ARTICLES BY MILITARY VETERANS AND EMINENT CITIZENS ON THE DISPLAY OF CALLOUS ATTITUDE BY THE UPA GOVT TOWARDS THE EX-SERVICEMEN OF THE COUNTRY

1.MILITARY VETERANS “FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE”A Brief Containing Major IssuesByLt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM,Former Vice Chief of Army Staff.

2.RAW DEAL FOR VETERANS : DEMYSTIFYING ONE RANK ONE PENSION
by Lt Gen Harwant Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff.

3.MILITARY PENSIONS AND ONE RANK ONE PENSION by Vice Admiral Barin Ghose, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Former Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

4.FOR EX-SERVICEMEN, PARITY IN RANK, PENSION LONG OVERDUE by Gen Shankar Roychowdury, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Former Chief of Army Staff

5.AN APATHETIC STATE IS ROBBING THE SOLDIER OF HIS DIGNITYby
Admiral Arun Prakash,PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM,Former Chief of Naval Staff.

6.RAW DEAL FOR EX-SERVICEMEN : CENTRE MUST GIVE ONE RANK ONE PENSIONby Lt Gen Raj Kadyan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Chairman IESM

7.ONE RANK – ONE PENSION (OROP) by Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM, Vice Chairman IESM.

8.ARE EX-SERVICEMEN ENEMIES OF THE STATE?By Maj Gen Mrinal Suman,AVSM, VSM, PhD

9.ONE-RANK-ONE-PENSIONby Maj Gen Surjit Singh, AVSM, VSM

10.MEMORANDUM TO THE HON’BLE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

11.INDIAN MILITARY: THE NATION OWES YOU by Maj Gen Surjit Singh, AVSM, VSM

12.STAND UP FOR THE INDIAN SOLDIER by Harsh V Pant

13.RETIRED AND HURT by Syed Nazakat

14.ARMY: INDEPENDENCE: PARTITION by Lt Gen SK Sinha, PVSM, AVSM,VSM

15.UPA’S DEATH BLOW TO THE MORALE OF INDIAN ARMED FORCES – I to 5 byV Sundaram, IAS [Emeritus]

16.TALE OF TWO OFFICERS by Colonel SS Rajan

MILITARY VETERANS “FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE”

A Brief Containing Major Issues

By

Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM

Former Vice Chief of Army Staff

“Pataliputra rests each night in peaceful comfort, O King, secure in the belief that the distant borders of Magadha are inviolate and the interiors are safe and secure, thanks only to the Mauryan Army standing vigil with naked swords and eyes peeled for action, day and night, in weather fair and foul, all eight praharas (round the clock), quite unmindful of personal discomfort and hardship, all through the year, year after year.

To this man, O Rajadhiraja, you owe a debt: please, therefore, see to it, suo motu, that the soldier continuously gets his dues in every form and respect, be they his needs or his wants, for he is not likely to ask for them himself.

The day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day for Magadha for then, on that day, you will have lost all moral sanction to be King!”

- Excerpt from a letter from Kautilya to Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, mentioned inthe formers'Arthashastra', about 2000 years ago.

Introduction

1.Since Independence, there has been steady erosion in the status and emoluments of the Indian Military, but the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (6th CPC) are so overwhelmingly disastrous for the military that there is a major uproar by the military against the injustice done to them. This anger and a sense of frustration are across the board, in all ranks and amongst both serving personnel and the veterans. The reasonable request of the Service Chiefs to have a separate pay commission for the military was turned down, without assigning any reason. The government also rejected the request to have a military representative on the pay commission.

2.It was expected that in view of the extremely turbulent, harsh and unique service conditions of the military personnel, those in authority would have safeguarded the interests of the military. What has happened is exactly the opposite. Even the Review Committee set up to go in to the anomalies of the 6th CPC is again without representation of the military! This is the state when the serving military personnel comprise the biggest chunk of all government servants (approximately 35 per cent) and the military veterans at over 22 lacs form the largest group of government pensioners. How strange, in a nation where the military has always risen to the occasion and has not flinched from the most difficult tasks, even sacrificing their lives for the nation, on a day to day basis?

3.The long standing demand of one-rank-one-pension (OROP) has been repeatedly turned down. As a result, whenever pay and pension of military personnel are enhanced, older pensioners are left out in the cold. There is also no constitutional mechanism for resettlement of our ex-servicemen, who are retired at an early age when their financial burdens are at a peak.

