SOVESERV 2 - Raising a Formidable Force

 Raising a Formidable Force

BY

RN RADHAKRISHNAN

 The Gloomy Scenario

Many of the veterans of the three services feel that a great injustice has been and is being done to the soldiers of all ranks, serving as well as those since have been retired prematurely. Notwithstanding, it is true that recruitment at the level of soldiers is not posing any problem; but the picture at the Commissioned Officers’ level is pathetic. To serve the nation as a Commissioned Officer is no more alluring. Shortage of officers in the three services is of alarming proportion, alarming to the Chiefs; not so to the Government. What is baffling is the perception of the seriousness of the issue at the level of the Service Chiefs, the Ministers, the Bureaucrats that matter in decision making and, above all, the President of India, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. It seems that there is a consensus among these authorities that the discontentment in the veterans and the deficiency of the Commissioned Officers’ level are not factors that affect the nation’s future. The nation’s sovereignty is in no way under threat and hence the march to super power status is not likely to be hindered in any way, they perhaps feel.

Over the years, all are hell bent to belittle the soldiers, deprive them of the privileges they have been enjoying, lower their status in the society and underestimate their contribution in ensuring that the sovereignty of the nation is never threatened. Their contribution in bailing out the states, whenever some natural calamity or breakdown of Law and Order occurs due to the inept handling by the inefficient administration, is taken for granted and, the failure on the part of those responsible is condoned. The recent vociferous voicing of the concern of the neglect of the services, by many that foresee the inevitable decline of the security and thereby, the threat to the sovereignty, have fallen on deaf ears. The decision of the Government in implementing the 6^th PC recommendations seems to be in conformity with the ongoing policy to cut the services down to insignificance.

It is obvious that the perception at the Government level is that the sovereignty of the nation is not dependent on the Armed Forces. Any disturbance due to acts of violence of any nature or interference of neighbor countries is not likely to undermine the sovereignty of the nation and can be dealt with by political diplomacy, seems to be their appreciation. The sacrifice, loyalty, integrity, the grit and duty consciousness of the soldiers are taken for granted and are of not much significance.

The media and the public wait for some sensational situation such as the one that occurred in Kargil, to have fun viewing TV shows in their living room. They show their concern and support through very short living adoration of the soldiers who provided the entertainment at the cost of their lives and grave concern to their families. The intelligentsia is mighty pleased with its prowess in composing lucid papers highlighting the blunder of the government to tackle the situation and the courage of the Armed Forces. That is the end of it. Notwithstanding the blunders of the politicians, all believe in the resilience of ‘Bharat Mahan’ to get over all adversities. The soldiers’ cry that the sovereignty of the nation is steadily being compromised is, therefore, believed to be false and motivated by a hidden agenda of self-promotion.

Let us now review the attitude towards the Armed Forces and the civil administration. The soldiers and their families know of the severity of the conditions to which they are exposed; quite natural. The severity of pain has to be experienced and cannot be explained. Thus, for the decision makers, the media and the people, the pain of the soldier and their families, when spoken of, is an exaggeration, at its best and possibly false, at its worst. Quite visible to them are the distorted pictures of the free rations, the so-called luxurious housing facility at substantially subsidized rate of rent in exclusive cantonments, the canteen facility, the officers’ mess and the living style of the officers and soldiers’ community, as compared to that of the civilian counterpart. The undeserving soldiers, they grudge, are very well taken care of at the cost of the poor nation – a legacy of the British who pampered their soldiers with selfish motive. Now that the Country has gained its independence, is it really necessary to pamper these soldiers any more in spite of their insignificant contribution to the Nation’s welfare and development, they ponder. Cut the services down to insignificance, is what ought to be done, is their conviction. Services are more in the nature of pain in the process of treating an illness that has to be unfortunately tolerated, they complain. Recall the recent flurry of presentations to the RRM, the Standing Parliamentary Committee and the President of Congress party a couple of days before Independence Day celebrations and the announcement by the PM regarding implementing the 6^th PC recommendations, to get the cunningness of the rulers in dealing with us.

