Armed Forces , Beurocracy and Politicians

An article by an IAS officer is reproduced below

                        An Excellent article by an IAS officer on "INDIAN ARMY"

We need a permanent solution to this tussle over emoluments so that the armed forces need only confront the enemies of the nation, says T.R.Ramaswami, IAS.

In the continuing debate on pay scales for the armed forces, there has to be a serious and transparent effort to ensure that the country is not faced with an unnecessary civil-military confrontation. That effort will have to come from the netas, who are the real and true bosses of the armed forces and not the civil bureaucracy. A solution may lie in what follows.

This country requires the best armed forces, the best police and the best civil service. In fact that is what the British ensured. By best one means that a person chooses which service he wants as per his desires / capabilities and not based on the vast differential in prospects in the various services.

How much differential is there?

Take Maharashtra, one of the most parsimonious with police ranks thus still retaining some merit -

The 1981 IPS batch have become 3-star generals, the 1987 are 2-star and the 1994 1-star.

In the army the corresponding years are 1972, 1975, 1979. i.e. a differential of 10-15 years. While the differential is more with the IAS, the variance with the IPS is all the more glaring because both are uniformed services and the grades are "visible" on the shoulders.

First some general aspects. Only the armed forces are a real profession, i.e.  where you rise to the top only by joining at the bottom. We have had professors of economics become Finance Secretaries or even Governors of RBI. We have any number of MBBSs, engineers, MBAs, in the police force though what their qualifications lend to their jobs is a moot point. You can join at any level in the civil service, except Cabinet Secretary. A civil servant can move from Animal Husbandry to Civil Aviation to Fertilisers to Steel to yes, unfortunately, even to Defence. But the army never asks for Brigade Commanders or a Commandant of the Army War College or even Director General Military Intelligence, even from RAW or IB. Army officers can and have moved into organizations like IB and RAW but it is never the other way round. MBBS and Law graduates are only in the Medical or JAG Corps and do nothing beyond their narrow areas. Every Army Chief - in any army - has risen from being a commander of a platoon to company to battalion to brigade to division to corps to army. In fact the professionalism is so intense that no non-armoured corps officer ever commands an armoured formation , first and possibly only exception in world military history is General K. Sunderji. Perhaps it is this outstanding professionalism that irks the civil services.

Next, one must note the rigidity and steep pyramid of the army's rank structure. In the civil services any post is fungible with any grade based on political expediency and the desires of the service. For example I know of one case where one department downgraded one post in another state and up-graded one in Mumbai just to enable someone continue in Mumbai after promotion!

You can't fool around like this in the armed forces. A very good Brigadier cannot be made a Major-General and continue as brigade commander. There has to be a clear vacancy for a Major General and even then there may be others better than him. Further the top five ranks in the army comprise only 10% of the officer strength. Contrast this with the civil services where entire batches become Joint Secretaries.

Even the meaning of the word "merit" is vastly different in the army and the civil services. Some years back an officer of the Maharashtra cadre claimed that he should be the Chief Secretary as he was first in the merit list. Which merit list? At the time of entry more than 35 years before! The fact is that this is how merit is decided in the IAS and IPS. Every time a batch gets promoted the inter-se merit is still retained as at the time of entry. In other words if you are first in a batch at the time of entry, then as long as you get promoted, you continue to remain first! This is like someone in the army claiming that he should become chief because he got the Sword of Honour at the IMA. Even a Param Vir Chakra does not count for promotion, assuming that you are still alive. In the armed forces, merit is a continuous process - each time a batch is promoted the merit list is redrawn according to your performance in all the previous assignments with additional weightage given not only to the last one but also to your suitability for the next one. Thus if you are a Brigade Commander and found fit to become a Major General, you may not get a division because others have been found better to head a division. That effectively puts an end to your promotion to Lt. General. The compensation package must therefore address all the above issues. In each service, anyone must get the same total compensation by the time he reaches the 'mode rank' of his service. "Mode" is a statistical term it is the value where the maximum number of variables fall.

