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Defence Forces of the nation persistently wronged
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Lt Gen Harwant Singh | Date:18 Dec , 2013 2 Comments
Lt Gen Harwant Singh
Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff. He also commanded a corps in J&K.

Defence forces have been disadvantaged in a wide range of areas. Firstly they has been persistently wronged by successive Central Pay Commissions, (CPCs)  While defence forces are the largest single group of government employees, there has never been a member from it on any of the CPCs: not even amongst150 odd staff assembled to work out the nitty-gritty of the recommendations and prepare the report.

From the years 2001 to 2004, 2000 army officers applied for release from service, which included 2 lt-Gens, 10 Maj-Gens, 84 brigadiers and the rest colonels and below. This is a glaring case of dissatisfaction in the service.

98 Percent of the defence personnel retire before the age of 60 years: age at which all central government employees retire. Soldiers retire between the ages of 36-38 years, with no assured second career, Age expectancy of civil employees (IARM report) is 77 years, for railway employees it is 78 years while that of army officers it is 67 years, Junior Commissioned officers, 72.5 years and in the case of soldiers it is 59.5 to 64 years. Increasing family commitments leading to financial worries after early retirement and consequently less pension takes it toll.  Upto mid fifties, a brigadier drew more pension than a chief secretary of a state and soldiers and others 75 percent of the last pay drawn, as pension.

Truncated careers, extremely limited promotions, long separation from families, hard living conditions in uncongenial environments and tenures in high altitude, risk to life and limb and a hundred other travails, recognized the world over and termed as ‘X’ factor and fully compensated, is simply over looked by the Indian government. Taking the existing pay etc into account, and assuming there being no increase for the next two decades for everyone, a soldier retiring at age 36 years would get approximately Rs 37 lakhs less compared to his equivalent in the civil, by the time both reach the of 60 years: age at which a civil employees will retire. All central services officers have been granted, what is called Non Functional  Upgradation (NFU) but the same has been denied to defence services officers and the plea is that defence services officers are not class A central services officers!

The condition of 33 years service to earn full pension works against only defence services personnel because majority of them are compulsorily retired much before completing that much length of service.

Long standing demand of One Rank One Pension be met without delay. This will to some extent compensate early retirement.

Military service has become so unattractive that few suitable candidates are coming forward to join the officer cadre and the same problem is prevalent in the case of soldiers. From the years 2001 to 2004, 2000 army officers applied for release from service, which included 2 lt-Gens, 10 Maj-Gens, 84 brigadiers and the rest colonels and below. This is a glaring case of dissatisfaction in the service. How many from the IAS, IPS etc ever opt to leave service!

Therefore to correct this alarming situation the following needs to be done.

a)   Long standing demand of One Rank One Pension be met without delay. This will to some extent compensate early retirement.

b)   A representative from the defence services be included in the 7th CPC board and minimum of 10 percent officers on the staff of CPC to prepare the report.

c)   Non Functional Upgradation to be made applicable to defence services officers from 2006, as is applicable to civil services.

d)   All anomalies of 4th to 6th CPCs would be expeditiously resolved.

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The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review.

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2 thoughts on “Defence Forces of the nation persistently wronged

  1. Subject : DEFENCE LAND SCAM IN INDIA, THE LATEST AND THE MOST RECENT, IN CRORES & CRORES.

    Dear Sir,
    This is a reminder regarding my letters dated 22.7.13, 31.7.13, 10.8.13 & 25.8.13. sent to Minister, Bureaucrats etc., with no action & who have maintained double standards, hence we solicit your kind support. Lets join hands to make this issue public. I, am writing to you in National interest against some notorious history sheeters, with many criminal cases pending in Courts of Law. This case needs to be referred to C.B.I. / S.I.T. / E.D. / C.A.G. / N.I.A., etc. for a detailed and immediate probe, who should ensure, no documents go missing & specially from S.G.P.G.I., Lucknow. I am an estranged old lady, seriously & chronically ill, infirm, disabled & fully bed ridden & presently I stay in Allahabad. My son got disabled in Operation Rakshak. The Cantonment Board / Defence Estates Office, Allahabad, interact with the public directly & this SCAM in Defence Estates is fully attributable to their dealing officials, due to their grievous lapses, negligence, nepotism, favouritism, etc. for pecuniary benefits. They were a party to the illegal transactions executed by one, Ms. Rashmi Jaiswal, the prime accused, who is a sentimental rogue known for shedding crocodile tears to earn other’s sympathy & for submitting fake, forged & manufactured documents at varied forums, to mislead them &, wrestle property & money etc, illegally (which should be verified invariably). The other accused are Utkrisht Jaiswal, Upma Jaiswal, Sunita Jaiswal, Mishri Lal Jaiswal, Ankit Jaiswal, Ajit Jaiswal, Kriti Jaiswal, R.S. Jaiswal, P.S. Jaiswal & Amardeep Jaiswal, all basically residents of 2, Cassels Road, Shambhoo Estate, Allahabad – 01. There has been serious irregularities on account of corruption and execution of FRAUDULENT TRANSACTIONS & illegal encroachment by committing fraud, duping, cheating & FORGERY, due to the support & collusion of the highly corrupt Cantonment Boa

  2. Serious irregularities, CORRUPTION & SCAM in DEFENCE LAND – 2013, in CRORES, in New Cantt., Allahabad, needing IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION & INVESTIGATION. Execution of FRAUDULENT TRANSACTIONS & illegal encroachment by committing fraud & FORGERY, duping, cheating the Sub Area New Cantt., Allahabad to criminally misappropriate & SELL Defence Land of Cantonment, G.O.I., which may be prevented at any cost, by lethargic & lax, Sub Area, Allahabad by Rashmi Jaiswal & others, which demands stringent police action.

    Dear INDIAN CITIZEN,
    This is a reminder regarding my letters dated 22.7.13, 31.7.13, 10.8.13 & 25.8.13. sent to Minister, Bureaucrats etc., with no action & who hve maintained double standards, hence we solicit your kind support. I, Ms. A.R. Jaiswal, am writing to you in National interest against some notorious history sheeters, with many criminal cases pending in Courts of Law. This case may be referred to C.B.I. / S.I.T. / E.D. / C.A.G. / N.I.A., etc. for a detailed probe, who should ensure, no documents go missing & specially from S.G.P.G.I., Lucknow. I, am an estranged old lady, seriously & chronically ill, infirm, disabled & fully bed ridden & presently I stay in Allahabad. My son is convent educated & highly qualified, however due to acute financial distress, he joined the ranks to support the family monetarily. He got disabled in Operation Rakshak. My daughters are high profile Public Servant & Defence Officer in the Indian Army, Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, respectively & are serving the nation. The Cantonment Board / Defence Estates Office, Allahabad, interact with the public directly & this SCAM in Defence Estates is fully attributable to their dealing officials, due to their grievous lapses, negligence, nepotism, favouritism, etc. for pecuniary benefits. They were a party to the illegal transactions executed by one, Ms. Rashmi Jaiswal, the prime accused, who is a sentimental rogue known for shedding crocodile tears to earn other’s sympathy

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