces. While after a stint at LoC,insurgency
(hard area), the armyman goes for some swank cantt(peace area) with family as per well established and definite practice,the paramilitary forces remain committed to manning the regular boundaries of the country, tackling the naxalite problem, law and order, routine security arrangements etc.. etc… The list is much longer and totally unpredictable. Their peace areas are Rann of Kuchch, Deep jungles of northeast, high altitude areas. To say these are inhospitable is merely cracking a joke. But to paramilitary persons, especially the border guarding forces, these are also their “family” locations. The men stay at posts on the border/places of deployment while their families at these so called family locations which can be any thing upto 200 -300KMs behind or even more. Those men are lucky who
actually get to spend even a couple of days in a month with their families in these so called family locations during the ‘family meet’ visit from their place of duty. And with no statutary provision in place for even such ‘family meet’ it is left to the descretion of the lowest level commanders to
accord this ‘welfare’ to the men keeping in view the operational commitment. And these commanders are at their wits end to do so as the ‘operational committment’ remains perpetual & undefined with respect to the quantum as well as time and they are held responsible for any and every thing. It is thus not difficult to comprehend that even this family meet for few days remains a dream come true. With such a premium attached to few moments of family life, its easy to
imagine that it is also the most vulnerable point for highest pressure. The family life is disturbed not only because one is not able to live with family but also because he is never aware when he will or if he ever will! Without any worthwhile system in place, family life remains so unpredictable, individual just cannot plan his routine
domestic committments at all, leave aside emergency situation. That is the peace tenure that these paramilitary people “enjoy”. Most men prefer to keep their families back home rather than take them along to this horrible
dispensation being sold to them as ‘family station’/’family life’.

Few people Know, that apart from the normal peace time role, parmilitary forces have an active war time role too under control of defence forces. So, the actual situation is
that the paramailitary forces remain carrying out peaceful elections, maintaining law and order, guarding vital installations of the country, fighting insurgents/ militants,
tackling naxalites, catching veerappans etc..etc.. And of course they remain manning the borders without any worthwhile system of relief. They also fight the wars alongside the army whenever they happen in between. They are the ones taking the first brunt of hostile onslaught and repulsing it and continue forever even after the hostilities are over.While the Army goes back to the barracks for rest amidst all the adulation and self congratulatory boasts once the war is over, their poor fledgling cousins are left behind carying on with their usual guarding the sanctity of boundaries of India, maintaining of law and order, guarding vital installations of the country,fighting militants/insurgents, tackling naxalites, catching veerappans etc..etc.. And ofcourse, without any worthwhile system of relief. The poor guys are again ever busy ensuring the security and integerity of the country at all times i.e. pre, during and post war situation. They have their long lists of MVCs, VrCs, KCs, Shaurya Chakras, SMs, PPMGs,PMGs etc. yet they remain unsung heroes, rather, condemned to suffer silently.

c) Short span of service:-
The defence forces crib the short service span of their men. Remember it is a well announced and well explained procedure which every prospective recruit is well aware of
at the time of joining the defence forces. An officer joining as SSC knows pretty well what his/her service span will be like and certainly with all the geniuses that are recruited by the defence forces they can plan it out. Incase they cant the defence force have a respectable exit mechanism with
statutary system of session preperatory to the final exit where the individual can opt for a multitude of courses/training programs best suited to his capabilities for start outside. This also includes tailormade courses in institutions like IIMs, Xavier’s etc. for which probably they wouldnt qualfy even the entrance exams in normal course.
This is further strengthened by the well established network of rehabilitation boards with a dedicated brief for resettlement of these released faujis. And ofcourse dont forget the all pervasive ex-servicemen quota! And the life-long CSD/Exservicemen facilities. Any person not able to utilise
this largess, probably, deserve to remain the way they are.

