Army irks over Pay Commission's recommendations

NI Wire

New Delhi

Thu, 27 Mar 2008: 

The first ever resentment at the recommendations of the sixth pay commission to the government regarding the enhancement of pay packages of the central government employees is likely to come from all the three wing of armed forces.

The chiefs of three-armed wing on Thursday in their routine meeting with e Defence Minister A K Antony may raise the issue of meagre increment of armed forces personnel as compared to other officials and even new recruiters mentioned in the recommendations of pay commissions, which has created resentment among them.

Asking about his reaction over the discontentment among jawans over the recommendations of meagre hike in salaries, the defence minister said, “let him discuss the matter with all concerned first. It would not be appropriate to comment at this juncture”.

After thorough study of Pay Commission recommendations coherent suggestions can be conveyed, said Army Chief Deepak Kapoor while talking to reporters.

As per the defence sources, the matter can be directly carried to the Pay Commission as the Commission had earlier told that in case of any anomalies were found in the recommendation; the concerned authorities could submit the note to the Commission.

The top rank among armed forces while welcomed the positive aspects in the recommendations, however not satisfied with the recommendations completely, as they point out the declining benefits to officers from the level of Colonel upwards. While the lower rank feels they are not adequately compensated for their hardships.

Out of 1.1 million-strong Indian Army, about 45,000 are officers, while the rest are soldiers. The Sixth Pay Commission has recommended only Rs 1,000 per month as Military Service Pay (MSP) for Personnel Below Officers Ranks (PBORs) whereas officers will get an MSP of Rs 6,000 per month.

Besides MSP, soldiers also get allowances much less than officers. At present, an officer gets Rs 7,000 per month as Siachen allowance, whereas a soldier gets Rs 4,667 per month. Under counter-insurgency operations allowance an officer gets between Rs 3,150 to Rs 3,900 per month while a soldier gets between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,700 per month.

In contrast, ex-servicemen have shown their own reason of resentment for paying no attention to the disability and family pension. A jawan gets Rs 1,550, Junior Commissioned Officer get Rs 1,900, and an officer Rs 2,600 as hundred per cent disability pension. There is twelve per cent annual fallout rate in the Indian Army.

Even officers are not satisfied with the recommendations for meagre increment for soldiers. They want their salary should hike. Officers also feel that no recommendation to make the Short Service Commission more attractive has been crafted while the armed forces facing a shortage of about 12,000 personnel at the junior level.