Degradation of The Armed Forces - Who Does It - and Why - SajanSpeaks

11/5/2016
DegradationoftheArmedForces:Whodoesit?AndWhy?|SajanSpeaks
SajanSpeaks
Thoughtsthatoriginatedeepwithin
04NOV2016
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DegradationoftheArmedForces:Whodoesit?AndWhy?
Whenwewereinschooltwoandhalfplusdecadesback,weweretoldthenthataSecondLieutenant
(2Lt) in the Army was equal to an IAS ocer. When the 4th Central Pay Commission (CPC) was
announced,IwasprobablytrainingattheNationalDefenceAcademy.Evenaftercommissioning,none
ofusknewtheimplicationsof4thCPCorforthatmaer5thCPCtillmanymanyyearslater.
In theArmy,discussing of Pay(Money),WomenandPolitics are forbidden. It had good reasons too.

Thesewerethethreethingsthatcouldeasilycreateadividewithintheforces.WeintheForces,hadto
bestrongandunitedsothatnothingdistractsusfromouraimwhenweghttheenemy,andweshall
ghttillwedieTheLastManLastBullet.
https://sajanspeaks.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/degradationofthearmedforceswhodoesitandwhy/
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Most of us therefore grew up ignorant and isolated to the happenings in the corridors of power. We
11/5/2016
Most of us therefore grew up ignorant and isolated to the happenings in the corridors of power. We
trustedourseniorsattheArmy/Navy/AirForceHQortheServicesHQandbelievedtheGovtwould
look after the Armed Forces. After all we were the only Govt Arm that is directly placed under the
commandofthePresidentofIndia.Howwrongwewere!
Inthosedays,thepaywasmeager.Havingbeenbroughtupinanenvironmentwheretherewaspaucity
ofequipment,vehicles,ammunition,andausteritymeasuresetc.,alifelledwithshortageswastakenas
normal.Wewerehappywithfoodonthetable,kidsinschoolandaroofoverourheads.Thelowerpay
wastakeninourstridetoo.
4th & 5th CPC. Indias liberalisation, economic growth and progress in communications gave us the
muchneededinformationthatshowedusthatArmedForceshavebeenshortchangedrightfrom1973.
ItisonlymanyyearslaterwhenMajDhanapalantooktheGovttocourtovertheRankPaycasewe
realised that introduction of Rank Pay in 4th CPC, was cunningly done which reduced the rank pay
fromtheBasicpay,anditreducedthestatusoftheArmedForceOcerswithrespecttothePoliceand
othercivilianocersofthesamegrade.The5thCPCdidnotbringinanymajorchanges.
6th CPC. The 6th CPC increased everyones salary, but quietly degraded the Armed Forces by xing
comparatively lower Grade Pays as compared to the rest. The Grade Pay became symbol of status
equivalence amongst Central Govt employees. A civilian Director who was earlier in lower pay scales
thanaLtColonel,wasgiventhehigherGradePayequivalenttoaColonel.InfactArmedForcesocers
who worked alongside civilians in organisations like DRDO, Service HQ, MES, DGQA etc., suddenly
found themselves demoted. In addition, the complete bureaucracy, despite having much faster
promotions, awarded themselves the benet of still higher pay by means of Non Functional
Upgradation (NFU), yet kept the military out of it partly due to poorly informed senior lot in the
ArmedForcesitself.
7thCPC. The 7th CPC further deteriorated things as bureaucrats transited to comparative higher Pay
LevelsbyincludingNFUtotheirpayscales,besidesdowngradingtheallowancesofmilitarypersonnel,
especiallywithrespecttoDisabilityPensions.
ThereareawholelotofissueslikeOROP,NFU
that Armed forces have been aected since
1973.Youmusthavenoticedoldveteranssiing
in Jantar Mantar for over 500 days now asking
fortheirdues.TheGovthasonlygivenapartial
OROPandtheanomaliesarebeinglookedinto
by a One Man commiee which submied a
reportinthelastweekofOct2016.
Recently while the Nation was rejoicing on the
success of the Surgical Strikes, a leer from
MinistryofDefence(MoD)on18Oct16,further
gaveabodyblowloweringthestatusofocersascomparedtotheirciviliancounterparts.Thatgotme
thinking.Whyandwhoisresponsible?Letusndout.
Degradation. Who is Responsible? In the Armed Forces HQ,
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a Civil Services Ocers cadre was