In the IAS normally everyone reaches Director and in the IPS it is DIG. In the army, given the aforementioned rank and grade rigidities and pyramidal structure, the mode rank cannot exceed Colonel. Thus a Colonel's gross career earnings (not salary scales alone) must be at par with that of a Director. But remember that a Colonel retires at 54, but every babu from peon to Secretary at 60 regardless of performance. Further, it takes 18-20 years to become a Colonel whereas in that time an IAS officer reaches the next higher grade of Joint Secretary, which is considered equal to a Major General. These aspects and others - like postings in non-family stations - must be addressed while fixing the overall pay scales of Colonel and below. Thereafter a Brigadier will be made equal to a Joint Secretary, a Major-General to an Additional Secretary and a Lt. General to a Secretary. The Army Commanders deserve a new rank -Colonel General - and should be above a Secretary but below Cabinet Secretary. The equalization takes place at the level of Cabinet Secretary and Army Chief.

If this is financially a problem I have another solution. Without increasing the armed forces' scales, reduce the scales of the IAS and IPS till they too have 20% shortage.  

Done? Even India 's corruption index will go down.

If the above is accepted in principle, there is a good case to review the number of posts above Colonel. Senior ranks in the armed forces have become devalued with more and more posts being created. But the same pruning exercise is necessary in the IAS and more so in the IPS, where Directors General in some states are re-writing police manuals e.g. one is doing Volume I and another Volume II!

Further the civil services have such facilities as "compulsory wait" i.e. basically a picnic at taxpayers cost. And if you are not promoted or posted where you don't want to go, they seem able to take off on leave with much ease. In the army you will be court-martialled. Also find out how many are on study leave. The country cannot afford this.

Let not someone say that the IAS and IPS exams are tougher and hence the quality of the officers better. An exam at the age of 24 has to be tougher than one at the age of 16. The taxpaying citizen is not interested in your essay/note writing capabilities or whether you know Cleopatra's grandfather.

As a citizen I always see the army being called to hold the pants of the civil services and the police and never the other way round. That's enough proof as to who is really more capable. Also recall the insensitive statements made by the IG Meerut in the Aarushi case and the Home Secretary after the blasts. Further, when the IAS and IPS hopefuls are sleeping, eating and studying, their school mates, who have joined the army, stand vigil on the borders to make it possible for them to do so. Remember that the armed forces can only fight for above the table pay. They can never compete with the civil services and definitely not with the police for the under the table variety.

Finally, there is one supreme national necessity. The political class, not the bureaucracy - which represents the real civil supremacy better become more savvy on matters relating to the armed forces. Till then they are at the mercy of the civil service, who frequently play their own little war games. At ministerial level there are some very specialized departments e.g. Finance, Railways, Security (Home), Foreign and Defence, where split second decisions are necessary. It is always possible to find netas savvy in finance, foreign relations and railways. Security has been addressed in getting a former IPS officer as NSA at the level of a MoS. Is it time that a professional is also brought into the Defence Ministry as MoS? The sooner the better. In fact this will be better than a CoDS, because the armed forces will have someone not constrained by the Army Act or Article 33 of the Constitution. Of course the loudest howls will come from the babus. The netas must realize that a divide and rule policy cannot work where the country's security is concerned. Recall 1962?

Our army, already engaged in activities not core to their functions, including rescuing babies from bore wells, should not have to engage in civil wars over their pay scales. I only hope our defence minister or anyone who would take a reasonable stand for defence forces ever gets to see this article.

It would definitely affect any person with an iota of integrity.....

On OROP Open Letter to Hon'ble PM Mr. Modi

 A copy of open letter from a Veteran is below:

Col Bimal N Bhatia (retd)​      ​

Independent Assessor and Coach at Corporate and Individual Levels

Fauji ke Dil Ki Baat

Dear Mr Modi,

For a long time India (Bharat Varsh) has been wanting a leader who means business. And when you came the country was delighted.

            I’ll come to the point. And the true story at the end will never leave your mind.

            Your pic receiving the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour on behalf of former PM Atal Behai Vajpayee from the Bangladesh President was front paged this morning. Captivating was your speech on that occasion, as it always is.

            You talked about how as a youth activist you had come to Delhi in response to Vajpayee’s call for satyagraha for the liberation of Bangladesh.  You described yourself as ‘one of the crores who wanted this vision to be realized’.

