7th Pay Commission report on pay, pensions: Manohar Parrikar says analysing concerns of armed forces

The defence ministry is analysing the concerns of the armed forces on the 7th Pay Commission report recommendations, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Wednesday. Asked about the concerns the armed forces have expressed over the 7th Pay Commission report recommendations, the minister said: "We are analysing them."

The defence ministry is analysing the concerns of the armed forces on the 7th Pay Commission report recommendations, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Wednesday. Asked about the concerns the armed forces have expressed over the 7th Pay Commission report recommendations, the minister said: “We are analysing them.”

Saying that the 7th Pay Commission report recommendations are on the agenda, Manohar Parrikar said, “We are already on the job. By next week we will be able to see what can be done.”

Defence Minister was speaking to media after laying a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate on Vijay Diwas.

Armed forces Officers feel the 7th Pay Commission recommendations are less rewarding for armed forces officers when compared to civilians.

Among the concerns of the forces regarding the 7th Pay Commission report is the way pensions are calculated on the basis of number of years served in a particular rank.

While the rank of major general is equivalent to joint secretary, sources from the forces said that an IAS officer becomes joint secretary sooner than an armed forces’ personnel reaches that rank, and the percentage of those who reach that rank in the forces is also lower.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address at the Combined Commanders’ Conference on board INS Vikramaditya on Tuesday, admitted that fewer officers got promoted in the forces.

Another grudge is the risk-hardship matrix.

While a soldier posted in Siachen Glacier gets an allowance of Rs 31,500 per month, a civilian bureaucrat draws 30 percent of his salary as “hardship allowance”.

Manohar Parrikar was flanked by the three service chiefs – Army Chief General Dalbir Singh, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, and Navy Chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan in paying respect to the martyrs on Vijay Diwas on Wednesday morning. Vijay Diwas marks India’s military victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.