Thursday, May 01, 2008

MSP to be doubled to Rs 2000 for jawans

Jawans set to get a hike beyond Pay panel advice

In the face of mounting pressure from the Armed Forces, the Defence Ministry has asked the Committee of Secretaries looking into the Pay Commission recommendations to double the Military Service Pay (MSP) for soldiers from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000. The MSP will be merged with basic salary and form the basis on which other allowances will be calculated.


With Defence Minister A K Antony putting his weight behind the move, sources said, the suggestion is likely to be accepted as informal consultations have already happened among relevant officials. The issue will be elaborately discussed and firmed up when the three service chiefs meet Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, who heads the CoS, over lunch on May 5.

While the Armed Forces were keen to treble the amount for certain categories among personnel below officer rank (PBOR), sources said, the hike in MSP along with other allowances will make up for a “healthy” salary. Moreover, the CoS will submit the report to the Cabinet which can consider further review in case finances permit.

The pay panel, it may be recalled, had suggested MSP of Rs 1000 for PBORs — there are 13 lakh PBORs — and Rs 6000 for officers up to the rank of Brigadier. Sources said there will be no revision in the MSP recommendation for officers even though the Armed Forces are keen on extending MSP to officers beyond the rank of Brigadier.

However, some of the other demands related to pay parity among senior officers and their counterparts in the civil is likely to get a favourable view. The pay panel recommendations have caused a strong protest from within and among the Armed Forces. Former Army Chief Gen N C Vij, who now heads the National Disaster Management Authority, even wrote to the Prime Minister expressing anguish and making demands for revising the suggestions.

(Appeared in the Indian Express on 01/05/08)

22 comments:

  1. but is the govt addressing the real issue of shortage of officers..?

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  2. Anonymous8:47 AM

    how everything the senior officers will take for themselves leaving the lower echlons into lurch

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  3. Anonymous3:54 PM

    yippee!

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  4. Anonymous10:37 PM

    Dear all,

    Army is the oldest profession after prostitution.........so come what may it will take another 2000 yrs for this profession to outlive its utility.

    My sincere advise is that the Govt should go for conscription and ensure that these almighty's gift to India viz IAS guys should be made to serve on LOC for minimun 2 yrs before they start fattening their backsides and their purses in South Block !

    Gentlemen lets face the fact-Army is a helpless cow which can only be milked and butchered later on.It does not have a voice in Parliament.Unlike its civilian counterparts it cannot protest cos it can't form unions.

    The Govt will keep making a fool out of these poor Army guys who get fooled by lofty IMA ideals like -"Safety and welfare........"

    Dear Army guys your country does' nt require you till such Kargil takes place.Pls go to dungeons for all it cares

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  5. Anonymous10:43 PM

    I am told that military officers still enjoys BATMAN or slaves (to be truthful) on commission. What a medieval custom and waste of human dignity & resource.

    Army guys! it is time you change yourself.....

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  6. Anonymous2:23 PM

    It is true that batman culture still prevails in not only armed forces but also equally prevaling in para military forces ,police and in a modified form in railways. Whatever reason may be assigned to its existance by armymen, It is true that it canot be justified in this modren age .When you have asked for military service pay to be doubled for jawans , how do you justify paying military service pay to a jawan doing a domestic job in officers house.Keeping a batman is in fact insult to the dignity of a soldier.I am told it is prevailing in services like army bsf etc where soldiers are less educated.On the contrary in the Air force and navy this culture does not prevail

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  7. Anonymous9:21 PM

    batman culture is only the extention of GORA raj when they treated KALU indian jawans as their humble sevants.Ironically , army officers wife is still called MEM SAHIB.Bat man culture is indeed a national shame besides being a drain on our economy.To some estimate there would be a i lac string army of batman doing menial jobs in officers houses.Imagine if they are put on patrol duties what difference it can make.

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  8. Anonymous12:49 PM

    Dear Friends,

    This is a true story, adapted from Colonel Rajan's public lament,

    a tale typical of every officer and jawan. S.S. Rajan, the son of

    an army officer, joined the army with an engineering degree

    and was commissioned in the corps of engineers in June 1963,

    with his pay at Rs 460 per month. He served in NEFA and later

    fought in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. In that war, his vehicle

    was blown up, maiming and killing his comrades, but he

    was lucky to escape with major injuries. He was recommended

    for the Vishisht Sewa Medal on four occasions.



    After over 19 years of service, he was promoted to the rank

    of lieutenant colonel, whereas IAS and IPS officers

    automatically become joint secretaries and equivalent on

    completion of 18 years of service or less. Rajan was promoted

    to colonel in August 1985 and retired after over 33 years of

    meritorious service, when he had a daughter aged 15 and a

    son aged 8 to take care of. He received a pension of Rs 9125

    per month and got a lump sum of about Rs 10 lakh for

    commutation of pension, gratuity, provident fund, army

    group insurance and leave encashment — not enough to

    buy even a small two-bedroom flat in Bangalore. To add

    insult to injury, his pay was fixed at the "starting pay" for a

    colonel plus one increment, whereas it should have been fixed

    at the maximum pay eligible for a colonel.