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Degradation. Who is Responsible? In the Armed Forces HQ, a Civil Services Ocers cadre was
introducedin1968atGroupBleveltohelpmanbureaucraticpostsinthelowerandmiddlelevels.They
providedtherequiredcontinuitybecauseArmedForcesOcerswerepostedoutevery23years.The
issuearosewhenthecivilianocersrealisingthatthemilitaryocersserveonlyforshorttenuresand
haveNOSAY in decision making in Ministry of Defence (MoD) started positioning themselves in key
postsandensuredtheircadreprogressionbydisproportionatelyincreasingthehigherpostsontheir
own,withoutinvolvingthethreemilitaryServicesHQintheprocess.
OnpromotionfromGroupBpostbyaCivilianOcer,thenormalequationofranksinitiallywereas
giveninthetable:
SerialNo
ArmedForcesOcers
AFHQCivilianocers
Rank
Servicein
Years
Designation
ServiceinYears
1.
Lt/Capt
23
DeputyDirector
OnpromotiontoGp
A
2.
Major
JointDirector
3.
LtColonel
13
Director
10
However slowly the AFHQ Civilian ocers started equating Deputy Director with a Major and Jt
Director with Lt Colonel, by issuing leers through their own ocers posted in the oce of Chief
Administrative Ocer (CAO). The CAO further promoted themselves twice up the chain by issuing
leeron18October2016whereinitsoughttoequateJtDirectorwithaColonel,DirectorwithBrigadier
andPrincipalDirectorwithaMajorGeneral(whoissupposedlyequaltoaJointSecretary).
TheseactswereingrossviolationoftheWarrantofPrecedence(WoP)issuedbyPresidentsSecretariat.
The applicability of WoP for Brigs and below has been claried by Ministry of Home Aairs in their
leerdated26Dec1966andagainin14August2007asasshownbelow
SerialNo
DefenceRank
CivilianEquivalent
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1.
LtColonels
SupdtEngineers/IASof18years
service
2.
Colonels
ChiefEngineers/IASof23years
service
3.
Brigadiers
IGPolice
TheMHAintheirleerdated24Jul2007havealsoconrmedthatnootherGovtdocumentexistsfor
establishingequivalencebetweenDefenceForcesocersandcivilorparamilitaryocers.
ActionbyForces.Post6th CPC, the issue lower Grade Pays to Defence personnel was brought to the
forefrontbytheServices.AGroupofMinisterssetupthroughPrimeMinistersOceNoteof27Sep
2008, headed by the present President Shri Pranab Mukherjee, clearly stated that Lt Colonels were
placedhigherthanDeputySecretary/JointDirector.VariouscourtjudgementfromSupremeCourtand
Central Administrative Tribunal, too are very clear on the status of Lt Colonels being equivalent to
SupdtEngineer/Director.
Despite all these clear policies, the Babus of the MoD issued that leer on 18 Oct 2016, lowering the
status. They even had the temerity to issue press
statement that the leer was justied as it was an
internalarrangement.Italsostatedthattheleerhadthe
approval of the Defence Minister. This clearly shows
thattheDefenceMinisterwasmisled,whichiswhyhe
hasnowreferredtheissuetoananomaliescommiee.A
similarcasehassnowballedintheMilitaryEngineering
Service where the civilian Engineers have placed
themselves above the serving military ocers. A clear
caseoftheTailwaggingtheDog.
So, How does it happen? One is left wondering as to
howsuchthingscouldhappenrepeatedly.Itisacombinationofvariousfactors,theconstantpostingin
/out of Ocers in the Service HQ with no continuity, vested interests overriding the decision making
process, Civilian Ocers Association mounting pressure on the political bosses etc. No military
personnel are presently being involved in decision making in the MoD, despite recommendations
by numerous commiees. Politicians depend heavily on the bureaucrats who are doing the damage
quietly. This is adequately amplied in an article (hp://bit.ly/2fBirwb) in TOI by Air Vice Marshal
ManmohanBahadur(Retd).
Is it about money? No! For people in the Armed Forces it is not about money. If it was, then many
wouldhavejoinedthecorporateworldwheretherewerelucrativepaypackages.Thenwhatisit?It is
abouthonour/izzat.Thatiswhereithurtsmostwhenyouseeacivilianocermuchlowerinservice
being upgraded just because they have an association and can push their way through the political