4.The legitimate grievances of all military personnel need to be addressed seriously and expeditiously by the political leadership and not by the bureaucracy, who do not inspire any confidence in any military person, on account of their highly biased actions and vested interests. The protest movement of the military veterans is to bring to the notice of the political leadership the grave injustice meted out to the military personnel and point out that if their legitimate demands are not met, national security will be seriously jeopardised, the shortage of officers will get progressively worse and the only instrument of the nation that has always delivered and that has the confidence of all citizens, will progressively become weak and ineffective.

5.The list of grievances of the military are far too extensive to list here, but the immediate demands of the military veterans, relating essentially to the recommendations of the 6th CPC are of two categories. Category I demands cover both serving personnel and the military veterans and Category II demands relate exclusively to the military veterans.

Category I

6.These are applicable to both serving personnel and military veterans. Both have been short charged in relation to four main issues. These are ‘status’, ‘emoluments’, ‘compensation’ for an extremely harsh working environment and totally ignoring ‘war disabled personnel’. These issues are briefly amplified as under: -

  • Status. At each successive level, from a soldier (jawan) to a lieutenant general, barring the apex ranks of C’s-in-C / Vice Chiefs and Chiefs, the status of all military personnel has been brought down by the 6th CPC, by lowering their Pay Bands as well as Status Pay, when compared to the civil government officials in all classes, viz Class I to Class IV. If morale of the military is to be maintained and the best and the brightest are to be inducted in the military, then the status of all military personnel must be restored to at least the current levels, although the correct thing to do would be to restore the levels as had existed when the nation achieved its independence. ‘Izzat’ is extremely important in a hierarchical organization like the military. This must never be eroded, merely to please the bureaucrats, technocrats or others of the same ilk.
  • Emoluments. Despite repeated reiteration, including by the Service Chiefs, that the conditions of service of military personnel have nothing in common with other government servants, at each stage an artificial relativity has been created. This completely ignores three important facts. These are firstly, that promotions in the military are much slower than all other government cadres, secondly, the number of ranks in both the officers cadre as well as among the ranks in the military are much more, and thirdly, to maintain the youthful profile of the military, the bulk of officers and jawans have to leave the service at younger ages. Consequently, no relativity is possible, as it will always be at the expense of military personnel. The answer lies in basing relativity only on the length of service and no other considerations.
  • Compensation. For decades, the military has been pointing out that the extremely harsh conditions of service need to be compensated by what was earlier called the X Factor, but is now known as the Military Service Pay (MSP). While MSP has now been included for personnel below officers rank (PBOR), the Nursing Corps and officers up to the rank of brigadier, there are a number of lacunae in it. The biggest one is that the amounts of MSP have been carved out of the pay of personnel, which defeats the very purpose of having an MSP. It needs to be understood that MSP is neither pay nor an allowance, but is over and above all pay and allowances, as an additive to all emoluments, as compensation for the extremely harsh and turbulent life a military person has to lead. The second issue relates to lump sum dispensation. Instead of MSP being a lump sum for each category, i.e. Rs. 1000.00 for PBOR, Rs. 4500 for the Nursing Corps and Rs. 6000.00 for officers, it should be percentage of pay at each successive rank, i.e. approximately 50 per cent of pay, but with the proviso that the minimum amount will not be less than Rs. 3000 for PBOR, Rs 4500 for the nursing corps and Rs 6000 for the officers. The third issue is that the MSP must be authorised to all ranks and not be confined only up to the rank of brigadier, as the harsh conditions of service and a turbulent life do not change when one becomes a major general or a lieutenant general. Perhaps the members of the 6th CPC failed to realize that a large number of senior generals serve in most inhospitable field areas as divisional and corps commanders, as well as on staff and in command of military establishments, like the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare (CIJW) School, military hospitals and logistics establishments. This is what happens when the advice of the military is ignored and representatives of the military are not included in Pay Commissions! The Review Committee now formed also has no representation from the serving community as well as the veterans. Consequently, they will also come out with inappropriate and inadequate decisions, like the 6th CPC. The fourth issue is that MSP has been recommended to come in to effect prospectively. There is no sound reason for it, as the conditions of service on 01 – 01 – 2006 were the same as they are now, if not worse. The last issue and the most important is that the ratio between the MSP authorised to PBOR and officers must be brought closer, in favour of PBOR. If the proposal of MSP as percentage of pay, as recommended above is accepted, it will meet the requirement. If not, then the MSP of PBOR should be raised to Rs. 3000.00 per month.
  • War Disabled Personnel. The distinction between war disabled personnel and those disabled for other reasons has not been understood or appreciated at all by the members of the 6th CPC. Briefly, war disabled must be considered at the same level as those who sacrifice their lives on the battlefield. Just as there is a distinction between those who are killed in battle and those who die on account of other reasons, like ill health, accidents and so on, a similar distinction must be there between war disabled and those disabled by other causes. War disability/ ordinary disability allowances must accordingly be in the ratio of 5:2 in favour of the war disabled, as was the case up to the Fourth Pay Commission. Thereafter, the ratio was reduced to 2:1 and now the 6th CPC has brought the two categories at par. This is obviously incorrect, uncaring of sacrifices made in war and warlike conditions, and again displays a lack of knowledge about the military. The second related point is regarding ex-gratia payment. While the next of kin of those killed in war or warlike situations have been correctly granted ex-gratia grants, the war disabled have again been ignored. If this sorry state is accepted, who will go into battle, knowing that if he is disabled, he will live in penury throughout his/her life? This must not be permitted under any circumstances.