Now think of the situation in the paramilitary forces. Its all flawed from the very beginning! The recruits are not clear
what they are joining from the very beginning. More so in the case of the border guarding forces. Those who join thinking them to be an offshoot of defence forces get the
rudest of the shocks. They realise that despite the similar training and worse service conditions they are not treated any where even closer to the “elite” defence forces. Even though they may be operating shoulder to shoulder at places! Not to say, they are deprived of even the most basic
amenities which the defence force are disregarding so matter of factly. While a paramilitary constable deployed in the remotest corner of the country, say the rann of kucch or keylong or lunglei, has to buy his soap, salt , food etc from the open market paying all the taxes to the govt and hefty premium to the guy making these things available to him at these god forsaken places! At the same time an army jawan/airman/sailor walks in to the swankest of the malls/stores( which they like to refer to as the CSD canteens) to shop for his needs in the comfort of climate controled environment even in the heart of the national
capital! Ofcourse he doesnt have to be bothered about the taxes etc, his uniform is excuse enough for the grateful govt to waive off( or sucking it out of the hapless paramilitary chap in the rann to subsidise this jawan’s indulgences) to the maximum.

But there are also those who join these paramilitary forces thinking that being ruled by the IPS they are joining a clone of police force. They are disillusioned from the training itself. They simply cant fathom the connection between the type of training, the role and tasks, copy of army act governing them vis-a-vis the khaki they are required to don or the IPS which rule them. For both the categories the only way to leave is to resign with out any benefits or sulk and live out the ordeal till one reaches pensionable service which incidentally is at least 20 years. No doubt the rate of those seeking VRS is one of the highest in PMFs as a group in the central Govt.
Its a classic case of affliction with what can be called “third-gender” syndrome. Whatever may have been the vision of raising these PMFs, These forces have become nothing but the impotent cross of the Army and the Police just like the mule. It works the hardest, gets kicked the hardest and in the end suffers in silence cause it was created for being so.
Does any one quitting the defence forces will actually like to join these. Answer is no. The fact is even the existing quota of exservicemen remains unutilised fully. those
exservicemen who join seek to complete the remaining time for pensionable service after counting their defence service and leave. Though 6th CPC in its wisdom has recommended the lateral shift from defence forces to PMFs, but it most certainly will have few takers. How can you expect those running away from a way of life with all the present benefits to them to join some thing much worse off and deprived of any benefits therein. The dismal enrolment figure of exservicemen in the PMFs speaks the point aloud.
Its no surprise the that there is a virtual exodus from the PMFs and persons even with the slightest better capabilities are leaving. The shortages are more acute in percentage terms than probably even what the defence forces claim.Not to speak of the suicides, fratricides, fragging and what not.

Worst part is that while defence forces are sensitive to the problems and bargaining for better deal, the same problems which are more acute in PMFs are just brushed aside in the routine manner and even under the carpet.
After all, when COAS speaks for his organisation, its actually a GC which speaks, a GC who has risen to be the Chief facing all the rough and tumble of his organisation. The conviction just gets built in on its own in whatever he says. And who submits the case for the PMFs? Usually a person, probably shunted out of his parent cadre to a
retiring room, and at times with no prior experience of the organisation with absolutely no sense of belonging. And he knows very well what mules are meant for!

PMFs demand “equal pay for equal work” is really unjustified cause that would mean downsizing the benefits of the defence forces! And no one wants that for sure!!!!!!

“1. The civilian officer disputed that Lt Cols were at par with S-25. They like to think that Lt Cols are par with S-23 as the Lt Col’s pay scales less Rank Pay fit ‘within’ the S-23 pay scale. (The starting of S-23 is even lower than the Lt Cols Basic less Rank Pay!) They completely negate factoring into the rank pay for the purpose of finding equivalent pay scales and for that matter inter se seniority. Is there any authority to settle this argument? From an army officer’s perspective, army pay scales were ‘independent’ and can only be translated now to civilian equivalent after adding the rank pay. That would make it equivalent to S-25 (In fact the outer end of army’s scale is superior to even S-25). Equivalence to S-25 seems fair to army officers as Rank Pay was included wherever basic was considered for the purpose of any sort of entitlements. And of course it was part of total pay drawn.

