Armed Forces
Summer of discontent

An unhappy defence force is bad for any nation and Pay Commission has annoyed the soldier

By Our Correspondent

The long wait for higher pay packets proved to be futile for millions of armed forces personnel who toil hard and risk their lives to earn a living. Hopes were raised to new heights after top functionaries of the government signalled that a hefty increase in the salaries was in the offing to curtail a growing sense of detachment among the armed forces.

So when justice B.N Srikrishna submitted his report to finance minister P. Chidambaram, the armed forces rushed out to seek a copy to find out what have they got. Almost immediately the 10 year old wait for better hikes turned bitter.

The recommendations of the 6th pay commission were taken with a sense of dejection by almost all the ranks. Those hardest hit were personnel below officer rank. And even among officers, the ones in the middle rung felt cheated, to say the least. The biggest beneficiaries in the pay commission report have been either the young officer who is just joining the force or the top generals. The panel has proposed hike of around 60 per cent for the young officer.
A young officer who was getting Rs 8250 will now earn Rs 25,760.

All the special allowances if he is posted in difficult areas have also been doubled.
While he will walk home happy at the end of every month, but his boss might not. A commanding officer, a colonel with a service of 17 to 19 years, will get only Rs 44,140.

The panel has introduced a running pay band system aiming to remove stagnation in the rank. But defence personnel argue that structure of armed forces is such that most of the officers will remain on the lower end of the pay band. The civil bureaucracy will benefit from the system as they have relatively faster rate of promotion.

The disappointment in the middle rung officers is a cause of concern for the ministry of defence as it is this segment which might quit the service in search of greener pastures in the corporate world. The armed forces can not afford an exodus at this stage. There is already an acute shortage of officers – shortfall is as high as 11,500 – creating a serious problem of finding those who can lead the force.

It was felt that the government will address the issue and several representations were made to the ministry of defence to put up a strong case before the pay panel for a significant hike.

"This is not what we had asked for," said a senior officer unable to hide his disappointment with the pay panel recommendation. "It will be very difficult to motive men to perform high risk jobs," said another. While middle rung officers are unhappy, the three service chiefs have a reason to smile. They will get as much money as the cabinet secretary and walk away with a fixed salary of Rs 90,000. The biggest problem is in the lower ranks. The personnel below officer ranks, the backbone of the armed forces, is also the most disappointed lot today. The recommended hike in the salary of PBORs is between 25 and 35 per cent. A sepoy at the moment starts with a basic salary of Rs 2750 per month. The panel recommends it to be raised to Rs 4860. In addition to that he will get a grade pay of Rs 1800 and Military Service Pay of Rs 1000.

The supporters of the pay panel argue that while in terms of percentage the hike might not have been significant but several other benefits have been raised significantly. For instance, pay panel has recommended raising of gratuity from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. It will encourage the personnel to stay in the service for longer duration and get the benefit of gratuity.

The three service chiefs were quick to realise that all is not well with the recommendations of the pay panels and took the matter to defence minister A.K Antony. The chiefs of staff committee, headed by navy chief admiral Sureesh Mehta, made a representation to the pay panel to remove anomalies in the proposed pay structures. The message was clear that they have not got what they wanted and with this kind of salary hike it would be difficult to hold the forces together and address the issue of resentment. What it wants is at least 100 per cent hike in the salary of PBORs. There is a feeling that the pay panel has not done enough to address the problems being faced by the short service commissions. The armed forces wanted to address problem areas through pay hikes but the panel's recommendations have not helped the matters.

The pay panel recommendations on the armed forces are not all about disappointments. There have been considerable hike in allowances that are given to troops and officers posted in difficult areas and performing risky tasks. Officers and men posted in Siachen should get double the amount what they were getting as allowance. So will pilots and submariners. The Siachen allowance for officers has been recommended to be doubled from the existing Rs 7000. For Junior Commissioned Officers it will go up from Rs 4667. Similarly, squadron leaders to group captains in the air force get flying allowance of Rs 7000 which would be doubled if the recommendations of the pay panel are accepted.

While substantial hike in the allowance has been welcomed, the officials point out that it would not be enough to curtail the disappointment. The armed forces personnel were given to understand that they would get at least 100 per cent hike which has not happened. The MoD is facing the prospect of losing its officers to corporate world if anomalies are not addressed. The urgency of the matter has been realised by the ministry which has launched efforts to take corrective measures before the problem gets out of hand. After the three service chiefs took up the matter with the ministry of defence, the government appointed a three member committee to remove anomalies in the pay panel report. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has gone on record saying that the grievances of armed forces should be addressed. A revision seems inevitable.