    Rajan's contemporary, R. Swaminathan, joined the Armed Forces

    Head Quarters (AFHQ) Cadre as a lower division clerk. Being

    in the AFHQ Cadre, he was posted in Delhi throughout his

    career. He worked hard and steadily rose up the ladder, with

    promotions at regular intervals and finally retired as

    Deputy DG (Personnel) in June 2003. His children studied in

    one school throughout. Before his retirement, his son graduated

    as an engineer from IIT, Delhi and his daughter graduated as

    a doctor from AIIMS, Delhi. Not being subjected to transfers he

    could afford to save more.



    On retirement, Swaminathan was granted pension on par with

    a senior deputy secretary (IAS) and got Rs 45 lakh in cash, by

    way of gratuity, provident fund, leave encashment and

    commutation. This is not an isolated instance. It happens to

    all military personnel. The telling effect of this true story

    on the morale of soldiers and their children is obvious.

    Rumblings have increased and should be heard by

    the discerning, before a catastrophe occurs.

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  9. Anonymous1:21 PM

    Dear civilian friends,

    Let me put you all in correct perspective about Army life.

    An army cadet in IMA gets a Gypsy,Airconditioned rooms,Room service,he gets up at 11 am and spends 1 hour everyday to figure out as to what he should do with his "spare" time..

    After having an out of the world experience at IMA all the newly commissioned Officers are posted to delhi (Only jawans and IAS officers are posted to Jammu & Kashmir) where again a gypsy and an airconditioned house plus 5 servants and 4 cooks await them at Chanakyapuri.They are posted there for next 40 years ...and yes to be honest they do have a tough time when they are sometimes sent to J&K.But they never go beyond Jammu railway station because Senior IAS Officers brief them about the latest situation at the LOC at the station itself after which Army officers with great enthusiam return to their palatial bunglaows in Chankyapuri to play cards etc.

    Pls ask MOD to withdraw these God sent batmen and pay Army 4.5 times its salary as demanded in 6 th pay commission.

    Also withdraw 7 star luxurious facilities like sprawling bunglaows in Chanakyapuri(from whichever Indian Army Colonel is getting that),5 batmen per Offrs,4 cooks par etc... etc... etc.

    Shame on you Army Officers for having such a good time in a palce like India.Pls leave Army and find some uncomfortable job in private sector.Civilians are capable enough to handle national security.

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  10. Anonymous2:16 PM

    It is TIME TO TAKE OVER...FOR THE ONLY WAY NOW IS TO BITE!! LET THE TANKS ROLL ON JANPATH!!!LET US TAKE WHAT IS DUE TO US BY FORCE!!!WAKE UP PROUD DEFENDERS OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY!!... FILLED WITH UNGRATEFUL CIVILIANS AND LETS TEACH A LESSON...LETS SET THINGS RIGHT ONCE AND FOR ALL....

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  11. Anonymous8:08 PM

    It's shameful that private companies or PSUs who earn from Defence spendings ,get huge profits made out of defence budget,which they make sure to increase every year(This Financial year it's more than One Lakh Crore).Their employees enjoy better pay ,perks and BONUS every year which is made out of Defence budget, that too sitting and living at cushy places.However , poor Jawans and officers who don't know this game suffer year after year.Hence ,Defence/Govt spending should be linked to some kind of Bonus or incentive to be provided to it's staff, like private company/PSUs employees enjoy incentives in the form of ESOPs or commissions We should not forget the amount spent by the Govt or policies made by it and implemented by it's staff only provides tool to private/PSU companies to make profit.As Govt is a spending force and private companies grab that money by winning contracts and in turn making profit, spending of govt should be linked to some sort of incentive to it's staff as done by PSU/private players ,who give bonus out of profit.

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  12. Anonymous10:59 PM

    All central govt employee seem to be unhappy with the recomendations of 6th CPC.Army should not feel isolated in this regard.Though this CPC gave some benifit to army in the form of MSP albeit with relatively lesser grade pay vis -a-vis the civilian.This is due to non inclusion of rank pay of army personnel while calculating grade pay.Besides there is another area which needs a relook.CPC feels that earlier employee were getting more DA than actually admisible to them due to non revision of the base year at the time of merger of 50% DA in the basic in 2004.While calculating the fixation of new basic in the pay bands they have resplved this anomoly and mutiplied the old basic with factor of 1.74 and not 1.86.This has translated in the lesser gain in pay post revision.CPC at para 2.2.21(i) has explained the method of calculating fixation in new pay bands.The anguish of annonymous on civilan is uncalled for as they have been applied with the same wand and rather harder as there is no msp to put balm.Yes ,like in army the top two scales have stolen all the sheen .In civil scales the story is same.Remember civil is not IAS alone .IAS is a very small fraction.There are doctors , educationists,scientists and all have one thing common .Barring top two apex scales remaining scales have been nicely axed.I THINK THE COMMON REMEDY TO ALL WOULD BE REVISED FIXATION OF BASIC FORMULA USING A FACTOR OF 1.86 AND NOT 1.73.any comments pl

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  13. Anonymous10:58 AM

    Dear Army guys,

    The only way out of the pay commission imbroglio is to TAKE OVER this country (as suggeted by one of the bloggers)

    If we can run J&K and undertake development activities under the aegis of Op Sadbhavana then we are qualified enough to stage a coup a la Gen Musharaf style and take over New Delhi.

