DNA Edit: Give Armed Forces Their Due

That the top echelons of the Indian bureaucracy work in manners — malicious and disagreeable — that rob other services of their rights is a fact that scores of disadvantaged government employees will attest to. To this list, one can also add the Armed Forces, which have, for a long time now, been raising the pitch against such biases, without much result. Sadly, in recent times, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has not shown much inclination in redressing the differential pay and entitlement structure.

Now that the baton has been passed on to Nirmala Sitharaman, the eyes of thousands of Armed Forces personnel are on her in the hope she will find a solution to the tussle. As reported by DNA today, she has been apprised of the matter. She has sought additional details on the rather sensitive topic. This is welcome simply for the fact that it rekindles hope for many in the Armed Forces, who have been protecting our borders and braving attacks from terrorists and insurgents for payoffs that are incommensurate with other civilian Grade A services officials working under the MoD.

The bone of contention here is the selective application of the Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) Pay scheme for Grade A officers, while leaving the Armed Forces officers in the lurch. Under the NFU, whenever a Grade A officer of a specific batch is promoted to a particular pay-grade in the PB-3 or PB-4 bracket, a higher pay is automatically granted to officers senior to the promoted officer by two years. Additionally, contemporaries of the promoted officer also become eligible for the same pay after two years. Many policy experts have argued that the NFU scheme marks the greed and self-aggrandising tendencies of the Grade A services.

However, there are no signs on India’s administrative horizon that a scheme which so blatantly discounts individual merit will be shut down. As long as the scheme continues, according discriminatory treatment to IAS and IPS officers working with the MoD will only serve to sap the spirit of the Armed Forces. Problems crop up in the field when IPS officers serve alongside Armed Forces members in border areas or in counter-terrorism operations. It so happens that a Colonel or a Brigadier working in problem areas alongside an IPS officer will end up drawing a lower salary vis-à-vis the IPS officer, even when he may be a junior or at the same level. It is now up to Sitharaman to resolve this impasse.