Separate pay commission is justified
By Pritam Bhullar

REPEATED entreaties of the top brass that in view of the distinct nature of work of the armed forces they should have a separate pay commission have not found favour with the government.

Before Partition, an Army officer had a higher starting salary as compared to civilian officers and this edge was maintained throughout the service. After the rank of Major, an officer was governed by the policy of "up or out" which meant that if an officer could not be promoted, he retired with a compensatory pension.

While a Major at the age of 45 years of service retired with a pension which was 75 per cent of his pay, a Lt Col retired at the age of 48 years or after a four-year tenure whichever was earlier with a pension which varied from 76.7 per cent to 88.9 per cent of his pay. Incidentally, no pension on the civil side was higher than 50 per cent of pay.

In 1949, the compensatory pension was done away with. Though in 1959, the Raghuramiah Committee had recommended that a comprehensive examination of the terms and conditions of the armed forces be carried out at a time convenient to the government, no government has found time to go into this important issue for 30 years.

This reminds one of what K.M. Panikkar has written in his book, "Problems of Indian Defence". He says: "It is necessary to emphasise that unless the officer cadres feel that their interests are safe in the hands of civil authority, the whole morale of the Army as an instrument of civil government may be undermined."

A jinxed MBT

In January 1996, our main battle rank (MBT), Arjun, was dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao. Was it a political stunt? Understandably it was, for the then Army Chief, General Shankar Roy Chowdhury, who was an armoured corps officer, had commented on Arjun at the time of its unveiling thus: "It still needs enhancing and fine tuning".

This "so called" indigenous project which has about 40 per cent imported components, including its engine, was planned in 1974 at a cost of Rs 15.50 crore, but we have already spent Rs 400 crore on it. Though during the trials, Arjun has not come up to the expectations of the Army, permission for its limited series production was granted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in August 1996. This proves beyond doubt that in pursuing the Arjun project, we have been doggedly reinforcing our failure.

Is Arjun our MBT for the next millennium? If so, then why is the government finalising a Rs 5,000 crore deal with Russia to procure 300 T-90 tanks?

Ironically, the MoD has suddenly switched its choice from T-72s, which is a highly improved version of T-72 tank, to T-90 tank. T-90, no doubt is a much lighter and a better tank, but its cost is three times that of T-72s.

Admittedly, if we had not wasted all these years on the jinxedArjun project and had focused on the modernisation of our frontline T-72 indigenous tank, it would have served us well at a much lower cost.

Neglected war widows

The sad plight of war widows reminds one of what is written at the war cemetery in Kohima: "When you go home, tell them of us and say that for your tomorrow we gave our today."

Little did those brave soldiers know that by sacrificing their lives for the country, the widows and orphans that they were leaving behind would become the victims of neglect at the hands of the politicians and bureaucrats.

The Punjab Government had undertaken to allot 10 acres of land to the widows/orphaned children of soldiers or parents of unmarried soldiers, who were killed in the wars against Pakistan and China. The provisions of this letter for the submission of applications were extended up to September 15, 1974.

Of the 800 such cases, 229 widows were not allotted land and their cases came to light only in 1987. Most of them being uneducated did not know about this provision. After this point was repeatedly discussed in the Rajya Sainik Board meetings, the Director Sainik Welfare Punjab submitted a district-wise list of these widows to the Secretary, Department of Defence Services Welfare, Punjab in May 1996. Hapless widows are still waiting to get the promised land. It is time Parkash Singh Badal stepped into help these widows to get either land or the cost of land at the prevailing rates.

There is another case of 23 widows who are fighting court cases because the possession of the land allotted to them has not been given to them so far. They too deserve all help.

The kisan-jawan nexus

Those soldiers who fought in the 1965 and 1971 wars from the soil of Punjab, are aware of the love and affection that flowed freely from the civil population towards the Army.

In the 1965 war, when the Army started moving in strength into Punjab, the soldiers were not only greeted with a smile by the people but also with traditional hospitality. And when the troops moved into their assigned locations on the border, a regular supply of milk, lassi, saag and makki ki roti began coming to them. Not only that, it became a problem for the Army units to dissuade the villagers from coming with them when they started moving into the Lahore sector.

Unfortunately, Operation Bluestar in 1984 turned the people, especially the rural population against the Army. What further antagonised them was Operation Woodrose. This relationship continued until October 1988, when Punjab witnessed the worst floods of its history. From then started improvement in the relationship once again.

What came as a goodwill gesture to the villagers in 1988 was the adoption of those villages by the Army which were badly affected by the floods. Besides giving all help to reconstruct the damaged houses, rations and medical aid were liberally provided by the Army to the villagers.

Since then this adoption has become a norm to help the villagers in the construction of anti-flood bunds, construction and improvement of roads and tracks, holding of medical and veterinary camps, development and construction of schools, health centres, playing fields, etc. This measure has gone a long way in fostering a nexus between the jawan and the kisan.