In their perverted way of analysis, all the other allied services, allied to the fighting arms namely the Office of the CAO at Delhi, DEO, MES, DRDO, The Ordnance Factories, Defence Accounts, the Department of Defence Suppliers are all doing wonderful job by ensuring that the wasteful expenditure by the Defence Personnel is minimized, thus playing a positive role in building the Nation. Hence, what is required for the progress of the nation, they have concluded beyond an iota of doubt, is to ensure that all civilians, no matter which service they belong to, have to be taken care of and at the cost of the villains, the Armed Forces.

The attitude of the serving soldiers almost at all levels is typical and the veterans also had the same attitude, while in active service. They are quite content with what their seniors got for them from each of pay commissions. Conditioned with the sense of pride in serving one’s nation, with the sense of contentment with what one gets from the nation that is struggling under severe economic constraints and with lack of awareness of the manipulative civilian counter parts who unashamedly feather their nests through the powerful tool of Associations for Collective Bargain and other corrupt practices, they, the serving soldiers, are indeed very happy. Lucky is our Country to get such men to guard it from the enemy. They are brainwashed to believe that to form associations for collective bargaining is sacrilegious. If IAS and IPS can form associations, I wonder how associations in Armed Forces may become a threat to the security of the nation. Every soldier while joining the service voluntarily foregoes a few and important fundamental rights. No soldier with his sense of utmost loyalty will dream of ever going on strike, if at all that is the fear harbored by the government. Even if that fear lingers, all one has to do is to withdraw the right to strike for the soldiers and gracefully permit them the forum for discussing their woes and the possible remedies.

 

The Shift in the Mindset – The need of the Hour

This is the gloomy scenario in which we the veterans are intending to raise our voice. This is the paradigm in which we hope that better sense can prevail in the Government. This is the paradigm in which we are hoping that the media and the public to extend a helping hand of support to the services. Isn’t it obvious that we are barking the wrong tree? Is it possible for us to achieve any of these without a distinct shift in the mindset of the government and correct perception of the bond between the Sovereignty of the nation and Services?

There is consensus among all of us that it is time we the veterans take matters in our hand to put some sense in the heads of the ministers and the bureaucrats. But the answer to the question ‘how do we go about it’ varies based on the varied individual observations of what is going on around in our country.

· Shall we agitate in the manner of most of the political and non-government organizations, or

· Can we launch a political party of our own or

· Perhaps better that we consolidate our right to franchise into a distinct and influential vote bank

are a few of the thoughts that emerged quite emphatic. Unvoiced publicly and still made audible was a suggestion that we must form into an NGO for the Sovereignty of the Nation with members exclusively from the Services Veterans.

IESL, an organisation of good standing and great strength, has voiced its concern on the confrontational approach and recommended to stick to the ‘lakshman rekha’ of decorum of the Armed Forces for maintaining our dignity at all cost. The route they suggest is to prevail upon the patrons of the League to view the seriousness of the issues from the correct perspective. IESL believes that we will achieve substantial results by adopting representation through proper channel.

I am sure that you are saying now ‘Enough! We know it all, say something on what is needed to be done’.  I am not, by any stretch of imagination, capable of moving a single person let alone the mass, as whole, the way Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela did. Without sounding arrogant let me put it in all humility, I do not see any one among us as yet, who is so capable. What I want to convey is that whatever we ought to do must have the unfailing support of the maximum, if not the whole, of veterans and the serving soldiers as well.  And that support emerges only when the approach chosen is in deliberation with all of them. Each one of us has the right to propose an approach and argue with facts and figures in favor of that approach. But, ultimately the majority – the majority in real sense and not by a thin margin – has to accept the approach. Thus it is the strength behind a movement and soundness of the approach that shall ensure the desired result.

 

The Suggestion

I repeat what I have been harping on. We have to consolidate ourselves. United we represent. There are many associations all over our country. A few, some remark, are with double digit membership. If these associations are functioning for some noble purpose they have in view, let us compliment them and wish them well. We shall appeal to each one of them to unite for a common cause that has to be addressed by the government at the apex level. We convince them that we are not in any way likely to interfere with their independence or their pursuit. We shall be facilitators to represent to the highest level of the government on behalf of the whole lot of us the Services, is what we shall pledge to them. Let us remind to ourselves that it is not our dexterity – I mean the dexterity of the few of us who lead the representation – which will finally win over the authority. It is the strength of the people who stand in support of us and stand united as a force to reckon with. It all boils down to the following steps.