2. Even the VI Pay Commission has included the Rank Pay for calculating (multiplying by 1.86) the new Basic Pay for army officers who were already drawing the rank pay on 01 Jan 06. But they have fixed grade pay by negating the Rank Pay! Now officers getting promoted in future will have entry pay only on the basis of their grade pay. So the benefit of Rank Pay is there only for now and is set to vanish in future!

3. While explaining the origins of Rank Pay there is a line in the report that the rank pay was originally carved out of the army pay scales. That was at a time of running pay bands and Rank Pay was it seems to remove the problem of junior ranking officers with more service (increments) getting more pay than senior ranking officers with less increments. So if it was originally carved out of pay scales, how can it not be merged back to pay scales while doing away with the concept of Rank Pay?

4. As per the Air/Naval Chiefs statement Lt Cols are equivalent to S-25. They are very much including the rank pay for finding equivalent civilian scales. But I suspect that the people who really matter in this argument are civilian bureaucrats who don’t seem to think so.

5. If Rank pay is not to be counted within basic then how do you compensate for rank pay while translating to civilian equivalent scales? The civilian officers like to think that MSP compensates for that loss. But isn’t the MSP supposed to be a ‘New Entitlement’. Why else are there are no arrears to MSP! Why is then Rank Pay included for fitment to new Basic Pay? It should not be included if MSP replaces Rank Pay. The pay commission report at some places indicates that it is a new entitlement: no arrears of MSP, MSP is also auth to Lieutenants and Personnel Below Officer Ranks who did not have any Rank Pay earlier! But it also at another place very ambiguously says that the calculation of MSP for PBOR is somehow affected by the lack of rank pay!?! Now anyone can interpret depending on which side he is on.

6. In any case as far as Lt Cols are concerned even MSP is not able to compensate for the loss of rank pay vis-à-vis the equivalent civilian officers. As they were earlier drawing Total Pay equal to S-25 and more than S-24. Now both S-24 and S-25 will be drawing a hell of a lot more.

7. Actually the problem has been heavily accentuated due to the odd and arbitrary Pay Band system which replaces the Pay Scale system. At each grade pay level, an entry basic pay level has been specified. Which in effect makes it practically quite like the old pay scale system. But what makes the system very strange is that at some ‘very-very arbitrary’ points you get into a super pay scale now called Pay Band. Now there is huge and sudden pay gain on certain promotions whereas relatively smaller increase on most of the other promotions. The very big arbitrary pay jump happens to lie between S-23 and S-24. Somewhere around Rs 15000! I really don’t know the merits of this new system? Is this as a result of some scientific study in the HR field or an accident which is going to be justified with hindsight and reverse engineered pseudo-logic?”

What do you say????

public is made to believe by pr machinery of forces as if whole of armed forces are sitting on the border in the face of enemy in inhospitable terrain and sub zero temperatures, waiting to kill or get killed 24/7 with their finger on the trigger.
AND
Actually it is the para military forces who are manning most of the border except in J & K and at China Border.

A case for grant of disability allowance for the likes of Taxpayer is necessary.
Poor chap he still loves nature despite what it has done to him.

I think he also believes in insulting the intelligence of the Average Indian by trying to hoodwink them with such crap. The Indian is quite aware that J&K, Arunachal and China borders are where you experience freezing temperatures and inhospitable terrain. Not the well connected Bangladesh border or in the plains of Punjab or Rajasthan. Before ops the Border Outposts are reorganized and beefed up by the Army.
For this man a.k.a Taxpayer who can never imagine the terrain and would never go there since he feel like a tiger manning this blog post, I would recommend that he watches ‘Vertical Limit’ where he can at least see what inhospitable terrain means. His intelligence level? Well I have no cure for that – except maybe he should have done a stint in the Army .Phattoo?
And nothing comes free. The pay, the rations etc. It’s the same in the civil, telephone attendant, peons etc. It is all emoluments by cash or kind.
But yes, YOU do dole out freebies. Humorous writings. I hope you don’t ask the SCPC to include this stand up laughter sessions in their calculations for emoluments. Barking dog and you come out with such preposterous statements. Howler is a shade better and does sometimes speak some sense.
Lage Raho Munna Bahi – Kabhi Kabhi we need some diversion and humour from serious discussion. Thanks for providing slapstick comedy.

