The distrust of the military among civilians in government was on open display in the past few weeks as the Centre implemented recommendations of the sixth pay commission.
NEW DELHI: The distrust of the military among civilians in government was on open display in the past few weeks as the Centre implemented recommendations of the sixth pay commission. This was reinforced by the military’s response to the alleged anomalies — the ‘militant trade unionism’ exhibited by many retired personnel and the decision of the military leadership not to implement the new pay scales.
For the forces, it was another example of how the bureaucracy, especially the IAS lobby, has been manipulating the system to its advantage. The political leadership has become an unwitting party to this manipulation, the military alleges.
In the stiff positions adopted by the two sides, many see a larger malaise — a slow decay of institutions, national obsession with running one another down and imperfections afflicting top decision-making.
Fight for honour
A senior military officer closely involved in matters relating to the pay commission says, “Monetarily, I think we have a good deal, but what is disturbing is the way civilian officials are systematically downgrading the military in hierarchy. Our fight is mostly about izzat.”
Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta voiced similar sentiments a few days ago. “The issue here is not money. It is about status and the equivalence that existed, the command and control relationship.”
The military leadership has placed four grievances: the lowering of the rank of lieutenant general in comparison to that of the directors-general of police, the disparity between lieutenant colonels and their civilian and paramilitary counterparts, the low pensions offered to non-officers while refusing them lateral entry into paramilitary forces and lower rank pay. The last grievance may not be justified given that there is military service pay, a source says.
The standoff has led to an unprecedented show of “military trade unionism” by ex-servicemen and an unsavoury clash between the military and civilian leaderships. The defence minister had to tick off the three service chiefs for holding back implementation of the new pay scales. And if the new pay scales would be implemented this month is still not clear.
What has added to the military’s mistrust of civilian bureaucracy is the failure of the political leadership to overrule officialdom in addressing its concerns. Ignorant of the military’s role in holding India together and its contribution to nation-building, the political class is unwittingly becoming a party to the manipulation, officers say.
There is some truth in this lament. For example, a lieutenant general was above a DGP until the fifth pay commission. That commission equated DGPs with lieutenant generals.
But the sixth pay commission has put lieutenant generals a notch below DGPs.
“It is not just about izzat but the way these changes affect command and control in counter-insurgency operations,” an officer says. “For example, the lieutenant general who commands 3 Corps based in the Northeast has troops deployed in five states — Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam. Overnight, state DGPs are a step above him, and imagine its trickledown effect,” the officer says.
More grave, according to a senior naval officer, “is the lowering of the lieutenant colonel’s position vis-à-vis his counterparts in civil and paramilitary forces.” Lieutenant colonels have been placed in pay band III (Rs15,600-39,100), while their equivalent civilian officials are in pay band IV (Rs37,400-67,000). “The grade was lowered not by the pay commission but by the group of empowered secretaries which was to implement its recommendations,” a senior army officer says.
Personnel below officer rank have also been hit. Their pensions have been halved and the promised lateral entry into paramilitary forces has not materialised. The military says the home ministry is resisting the proposal.
The big worry
“We suffer from a crisis of confidence and lack of trust between one section of Indians and another,” Naresh Chandra, former cabinet secretary and ambassador to the US, says . “I have never seen so much of it... Everyone seems to be a conspirator. Nobody is to be trusted.”
Chandra points out that the issue of government salary — “something internal to government, a technical matter” — has become a topic of public debate. “Differences of opinion are bound to be there. Every difference need not become a public tamasha,” he says.
Air Chief Marshal (retired) S Krishnaswamy says, “There is a feeling that unless you bring pressure, things don’t happen. For everything you have to fight, be it electricity or phone lines. You make a noise and you get it. This is a wrong precedent.”
But Krishnaswamy is also critical of the trade union mentality exhibited by retired service personnel.
“It is sad that the government is made to feel that the military has disobeyed it,” he says. “The services cannot disobey the government. But if there is demoralisation, it shows up in unpredictable ways. The government should respect the institution (military). After all, they have no one else but the government to look up to. We don’t have unions.”
j_josy@dnaindia.net
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}