            You then, in your inimitable style, went on to deliver the ultimate message. You did it with the emphasis it deserved, spiritually buoyed by the very meaning of it all. You said : “Bharat ke faujion ne Bangladesh ke lie apna khhoon bahane se pehle ek baar bhi nahin socha.” (Indian Defence Forces personnel unhesitatingly gave their lives for the liberation of Bangladesh.)

            Then you paused, waiting for the applause to die down.

            Just as you were extolling the sacrifices of the Indian Armed Forces, riding high on confidence based on their  virtue which has for years been taken for granted, the same faujis which took part in that historical war were planning a peaceful satyagraha in Delhi to be followed by relay hunger strikes all over India.

            These faujis – some of them just out of their teens – had already packed their haversacks and were poised for battle, ready for the ultimate sacrifice when you decided to come to Delhi for the ‘satyagraha’.

            To press for their decades old demand of the OROP these faujis and many of their seniors who led them in the war on both fronts – Western and Eastern – alongwith thousands of others are now forced into planning this peaceful satyagraha.

            Surely you cannot be unaware of the OROP which you also used as your bugle call to head for Delhi and occupy the PM’s chair.

            The efforts of Indian Ex-Servicemen League (IESL) steered by the indefatigable and now wheelchair bound Lt Col Inderjit Singh, Maj Gen Satbir Singh and  Gp Capt Gandhi with the active support of countless others including Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MP have been consistently stonewalled by our able bureaucrats.

            Shri Chandrashekhar has even refused to accept increased pay and perks of Members of Parliament till the Govt approves OROP. They want it in the form that has been accepted in Parliament without dilution.

            Modiji, I’ll let you in on one true story which you’ll find interesting and apt. Your bureaucrats will not be amused.

            Paramahansa Yogananda recognised as one of the preeminent spiritual figures narrates this in his widely-read autobiography. “Several years after Father had retired on a pension, an accountant from England came to India to examine the books of Bengal - Nagpur Railway. The amazed investigator discovered that father had never applied for overdue bonuses.

            “He did the work of three men!” the accountant told the company. “He has Rs 1,25000 ($ 41,250) owing to him as back compensation.” The treasurer sent Yogananda’s father a cheque for that amount. Yogananda cites this example to convey a spiritual message of evenmindedness in gain or loss like his father. That was in early 1900s.

            Did that make you sit up Modiji?

            Now turn to your bureaucrats and ask them about the Major Dhanapalan case. They should tell you about how in 1986 the babus very cleverly shortchanged the Armed Forces of their rank pay. The simplistic faujis swallowed it unknowingly but many years later one Major Dhanapalan found this out.

            Ask your babus about how the GOI opposed Major Dhanapalan all the way upto the Supreme Court (SC) which ordered that arrears be paid. Any sensible Govt would have paid up other similarly affected officers. Remember the British story?

            But countless others were forced into taking recourse to court and faced similar hurdles – consistent opposition by the GOI. When the SC ordered that arrears be paid with interest the Govt requested that a bulk of the interest be condoned.

            Who created this mess of shortchanging the faujis and lining the coffers of the Govt? Was the responsibility fixed? What was the motive? These are the questions that any sensible person would ask. Modiji did you know about this scam against many faujis?

            Now you be the judge and see why a mess is being made out of the OROP. Many veterans have died waiting for the elusive OROP. Can you ever compensate those who have gone to their maker?

            Never in history have the armed forces done as much for their country’s security while at the same time being consistently neglected as in India. You know about the old saying, ‘Doomed is the King who makes his armies fight for their just pay’.

            One more point. How many politicians and bureaucrats have their sons and daughters in the armed forces?

            Thank you sir for that moving speech about us faujis and our sacrifices.

            It remains our belief that you are a leader who means us well but are just not being given the whole story.

Jai Hind

 

One rank One Pension & the role of Beurocracy

I am slightly digressing from the articles on Ex- Chiefs of the Indian Army to publish this post. 

At the outset, I am not the author of this article. This came to me via email posted by a Vetran Group. But I do share the sentiments expressed therein. 