· Form a study team comprising members from each of the major leagues and associations,

o with the task to study the possibility and methodology of amalgamating under one banner and.

o If not possible, to evaluate creation of a Confederation of All Associations and Leagues solely for the purpose of taking up representation of common issues.

· Conduct a seminar to analyze our common problems and find ways and means to solve those problems.

· Finally get set and march on to the target.

 

The Conclusion

I, for one, am engaged in consolidating the various associations and leagues in the state of Tamilnadu, under the banner of IESL. I intend to interact with the Apex Body of the august IESL in understanding its role and functions and to insist on more transparency in its functions. I am convinced that if all of us become members of IESL and actively participate in their venture which is the common good of the veterans, we will achieve what we are aiming at. I have no doubt that IESL will have no hesitation to march under the banner of the Confederation if formed, and with due representation of all major associations and leagues at the Apex level of the Confederation.

SOVESERV - Part 9 - Where Do We Go? - Sec 2

20100727(1) – to milvet and others

SOVEREIGNTY & SERVICES

by

Major General (Emeritus) RN Radhakrishnan

Part -9

Where Do We Go?

Section 2

Government Supports APIP

Intrinsic Meaning being used to beat ESM Down

With ref to the news item in The Hindustan Times of 27-07-2010 of Chandigarh (reproduced in Appendix A), let us get our views clear.

· What was the direction of AFT, to the Government?

· Was the demand of ESM ‘OROP’, with its intrinsic meaning as given in the news item ‘equal pension for a particular rank, irrespective of the date of retirement’?

If this was what the ESM demanded by going to the AFT, obviously it would not be upheld in the higher Court and it is a setback to us.

It is unfortunate that we still keep using the acronym ‘OROP’, then try and define it differently from the intrinsic meaning, thus confusing everyone. The definition of IESM is not different to what I defined in my papers on APIP. But this definition of ours is known only among a few of net-savvy veterans. The Government uses its political strength and the media to propagate the idea that ESM is harping on OROP that prevailed prior to third pay commission and to convey to all that even courts have not agreed to OROP. The news item highlights the Law Ministry’s understanding by the quote from the CS Committee report Para 2.12, “if all of them have to be treated alike providing same pension, while ignoring their respective variations in length of service and average pay, that may amount to treating un-equals as equals. This may entail discrimination, offending the principle of equality before law as enshrined in the Constitution”. This is the stand that was taken by the Committee of Secretary headed by the Cabinet Secretary in the report dated 30 Jun, 2009.

It is obvious that our demand that two pensioners holding the same emeritus rank having put in the same number of years of service are to be treated as equals. But, the Law Ministry cleverly introduced another clause that the average pay also must be same. Now, with each pay commission the pay is revised and the average pay for the ones who retired prior to the date of implementation is different from those who retire after the date of implementation, irrespective of holding the same rank and same length of service. Thus they are un-equals, is what seems to be the stand of the Government.

Ensuring the same average pay

To beat them in their own game, I had proposed as given below, in my Analysis of the Cabinet Secretary’s report, which was forwarded to the RM vide my DOL RNRK/ESW/19/20090831(1) dated 2009-08-31 and a copy handed over to the RRM on 16 Sep 2009.

“Let the pay of all pensioners of the Armed Forces be notionally fixed at the rate given to similar officers of the same rank and same length of service after the revision of pay scales with effect from 1.1.2006, and, thereafter, their pension benefits be computed on such basis as applicable to those retiring after the date of implementation with prospective effect from the same date of implementation.

Permit the pensioners to draw an annual increment at the rate applicable to the serving personnel, such that the disparity, if any, that arises due to such increment to the serving personnel can be set right”.