bosseswhiletheArmedForceguy,beingpoliticallyneutral,suerswithoutanyassociationoragroup
thathecouldjoin.
What should be Done? It is high time, the decision making process in MoD is set right wherein the
ChiefsandtheDefenceMinistershouldrectifytheanomaliestostopthisdegradation.Thiswouldgive
the muchneeded morale boost.A soldier should never be short changed. Because if he returns the favour in
kind,thentheborderswouldbeunguarded.Theenemywithinhastobeidentiedandstoppedbeforethey
damagetheArmedForcesfurther.
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TheArmedForcesasaprofessionhastobemademorearactive.Status,PayandPerksaretheissues
11/5/2016
TheArmedForcesasaprofessionhastobemademorearactive.Status,PayandPerksaretheissues
that should be set right. After all Armed Forces are
the only Govt service which, when demanded, are
readytosacricetheirownLife.
IpraythatgoodsenseprevailstoSupporttheSoldier
andGivehimhisrightfulplaceanddues.
Dostandwiththem!
JaiHind
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10thoughtsonDegradationoftheArmedForces:Who
doesit?AndWhy?
NavonNovember4,2016at8:31pmsaid:
Vinformativeandwellresearchedarticle,Sir..quitearevelation
Reply(hps://sajanspeaks.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/degradationofthearmedforceswhodoes
itandwhy/?replytocom=297#respond)
PankajonNovember4,2016at8:34pmsaid:
Thoughtsarenoblebutwillthepoliticalleadershipprevailovertheallpowerful
beaurocracywhohavepoliticalexecutivepowergoneintotheirheadforsakeofprivileges
nshovingtheproblemsintothelapofhaplesspoliticianswhowereonlytryingtopreservetheir
chairinthelasttwodecades..itisawishfulthoughtthatthepresentGovtwhichhaveanabsolute
majorityandnottoworryonaccountofpoliticalpositioningwilltakecudgelsnshowthe
beaurocratstheirrightfulplaceasBabusGodsavetheKing
Reply(hps://sajanspeaks.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/degradationofthearmedforceswhodoes 5/7
11/5/2016
pkchoudharyonNovember4,2016at8:39pmsaid:
verynicelywrienandquiteinformativeandissuesbroughtoutsuccintely
ColHGSinghonNovember4,2016at8:47pmsaid:
Nowhenwegotcommissionedin1979ourbasicwashigherthanIASocers.
AftersubsequentpaycommissionsitkeptdecreasingwhereasIASpaykeptonincreasing.
ColKChaturvedionNovember4,2016at9:07pmsaid:
ExcellentwriteuponhappeningswithinandaroundMOD&babusleadingto
degradationofAFs.Lotoffactsbroughtoutbyauthor,thanxforsame.Letspray&hope
thoseconcernedathelmdosomethingconstructivetoamendtheproblems.Hopenotexpectingtoo
much.
JogeshwarKaronNovember4,2016at9:21pmsaid:
Verywellresearchedandinformative.Hopeitreachestheearsofthosewhocanmakethe
changeandmakeabeertomorrowforallofus.
skjonNovember4,2016at9:49pmsaid:
Nicelyresearchedarticlefromtheheart..hopepowersthatbelookinthesecrucial
maersotherwisetheymighthavetostartpostingIPSocerstomanourhigher
echelonsaswewudbeout
VivekMathuronNovember4,2016at11:19pmsaid:
Excellent,Sajan.Buthowwillthisreachthepowersthatbe,andevenifitdoes,dothey
reallycare?Thatsthesadpart.ThereisnooptionlefttodayfortheArmedForcesto
questioneverysuchdecision.Legalrecourseshouldalwaysbeatthebackofourminds.
HSConNovember4,2016at11:49pmsaid:
Verynice..andImpleasedtoseethecommentsalso.Buttherearennumberofsuch
articlesonthenetwhicharewrienbythemembersofforcesandreadandlaudedbythe
armedforcescommunityonly.Whatdierencedoesitevenmake.
Yes,thearticlesmaybecommendedfortheirlogicalapproachandliterarybeautybuttheyhardly
createadierence.
MyviewsarepurelypersonalandIdontintendtocontradictanyone.
Reply(hps://sajanspeaks.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/degradationofthearmedforceswhodoes 6/7
11/5/2016
AnuragonNovember5,2016at1:40amsaid:
Greatarticle,sorrysituationhopeitgainsmomentum&maketherightpeoplerealise
thetruth!
CreateafreewebsiteorblogatWordPress.com.
7/7

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11/5/2016

In theArmy,discussing of Pay(Money),WomenandPolitics are forbidden. It had good reasons too.

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