These are strong sentiments expressed in equally strong words - but let us be honest with ourselves and not shy away from the truth and reality.

 A  look in the Mirror straight into your own eyes is highly recommended after reading this article !

 

 The issue of  “ One Rank One Pension “ has become not only the biggest  INDIAN  joke ( or shall we say SCAM ? )  of the Century  , but  in all likelihood,  maybe  also  a  matter of  immense amusement for  various Armies over the world , especially our neighbours !!

      NOT   MANY OF TODAY’S  GENERATION KNOW THE GENESIS OF THE “ OROP “ CONCEPT . Well, here it is. Till 1973, the Pensions of Armed Forces were 70% of their last pay drawn , while that of the Civilians was 30% of their last pay drawn. THIS  WAS    so as to compensate for the Early Retirement age of Armed Forces as compared to the Civilians . 88% of Military Personnel retire between 35-37 yrs of age, while 92% of balance 12% retired ( then) at 52 yrs   whereas ALL  CIVILIANs retired at  60 ( Yes, SIXTY  !! ) yrs  flat.

                  However, in 1973, duly regularized by the  3rd Pay Commission  under CONGRESS,  the Pensions  of  ALL Govt   Servants were  made EQUAL – viz, that of   Armed Forces REDUCED to 50% , while that of Civilians  ENHANCED to 50%  !!

Two  things  are Note-worthy : --- Firstly, all the 3 CHIEFs  lumped it – God  only  knows  Why  !!  Secondly, the consolation given was  that  the Armed Forces will be compensated by a   NEW/UNIQUE  scheme called “ OROP “  in due course !!

THE   REST, AS THEY SAY, IS  HISTORY  !!

So now you know that it is a matter pending since last 4 Decades!!

Incidentally, there were  other  many more  equally  sad  monstrosities  and insults heaped on Armed forces  - Downgrading  us in the Order of Precedence  is one example. A Police Inspector became a Class I officer while the JCOs continued to be Class II officers  - the list is boundless – ANOMALIES  in each subsequent Pay Commissions only  kept   adding up/accumulating , as the politicians  and  the   beurocrats   became more  overpowering  due to the SHEEPISHNESS of the Chiefs  !!                           

India must be the only country in the world where the Armed Forces ( whether  Retired or Serving ) have to BEG  and FIGHT for their rights and entitlements  ;  Nowhere in the world the Armed Forces   are so Naïve, HELPLESS, GULLIBLE, GOD-FEARING and PLIANT. (( Forget about the Pay and Allowances, we even have to  starve to death for war-like equipment ! )). Is there any known case of any country where their Army has to fall back to the Supreme Court so often?

Is it not  SHAMEFUL  that a Militaryman  ((  rather,  an  ENTIRE  Army, Navy and the AirForce of a Nation  , whether  IN or OUT of Uniform ))  and who is considered to be SO  CALLED “” Brave & Fearless “” has to  plead, beg,  grovel, beseach, wail  and  generally act like the dog in the logo of HMV music (dog on his haunches with folded hands )  for 4  decades  to the Politicians and the Beaurocrats  ?

What a wonderful  set of  cool & calm and “ be  patient “ preaching   Military Leadership we have had  in the past and present too  ( and maybe in future also )  who can afford  to  wait  INNOCENTLY  for  decades, and who watch HELPLESSLY even when EVERY award by the AFT is fought tooth & nail by the Min of Def and Min of Fin right upto the Supreme Court and NOT implemented even after that.   WHO  CAN  FORGET  THE  FAMOUS/INFAMOUS  RANK  PAY  CASE ,  THE  BROADBANDING OF  DISABILITY  PENSION CASE, THE NFSU  CASE  etc?

Even as and when the much  maligned  OROP comes thru, as the Chairman  IESM correctly put across,  we DO   NOT  know as on date as to WHAT IS COOKING OR BEING DOLED OUT,  as the Armed Forces are just not Privy to what is on the Files and what is going on between the MoD and the MoF.  So , in most likelyhood, it may be a similar case like the Rank Pay – be ready to haggle and plead  (  “ submitted for Reconsideration Please “ !! ) and ultimately again go upto Supreme Court again.              

