By: Nitin A. Gokhale
In the last 48
hours, the Indian army is again and again in the headlines.
One, for its deployment in
Haryana to control the Jat agitation in the state which spiraled out of
control, thanks to inept political and administrative handling.
And two, losing a
young officer, a para-commando officer, from Haryana—who incidentally was a graduate
from the Jawaharlal Nehru University—in an on-going operation in Kashmir.
It is not clear if
the para-military forces—CRPF and BSF—were deployed in Haryana after the police
lost control over the situationbut what is evident is that
increasingly, the Army is being called in to deal with what essentially are law
and order situations.
The decision to
deploy the Army in Haryana at the first indication of trouble instead of using
it as the last resort is debatable but given that the agitators were hell bent
on destruction of public property and indiscriminate violence, perhaps the
decision was unavoidable.
The Army has in the
past done whatever job it has been assigned to do and will continue to do so in
the future too, its reservations on certain aspects of decision-making
notwithstanding but what hurts the men in olive green is the
continuing attempts to downgrade the Army’s status and constantly downplay its
contribution to the national effort.
The award of the 7th Central
Pay Commission (CPC)—thankfully only a recommendation so far not accepted by
the government–is a case in point.
[ COMMENT : Mr. Justice A.
Mathur, Chairman, 7th CPC is an
' HONOURABLE ' man.
So too was BRUTUS !! ]
It seeks to place
the Army at par or below the central armed police forces (CAPFs) through
granting lower grade pay and lesser allowances.
This is harmful to
the Army–and the nation in the process–in the long run for several reasons.
Progressive
degradation of status of Armed Forces personnel has had alarming adverse impact
on self esteem of personnel and hence their operational effectiveness.
International Journal
of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) in its issue of 12 Dec 2013
listed the findings of its research stating that only
eight per cent of youth surveyed opted to join Armed Forces as against 58
per cent choosing to join other Central government services although Armed
Forces Officers cadre constitutes 72 per cent of all Group A and All India
Services strength.
Though not being
spoken formally, the following facts are undeniable if the current trend
continues.
· Shortage of officers
in Armed Forces will be extremely difficult to be fully mitigated.
· Self Esteem of those
joining as officers, is taking a hit quickly after joining. This, despite many
in-house measures, is reflected in relatively lower morale and less than
desired level of commitment of younger generation officers.
· Owing to large
scale unemployment, intake of recruits (as Jawans) has not declined yet, their
quality and amenability to discipline and of being shaped into combatants with
high degree of commitment and sacrifice, has been declining by the day. So far
significant numbers have been responding positively to the quality of
leadership by the officer cadre. However, with declining self esteem of officer
cadre itself, their collective capacity at stemming the rot and keep jawans
motivated, is eroding. Increasing numbers have already begun displaying
unwillingness to serve beyond initial period of engagement. This trend is
already affecting retention of skilled manpower, adversely.
And this despite the
fact that personnel of Armed Forces, on an average,
incur Least Lifetime Cost to the Government on account
of the following:-
· Largest numbers serve
for shortest period and retire early (between ages of 35 yrs to 54 yrs). Hence,
draw least per capita government salary.
· During entire career,
they serve maximum time in junior ranks and least time in senior ranks hence,
draw lower salaries for maximum portion of career.
· Owing to
combination of both of above (largest numbers retiring early and in lower
ranks), their last pay drawn is much lower than civilian counterparts. Pension,
though being 50 per cent of Last Pay Drawn as applicable to all, pension amount
of Armed Forces personnel is much lower.
And yet, as an
Instrument of last resort, the demands on the armed forces are significantly
higher in terms of proficiency, commitment and sense of sacrifice.
Armed forces being
‘Instrument of Last Resort’ do not have the luxury of ‘failing’ or handing over
adverse situation to any other government agency.
This singular fact
demands of its personnel much higher degrees of commitment, leadership, risk
taking, proficiency in multiple technological and tactical skills and
willingness to sacrifice.
It is therefore
imperative that armed forces should at least be considered ‘First
amongst Uniformed Services’.
Unfortunately, the
7th CPC has not considered this and placed Defence Personnel
even below the Indian Police Service (IPS) by awarding them two additional
increments at 4, 9 & 13 years Service (now at par with IAS) while military
personnel continue to get only one increment each at 2, 6 & 13 years
Service.
Overall, taking pay
and allowances cumulatively, the 7th CPC has further placed
Armed Forces either at par or below CAPF.
This faulty award is
because of faulty assumptions and inadequate Appreciation of Actual Roles and
Required Degree of Proficiency & Risks.
For instance,
equating of CoBRA unit of CRPF with ‘Special Forces’ and assuming their
hardship & risk as more severe than ‘Airborne Forces – Para units,’
reflects gross ignorance of roles, desired proficiency levels & attendant
risks of various components of Armed Forces and the CAPF.
Consider 7th CPC
recommending ‘Risk & Hardship Allowance’ for National Disaster Relief
Force (NDRF) personnel when employed in disaster relief.
Since Disaster
Relief is the only role assigned to the NDRF, how can the organization seek
extra allowance over & above their salary for doing their primary and only
task?
By this logic, ask
the armed forces personnel, why shouldn’t the military be awarded special
allowance when called out to aid civil authority during disasters which is not
its primary task?
It’s time a
thorough review is done in the way we as a nation compensate our
soldiers.
Otherwise, one of
our most admired institutions is bound to face decay that will come at the cost
of nation’s security.
URGENT NEED FOR REFORMS BOTH WITHIN AND OUTER . THE DEFENCE FORCES HAVE ALSO OUTLIVED THE COLONIAL WAY LIKE OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF THIS COUNTRY ROTTING AND DECAYING . ALAS ONLY A STONG KICK LIKE 1962 WILL WAKE UP THE GOVT OF THE DAY
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