Had this been pursued and achieved, you would see that the average emoluments also shall be the same for any two officers holding the same rank and same length of service irrespective of the date of retirement. Thus we achieve equal pension for equal rank and equal service, in other words Absolute Parity in Pension.

Double Standard of the Government

Granting APIP The Government is skilled in being cunning to adopt double standard by adopting modified parity. The Government has awarded the same pension to all of a particular rank with no regard to either the number of years of service or the average pay they drew at the time of their respective date of retirement, by adopting some arbitrary formula and arbitrary notional pay. In other words OROP has been applied to all pensioners prior to the date of implementation of 6CPCR, in contradiction to the Apex Court ruling and the Law Ministry’s interpretation. Thus we find that modified parity is nothing but OROP for the pre 2006 pensioners. Does this not amount to discrimination, offending the principle of equality before law as enshrined in the Constitution? Diabolically clever, indeed!

Denying APIP The Government has denied APIP by ensuring that the pre 2006 pensioners’ pay is not fixed the same manner in which the serving personnel’s pay is fixed in the revised scale, thus ensuring that the average pay for the two sets of pensioners separated by the date of implementation of CPCR even if they are holding the same rank and same length of service, is not the same. They are un-equal with respect to the average pay, hence not entitled to equal pension. Boy oh Boy, how naive we are and how clever the bureaucrats are!

Let us be equally smart

Now it is our turn to use the Government’s proclaimed to stand to pin them down and get what we rightfully want.

Last Day of Ramana Maharishi

 Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi gave the first indication of dropping His body during the end of 1948 and early 1949, when He kept rubbing His left elbow. On closer examination it was found that a growth, the size of a peanut first showed itself. That peanut size boil began to grow in size and pain had commenced. Ramana Maharishi without consulting any doctors from outside the ashram asked those in charge of His health to remove the growth. The simple operation was performed in the bathroom just before breakfast. Realising that the sight of the bandage would get His devotees worried Ramana Maharishi draped a towel on His left hand which covered the elbow and when inquired as to what He had on His arm or why was He draping His hand with a towel, He jokingly replied that it was a bracelet or a Lingam had decided to erupt from His arm.

 

In a few months time that growth had been detected as a tumour. It was removed and miraculously the wound healed in a week and everybody heaved a sigh of relief. Ramana Maharishi all through seemed to be oblivious of the tumour or its pain. A month later, the tumour returned on the same part and was removed and after tests were done it was detected to be malignant. The tests showed that the tumour was a sarcoma, which is a kind of malignant cancer. Radium treatment had to be commenced as the wound refused to heal till a point came when the doctors insisted that the arm should be amputated. Raman Maharishi refused saying that the body itself is a disease and it should have a natural end. Why try to mutilate it? He insisted that the affected part should be covered by a simple dressing. All through the process and the operations, Raman Maharishi showed complete disregard to the tumour and the pain.

 

Some of the doctors suggested that the healing rays of the Sun would help heal the wound, so every day Ramana Maharishi would sit behind the cow shed, with the bandage removed, the wound cleaned and the arm exposed to sun rays. He continued to joke about the wound, calling it a precious ruby that glowed when the sun rays touched it, and was an ornament to His arm.

 

But the cancer cells began to spread through His blood stream and another operation was performed and in matter of no time the wound reappeared more fierce in its malignancy. In fact after His third operation within hours Ramana Maharishi gave darshan to the multitude of devotees longing to just have a sight of Him, much to the helplessness of the medical team. The next day once the doctors had left, Ramana Maharishi returned to the darshan Hall, to meet His devotees, saying that it was not right of Him to disturb other patients who would get inconvenienced by the devotees who wanted His darshan.

In December 1949, another operation was performed where it was realized that surgery in fact aggravated the cancer rather than heal the body.

Thus other forms of treatment commenced. Homeopathy, ayurveda and other alternative medications. Returning from His daily walk, one evening, shivering with fever, barely able to walk, Ramana Maharishi sat on His couch devoid of any strength much to the grief of all those present. When inquired about His body Ramana Maharishi said, ‘ what about the body? What if the body is shivering? What all want is that there should be life in the body? Is there not life in this body? Aren’t you all satisfied that life still remains in this body? This is the Natrajana dance going on. Every day the dance is not visible today it is giving the Tandava Darshan. Don’t be worried about this.’