               YESTERDAY’s CASE OF W/ CDR  KARNIK  and  ONE MORE Air Force  OFFICER

HATs  OFF  TO THESE  TWO  OUTSTANDING  AIR FORCE  OFFICER s  WHO  HAVE  DISPLAYED  THE  GUTs  AND   SELF-RESPECT   yesterday  (  by  Defying  and  Daring  the System by way of boycotting a SHAM  function by the CM and the RM )  ~~  THEY  HAVE  DONE  TODAY  , WHAT THE ENTIRE STRENGTH OF 15 Lac  STRONG  ARMED  FORCES  HAVE  NOT  BEEN  ABLE  TO  DO  FOR  40  LONG  Yrs  ~~ that is, display strength of character and real Self-Respect  !!

         Shame  on  our serving Leadership today ( and yesteryears too ) , who cannot look after their own interests ( NFSU etc ) nor fight for the interests of the Veterans , and that           it  finally   took  a  1971 War  Hero and a Veteren   to show strength of Character and Commitment to Cause,  which they lack so Utterly !!

WHY IS  IT  SO  DIFFICULT  FOR  OUR SENIOR  OFFICERS  TO  BELL  A  CAT  ??  WHY  ARE  THE  ARMED  FORCES  SO  SUB-SERVIENT  TO THE  POLITICIANs  &  THE  BEAUROCRATs  ?? IS  IT  TOO MUCH  OF  REGIMENTATION , THAT  MAKES  AN  ARMYMAN  A  DOCILE  PUPPY  ??

 Can somebody give a logical and plausible/palatable answer to this Uncomfortable  Mystery  ??

I think there is a lesson to be learnt from the following glaring 'in-your-face' examples  :

·         MPs/MLAs   &  Judges’   pay  and  allowances  AND  PENSIONs, are proposed and Passed within minutes in the  Parliament and State Assemblies,  and implemented Forthwith – No procedural Hassles come in the way , as being repeatedly claimed by Mr. Parrikar, in case of OROP.

·            Gurjar  community  Leader Col  Bainsala can bring the Govt down  to its knees by merely sitting  on the Rly tracks  for 6 days , forcing  cancellation 39 trains including Both Rajdhanis !!  

·            Even the lowliest of low cadres of the Govt do not accept any nonsense from the powers that be – be it the Bank staff or the Truckwalas – they know how to get their pound of flesh from the Govt .

·         When there was no skin off the noses of even the President of INDIA ( the so called Supreme Commander of Armed Forces )  or the PM or the RM,  even  when the veterans returned their Medals and wrote in blood, does one really think that the brave gesture of 2 gutsy Air Force Officers of Boycotting a function  is really  going to move the Politicians and the wily  Beaurocrats  to tears  ??

·         The PM (Modi) has already fallen embarrassingly  silent on the issue after his lofty announcements from ESM podiums and Siachen, while the RM (Parrikar) has changed his track from giving  specific PDCs/Deadlines  to mumbling vague statements like " no specific time-frames can be stated as it is a very COMPLEX  ADMINISTRATIVE  PROCESS Can  somebody !!  ---   It appears that FINALLY  the Nickel has dropped - they too have realised that  even they are at the total mercy of the Wily Beaurocrats - a MONSTER created  and nurtured by the Nehru's Congress  !!

So folks, the  WRITING IS VERY  LOUD & CLEAR ON THE WALL -- One has to be either Totally  Blind or in complete  DENIAL  MODE  Not  to  read  the Reality.

In my opinion, a serious rethink is required --  a paradigm shift  from “passive colonial type  expressions in Victorian English  and  docile tokens  of  gestures “   to  “ more active  and forceful  methods “  of  nudging and waking up our Lords & Masters . After all, YOURs as well as that of the entire Armed Forces'  AAN,  BAAN  &  SHAAN  is at stake.

NOTE - I AM SURE EVERY ONE READING THIS WILL AGREE THAT IT IS A UNIVERSAL FACT THAT ALL OVER THE GLOBE AFTER THE MARRIAGE KHUSH KHABRI IS EXPECTED AND EVEN DELIVERED AFTER NINE MONTHS.