Category II

7.The following issues pertain exclusively to the military veterans: -

  • One Rank One Pension (OROP). This is an emotive issue with all ranks in the military. When two soldiers of the same rank and with equal length of service find that they are in receipt of different pensions, just because they retired on different dates, they are unable to reconcile with the situation. The feeling of hurt is not confined to lower ranks alone. Even General officers whose pension was depressed by the Fifth Pay Commission, felt so aggrieved that they took the matter to the Supreme Court to seek justice. OROP is one of the few pending grievances of military veterans. No responsible person has ever said that the demand is either unjustified or unreasonable. Besides benefiting veterans who are really old and needy, grant of OROP will instill a sense of fairness and equity amongstthe old soldiers, since the entitlement of a soldier or a veteran is governed by only two basic factors: his rank and the length of service. The financial effect of OROP was officially estimated at only Rs. 600 crores per annum in 2004, as per the records of a parliamentary committee which had examined the issue. It is important to note that no civilian organization has, till this day, sought the equivalent of OROP. Further, when a ‘One Time Increase’ was granted to the soldiers in 1992 there was no reaction from the civilian pensioners. Hence, there need be no reservations about the apprehension of similar demands from civilian pensioners. Another important point to note is that OROP has been the stated policy ofall mainstream political parties. Itwas even part of the President's opening address to Parliament in 2004. That makes it the declared policy of the government, not just of onepolitical party.The recommendation of the 6th CPC has reneged on this declared guiding principle of the government. The military veterans call on the government to honour its promise and this is the ideal time to institute this reform, since the report of the Pay Commission is in the process of being implemented.
  • Compensation for Loss of Earnings. As brought out earlier, in order to maintain a young profile of the military, our jawans are compulsorily retired in their late thirties, our Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO’s) in their late forties and the bulk of our officers in the mid-fifties. On the other hand, civil government servants of all categories serve up to the age of 60. Thus, there is a loss of earnings, amounting to 30 to 40 lacs, depending on the rank of the military person. Since pension for all government servants is at the same rate of 50 per cent of last pay drawn, there is a huge loss in total earnings suffered by military persons retiring early. This must be compensated. There are two methods of doing this. The first and by far the simplest is to compensate military personnel financially on account of three major factors. These are ‘early retirement’, ‘limited and delayed promotions’ and ‘in keeping with the cannons of natural justice’. It is strongly recommended that pension for defence personnel till the age of 60 yearsshould be 75 percent of the upper pay band. Thereafter, they may revert to 50 per cent, as authorised to the rest. The second option is to resettle the military veterans by providing them assured jobs up to the age of 60 years, which is the age of superannuation for all civil government servants. An overwhelming number of veterans are jobless. Pension is their sole means of livelihood. With the passage of time their nutrition levels fall, reducing life expectancy. They are also considered a burden by their kinsfolk. It is the duty of the government to provide guaranteed jobs for them. All plans and recommendations for lateral induction of military personnel to the central police organizations (CPO’s) or Public Sector Units (PSU’s) have not succeeded, on account of major opposition from these organisations. Even the recommendations of the 6th CPC in this respect are unworkable and have already been rejected by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the CPO’s. It is therefore recommended that the first option be adopted immediately and the second be considered as a long term measure.

Conclusion

8.The 6th CPC has treated all military personnel, both serving and the veterans, highly unfairly. Gross injustice has been done to them. In spite of repeated requests, no member from the military, despite assurances by the Minister of Defence and even by the Prime Minister, was included as a member of the Pay Commission. The Special Review Committee now reviewing the 6th CPC report again has no member from the military fraternity. Why is the government denying representation? Is it callousness, indifference or fear, or a combination of all three? The answer is it is not the political leadership but the bureaucracy that is doing so. Resultantly, people who have little or no knowledge of the conditions of service of the military are trying to make decisions as to how much compensation should be paid to both serving and retired military personnel and other anomalies of the recommendations of the 6th CPC.