 

Then one morning, Ramana Maharishi while entering the bathroom, trying to cross the threshold, stumbled and fell down. Refusing all help from the devotees He stood up. His clothes were covered in blood and though He had suffered a fracture, the news of His fall was not allowed to be made public. The fall and the ensuing injury was painful but Ramana Maharishi gave darshan from early morning to the countless devotees who wanted a glimpse of Him. Nobody was aware of the fall nor could anybody see Him in any discomfort.

 

Slowly Ramana Maharishi found it difficult to climb steps and as His daily routine required Him to climb the steps from the eastern entrance many suggested that He should use the northern part of the Hall. He refused, saying that the northern part of the Hall was meant for women devotees and He did not want to cause any bother to His women followers. Whenever He was not giving Darshan, He began to remain in a very small room which was on the eastern side of the Hall. Eventually this room came to be known as the Nirvana Room as Ramana Maharishi left His body from this room.

 

By early April 1950 it became clear to all that Ramana Maharishi would not be long in His body but He continued to give Darshan to all, even though now He could barely sit. Everybody realized that their beloved Master would not be long with them in the physical body. Though He was physically dying, His body began to glow with a radiance visible to all. Every time a devotee broke down seeing the pain and discomfort He was in He would tenderly tell them, ‘ they say I am dying, but I am not going anyway. Where can I go? I am here.’

 

Many of His intimate followers have described Ramana Maharishi’s last days in the physical body. According to S.S.Cohen, on the 10th of April the devotees that thronged to get a glimpse of their Master was immense. He has noted down that, “this darshan is no doubt a very great strain on the Maharshi, who, in his infinite compassion, keeps his face constantly turned towards the devotees the whole time the darshan lasts. His couch has east-west position and the door through which he looks at the devotees’ faces south, so that for one full hour he keeps his head turned in that direction and strains his neck. In his present state of health the strain on him must be great; yet he refuses to stop the darshan, or even reduce it to once a day. His nourishment consisted today of a little fruit juice, tomato juice and some coconut water with glucose.”

 

On the 12th of April, S.S.Cohen wrote down that, “today he is stretched full length on the sofa, with hollow eyes, sunken cheeks, pale, waxy skin and drained of vitality. Three attendants are massaging hard his legs. The upper half of the body is exceedingly sensitive and cannot be touched without causing him severe pain. During the half-hour running darshan at 9 a.m. he could only at times turn his face to the devotees, but mostly he is listless. Doctors stopped testing and examining him and strictly forbade all access to his room.”

 

Narayana Iyer in a letter to Professor Subbaramayya described Ramana Maharishi’s last days. ‘Bhagavan’s condition was considered very critical. No liquid food even. No motions, no urine. Pulse very, very feeble. Blood-pressure very low. Heart weak. Temperature 96.8° and frequent hiccoughs ... Bhagavan asked in the evening if there was the queue in the morning. Sarvadhikari replied that it was suspended for sometime. Bhagavan said that He would suspend taking even a drop of water till all that came had their darshan. So there was the queue last evening’.

 

On 13th April when a doctor had wanted to give Ramana Maharishi some medicine to relieve the congestion in the Master’s lungs, the Master refused saying that within two days everything would be all right.

Hours later Ramana Maharishi asked all to leave as He wanted to be alone. Only His attendant Rangaswami was present with the Master. In the morning Ramana Maharishi told Rangaswami, in English, ‘ thanks’. The attendant understood no English and Ramana Maharishi smiled and told him, ‘the English have a word thanks, but we only say santosham (I am pleased)’.

 

All through the morning and afternoon, devotees passed by His open door to get a glimpse of their beloved Master. His body had become very weak and He had lost immense weight. His ribs were heart achingly visible and His skin had darkened. Most of the devotees would begin to cry seeing His weakened body and His clear suffering.