So funny! Amused.

public is made to believe by pr machinery of forces as if whole of armed forces are sitting on the border in the face of enemy in in hospitable tarrain and sub zero temperatures, waiting to kill or get killed 24/7 with thier finger on the trigger. what about 400 army / air/ navy forces stations in the country where you spent most of the time of your service. The quality and comfort of your life (which is incidently paid and sponsored by civilian taxpayers) is just not available to any civil services. All this propoganda for what – to get maximum from pay commission and govt. vis a vis civil services. Actually it is the para military froces who are manning most of the border except in J & K and at China Border. But all the credit is being cornered by defence froces.

Armed forces should not forget that they have been created by civilized society for a specific role. If you feel that politicians and bureaucrates (who are mandated to govern the country by constitution and by public after every five years general election) are not doing enough. No one is preventing you to leave armed froces and join ploitics to become Prime minister and grant to forces what ever you feel is justified. However as long as you are donning the uniform , the acts as we have seen after the pay commission only degardes your defined role before your paymaster (taxpayers and civil society through govt and parliament). You must not forget that all your feebies are being paid by tax payer – whether it is your free eduction and training at NDA/IMA and other cources in india and abroad or your free ration, free booze, MSP and pay and your pension. You must feel relieved that you don’t have to worry about your outputs as are same not tangible like that in a profit makingmaking organisation/ PSU.

Howler has very correctly brought out the truth as under-

“Whatever the SCPC logic is.The point that is being missed is, why is it that the services demands are not finding favour with anyone. SCPC already rejected them to be too unrealistic. The same happened when the committee of secretaries reviewd them. The cabinet finally considered them only to the extent reasonable to maintain the equilibrium.The fellow govt servants are opposing these demands tooth and nail. The other citizens of the country are convinced they dont deserve any more that what they have got or they are simply unconcerned. There isnt even a single informed person on the globe, who is buying the logic behind these demands! (Except menonji ofcourse! he seems to have arrogated to himself all the responsibility of putting forth a illogical case in their support based on half truths and selective interpretations. Remember the Don Quixote story? isnt he reborn and goes by the name of menon on the blogosphere? He goes flashing his sword in the darkness of ignorance and half truths sitting on a lame horse.)
Earlier, every one had some soft corner for the services and went along despite knowing the demands they were making were totally unjustified. The days of the military being revered as the holy cows are over. For the first time, in the context of the SCPC, they are being treated like the professionals and thats why people are loathe to giving them even a single penny extra than their worth. There has been a considerable interest in the masses, and hence consequent awareness, regarding the military issues in the country. What they are, what they do and what they are getting. The military can no longer get away selling some concocted emotional trash as they had been doing in the past. Thats why there is opposition to what they are being given. People are asking the justifications for what the country is paying them. Any argument put forward by the services makes a poor justification for these demands.
Merely running nonsensical propaganda stories in the media in support of their demands cuts no ice. They went even to the extent of roping in bollywood dollies for the purpose.Remember images of them gyrating to some stupid song with these men in uniform at some so called frward location! Whatever they may have hopd to achieve, it was just a propaganda overkill. Atleast when it is also a known fact that CPMFs are on these forward locations 24×7 without break. But did you see them advertising there deeds so prepostrously! Did you hear any other group of govt servants induldging in this shameful act? Is that the stuff professionals are made of? Is that the reason they should be paid more? Certainly it defies logic, SCPC or anything else.
Its no point projecting yourself as a holy cow thats world apart. the manner in which you have reacted to the SCPC and more importantly to the govt decisions, there is no distinction between you and other motley groups
of slogan shouting/striking govt servants, whom you like to refer as civilians! Where is the difference between the thought to not to accept pay commmisssion notification and or not to implement it vis-a-vis the open defiance of the govt authority. All these despite, getting the largest pay packet and most liberal allowances in the country when there are people doing much more crucial hard work than you, i.e. the CPMFs.
But as they say, a lie repeated a 1000 times appears to be true.”

so think it over and relax.

