Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Indian Armed Forces scored a rare victory over the politico-bureaucratic establishment with the Government on Thursday conceding an exclusive Military Pay Commission for the military.
Deeply embarrassed by the very public rejection of the Sixth Pay Commission report by the Service Chiefs, the Government was also forced to change in part, the pay grades for the forces. Lieutenant colonels have been put at par with civilian directors, wrenching a monthly salary hike of about Rs 10,000.
The pension formula for the below officer ranks was also restored to a favourable 70 per cent of last salary drawn. There was qualified approval in the military.
Army veteran Major General Satbir Singh says, "Maybe the Government has its eye on the upcoming election, so they are giving in bits and pieces. This must not be done with the sentiment of the soldiers."
It took the defiance of a Cabinet order, an unprecedented assertion by the military leadership and a political style proxy campaign by ex-servicemen to force these concessions. But the military community believes that much more needs to be done to undo the impression that injustice has been done to the soldier.
The Government's rejection of the demand for one-rank, one-pension, refusal to put Lieutenant Generals at par with Directors General of Police and the denial of grade pay parity with civilian services rankles the military.
Major General Satbir Singh says, "The chiefs must take this up. They owe a responsibility to the serving soldiers and also to the servicemen."
The forces clearly want more but in wresting the Military Pay Commission, they have got an acknowledgment that injustice had been done to the soldiers. This is nothing short of historic.
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