 

Many people are under some misconception that Masters feel no pain. Pain is real. Christ felt it on the Cross and even asked God as to why had He forsaken Christ? Similarly Ramana Maharishi felt the pain. Many of His intimate devotees had mentioned that Ramana Maharishi suffered terribly when alone, especially at night, when He thought that nobody could witness His pain, He would on His couch, moan out in pain. He would tell often that pain was natural. I guess when the body is cut with a knife, the body will bleed, whether it is the body of a Saint or a sinner, the body would bleed, how one reacted to the cut, the bleeding, and whether one identified with the pain made all the difference.

 

But with all the pain and discomfort, Ramana till the very end of His physical journey made certain that His devotees always got a glimpse of Him and He got a glimpse of them. His love and concern for His animals and birds also remained till the very end. Hours before He dropped His body He heard His beloved peacocks screeching and He immediately asked His attendants if His peacocks had been fed properly. The peacocks walked continuously around His room, and His cows, dogs and monkeys all showed their restlessness for their Master’s wellbeing. There was a white peacock that stood on the Nirvana room’s roof screeching nonstop.

 

All through devotees would complain to Ramana Maharishi that He was abandoning them. His reply to them was, ‘you attach too much importance to the body….the Guru is not in the physical form, thus contact with the Guru will remain even after His physical form vanishes…You are and always were one with Me. You are Me’. To a few He would say, ‘ forget being my devotee…forget pleading and weeping and finding a new excuse or avenue for suffering….there is nothing you can give me, nothing……just sit still and enjoy My love, My devotion to you….enjoy how I love you and do nothing else…’

 

But on the 14th evening everybody realized that in all probability the Master would leave the body at any moment. The Master’s body was supported by large pillows and He sat upright with His head tilted backward and His mouth open. He found it impossible to breathe and He was given oxygen for a few minutes but it brought Him no relief and He indicated that He wanted the equipment detached from Himself.

O.P. Ramaswami Reddiyar, the retired Chief Minister, was with the Master during the last moments. He says, ‘seeing the difficulty that Bhagavan was experiencing, I drew a screen across and didn't allow any more darshan. O. P. Ramaswani Reddiyar came, and I told him that he could come in, but he declined’, unable to see the Master suffer so much.

 

Ramana Maharishi then asked to be seated upright. From outside, His lovers began to sing, ‘ Arunachala Shiva’….Lord Shiva of Arunachala Mountain and when the Master heard the song, He opened His eyes wide. They were radiant and He smiled for a few seconds and then tears rolled down His divine eyes. Then He sat in the Padmasana pose and it was in the Padmasana pose that He exhaled one final time and then became very still. The time was 8.47 p.m and the devotees fanning Him stopped and as soon as the devotees outside saw the fans no longer moving fanning Their Master, they knew He had left His body and with broken hearts they began to cry for their beloved Master.

 

It has been noted in various journals and papers that exact 8.47 p.m. a shooting star or some say a meteor moved slowly across the sky, above Arunachala Mountain and then disappeared behind its peak.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, the famous French photographer who had been staying at the Ashram, says thus, “I was in the open space in front of my house, when my friends drew my attention to the sky, where I saw a vividly-luminous shooting star with a luminous tail, unlike any shooting star I had before seen, coming from the South, moving slowly across the sky and, reaching the top of Arunachala, disappeared behind it. Because of its singularity we all guessed its import and immediately looked at our watches – it was 8.47 – and then raced to the Ashram only to find that our premonition had been only too sadly true: the Master had passed into mahanirvana at that very minute.”

 

Lord Shiva of Tiruvannamalai, Lord Shiva of Arunachala, had left His physical body, to remain in the hearts of His lovers for ever and ever more.

Be blessed always.

JAI BABA

 

Ruzbeh N Bharucha is the author of Devi’s Emerald, The Last Marathon, The Aum of All Things, The Fakir Trilogy and The Ramblings of The 110th, RABDA My Sai…My Sigh, ANANDA - Musings of the Fakir, The Perfect Ones, Conversations with DADA VASWANI, The Musk Syndrome, ICE with very unusual SPIRITS , Dancing with Swans and SAI BABA;The Messiah Of Oneness.