Life is not just based on logic.Mil services is not just a profession.It is about willing sacrifices for the cause.That is why it glorifies heroes & deaths.I know every one in the armed froces does not have that feeling.How ever the majority do believe in sone sort of ideal behavior & look up to people who have sacrificed their lives & even careers.
Honour was given the pride of place since otherwise how can an officer motivate his men to die in battle.
Some one will argue that those kinds of battle are over.If that is so let the government publicy announce it & drastically reduce the size of the army & the country will save lot of money.
Does every one know that crores of services equipment are lying in the open & stand exposed to the vagaries of weather.If proper care is not taken all those equipment will become useless.(& actually they have become useless)
When people are motivated they will ensure that the equipment is maintained & they work even beyond their lifetime
Now when the people start feeling that they dont matter any more, they are just not going to be bothered & blame the system for their decay.
Since this will be systemic ,no one will be able to do any thing about it.
I did find it as a joke that the auditors never used to audit the military equipment but audit only the spare parts & the fuel.
I was told that after the tiff between pilots & engineers in the AF, pilots were also expected to some kind of technical checks.Why did the AF have to do it if they had full faith in the technical branch.?
I do feel that the lower rung of officers are the real cutting edge, & alientaing them is going to have a big economic impact(which will come out only later)
None of the other organisations have equipment like the services & maintenence/non maintenance of those equipment has a direct economic cost.
People will now simply say that the equipment does not work & just not try to make it work.
To cite an example RPVs are the ones who can fly into enemy territory even during peacetime & get valuable information.The pilot of those RPVS has to ensure that the enemy aircraft does not shoot down these aircrafts.If the pilot feels he does not matter (since he will a Capt/Maj) see the effect that will have on the mission.
This is not some imaginary situation.When a man’s mind is not Ok he can not be expected to function in a proper manner.
Take the case of fragging which is happening gaian & again.(This ihas started happening in PMFs also )Officer may not do fragging to personnel.He may frag the equipment.
I am sure while services can not be treated as holy cow , the nation has to recognise the fact that the modern army is equipment heavy & poor maintenance of that will have a heavy economic cost.
The pay commssion/government has felt that if the people in authority are well looked after (as in the substantial raise for Cols & above) ,they will ensure that the army will be run well.
This is not true in the world where every one is thinking & comparing.Internet,TV & blogs have changed the way people think & act.
As a father of 16 year old kid,I know what all changes have happened to the mind.This is true for every one who is exposed to the modern methods of communication.Dont expect the services to be different.
When i was in the service i never was keen to go to club since it burnt one’s pockets & was also not inclined.How ever I am enjoying my life after retirememnt .I could give much better education to my son & my family could visit the latest shopping mall in town.All because i could choos my place of residence & not live in a tent in the deserts.
I did that when it was required, since I though this was an honorable profession & the country recognises that.
Today I earn in one year what the government gave me as retirement benefits for the compalte service life.

I am certainly not asking my son to join the services.(he is a topper in every thing be it acedemics,sports,music,languages etc) since i feel he will be wasting his life in the services & focrced to fight for his dignity (& decent pay ) every day with people who have no conecpt of any value system & feeling for the cause.I am a trained GTO & my son would have been a good officer(because of his capabilities & nothing else)
I hope this logic will not be taken as rhetoric & taken as real life logic.There will be thousands of othere who feel the same today.All modern management techniques stresses on case studies & not just statistics.
Every one has to relaise that while we need good planners (read Cols & above) we do need some one to execute those plans (read Lt Col & below).
Unlike other organisations army is much more team work than one can imagine.