Website : http://www.ruzbehbharucha.net

 

SOVESERV - Part 9 - Where Do We Go? Section 1

SOVEREIGNTY & SERVICES

by

Major General (Emeritus) RN Radhakrishnan

Part -9

Where Do We Go?

Section 1

Way back in 1964, IESL was established. It is unfortunate that neither the Serving AF Personnel (AFSP) nor the retired personnel (AFV) have been able take full advantage of the opportunity that has been available since then. On the contrary there has been a steady and rapid down gradation in all aspects, namely pay, perks, privileges and prestige. A number of small associations sprung up doing their bit to alleviate local problems to a satisfactory level. Credit goes to a few knowledgeable NCOs and JCOs. It is they who went about getting down to earth remedy to individual problems from the PDAs and the KBs.

With a quite a bit of fanfare IESM came up, made a distinct stir and got noticed. What has been the result? Can they claim the following?

• Setting right the anomaly in the pensions of the Major Generals and Lieutenant Generals
• Upgrading the pay band for Lieutenant Colonels
• Getting a special scale of pay for Lieutenant Generals
• Enhancement of the pension only for the pensioners (not the family pensioners)

Well! Anyone can claim, as almost everyone who could pen down a few coherent sentences had written to the various officials and the Ministers. What pressurized the Government is that they realized their goofing up in a very bad way and had to do some face saving and that is exactly what they did. They are shrewd. They know by these measures they can placate many and that is what counts.

Here we are trumped, not knowing what to do.

What are the issues?

I have already brought out the issues quite a few times and now I summarize, first the Short Term Measures falling under the definition as those that are to be implemented within three to six months’ period.

• First and foremost; restoring the family pension at the rate of 60% (if not more) of all the pensions drawn by the husband after the enhancement or after retirement from a second career.
• Payment of Correct Disability pension.
• Completion of payment of Revised pension and the arrears by the PDA
• Withdrawal of any appeal already made or intended to be made against the verdicts of HC and AFT, by the Government.
• Short payment in pay and pension due to deduction of rank pay while re-fixing pay consequent to 4th CPCR for all officers to the rank of brigadier.
• Completion of the issue of revised Pension Orders (RPO) by the PDAs and confirmation of the correctness of the RPO by the CDA/ RO concerned.
• Revision of the pension of all commissioned officers must be taken interpreting the Pension orders correctly. The interpretation of the phrase ‘minimum of the pay in the pay band’ means the minimum of the applicable pay scale carved out of the pay band and not ‘the minimum of the pay band’.

Now let us review the Long Term Measures falling under the definition as the solutions that are to be implemented as soon as possible but not later than one year.

• Bring about parity in pension based on the principle that any two armed force pensioners retired at the same rank and having put in the same length of qualifying service must be paid the same pension, for all the pensioners irrespective of the date of retirement.
• Implement the 6CPCR on lateral induction. The age restriction that exists now must apply only for combat role. There are a number of establishments under the MoD exclusively dealing with Services. All these organizations must legitimately be manned by Servicemen with relaxation on the age of retirement to match that of superannuation. There is no need to retire any service personnel before the age of superannuation.
• Create an Integrated Directorate of Rehabilitation and bring all the central and state controlled welfare organizations under it and man it with servicemen. This will ensure better functioning of those organizations and create more confidence in the AFV community. This directorate has to function only till such time the exercise of the lateral induction is not completed.
• Bring all the polyclinics under the ECHS within the ambit of the Defence Medical Corps.

Final Solution

The promulgation of an ordinance to confer the special status of privileged citizen of the Nation and preferred employee of the Government on all armed force personnel that is the legitimate right of a soldier and moral obligation of the Nation to him is the final and only solution for us to regain all that is lost. Can there be any other better manner for the Nation to honour the soldier, who willingly accepts laying down his life in the defence of the Sovereignty of his country as the service condition, without demanding any special privilege in compensation?

We will see in the next section, in a short while, the steps that need to be taken by us.

Note: ‘emeritus’ means ‘having retired but allowed to keep a title as an honour’ and is a better word to describe ESM status.