    Lets take over and rule over these thankless civilians who even after the sacrifice of so many of us still want to know as to why Siachen allowance needs to be substantial.I challenge Justice Srikrishna to spend just a week with us at Siachen.

    Everybody is talking about our batman culture and the stupid CSD facility but none spares a thought about our kids life after we DIE.They are forced to run from pillar to post just because their Dad had chosen to serve the nation.

    Dear civilian friend DEATH is one major factor that diffrentiates our jobs.Almost 90 % of you will retire at 60 and would have fulfilled your basic social obligations by them whereas when I retire I 'll be totally at sea.

    Wake up and see what's happening on ground.People are quitting Army.There is a shortage of Army Officers at IMA /NDA and everywhere.Justice Srikrishna was expected to provide respite wheras he has just licked the backside of this Govt.

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  14. Anonymous11:01 AM

    cut the crap..... and give army 4.5 times its salary as demanded by them in 6 th pay commission.

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  15. Anonymous4:50 PM

    There are few good things about pay commission.New transport allowance,running pay bands are few among them.Only area of concern is lower fixation by the CPC in each band .The formula used is 1.74 times the old basic rounded to nearest 10.this results into old basic X 2.1 - grade pay.The formula should be old basic X 2.5 - grade pay.Besides the grade pay of various ranks vis-a-vis civil be adressed.Lt Col and S25 of civil are same as pay scale in 5th CPC.But this CPC has given grade pay to Lt Col only 6600 whereas for S25 scale it is 8300.Only the top 3 three scales have been looked after across the board.Besides MSP should be 10000 for officers and 5000 for jawans

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  16. Anonymous9:31 PM

    MSP should be 50,000 Rs per month for everyone.

    In india the public has a very short memory.Kargil over...hence the Army can go to hell...etc etc

    To ensure that an Army Guy's kids dont go to hell after his death then its better that we pay them a good salary.They are the ones who give their today for our tomorrow.I think we all owe them this much

    Any comments ?

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  17. Anonymous8:42 AM

    well till the time we dont become slaves again no body will care about fauj.after some time we will have to use petty theives an criminals to fill up vacancies in armed forces....as america is ding in iraq...till then all fauji's keep mum...after all u joined the services voluntarily...no body forced u....and wat is this BATMAN shit...they are called sahayaks...and yes they do officers work...well if u can provide a maid/domestic help at LOC or the border areas.... they should be taken off..and these sahyaks are from adifferent trade ...they are not the regular soldiers.....in battle also they will fill sand bags...take ammo ...and provide foof ...and yes if need be fight and give up their lives ...for which thisnation doesnot care....all great nations come crumbling down...neglect of its armed forces will be indias down fall ....cause we are surrounded by enemies on all sides...they are not in ur houses cause of he armed forces are protecting u..... u pay them peanuts...u'll get monkeys to protect u.... it will happen very soon in future...cheers

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  18. Anonymous6:28 PM

    Here all are discussing only about the Defence personnel whereas they have not thinked about the Armed Force personnel ie Central Police Organisation pesonnel who are sacrificing their lives by performing duties in hard and senstive areas. The Defence Minister is in favour of the Defence personnel only. Like the Home minister should also give his comments/suggestions to hike the salary of CPO personnel. Before implementation of the VIth pay commission the market prices have reached the peak which could not be controlled the government. Darastic action should be take by the Govt. to control the price hike in normal commodaties as well as monopolly of the House owners by raising the rents as per their wish. The Govt should also interfere in this matter and action to be taken. The committee should also keep in mind about the Central Police Organisation personnel while implementation of the pay commission.

    VASAN OFFICER CENTRAL POLICE ORGANISATION

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  19. For every 25 Jawans dying on the front only one officers die and not even one MNS Officers die then why the hell the difference in MSP that too 6 and 4.2 times of that an jawan.

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  20. Anonymous2:50 PM

    Dear Mr Sarvanan,
    It doesn't hurt to get your facts right before making such sweeping statements. The casualty ratio in Kargil was 1 officer for every 13 jawans. And even if it is 1 Officer for 25 Jawans now (from whichever source you got it), it still speaks volumes because the forces just don't have an officer for every 25 men, not even for every 30 jawans as authorised. In fact the true figure would be 1 Officer for nearly 60 Jawans. In addition, given the current trends of undersubscription in NDA, IMA and OTA, this ratio will only get worse.
    Regards.

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  21. Anonymous12:46 PM

    I strongly feel army should reject the pay commision as the pay commision has just looked after the IAS lobby only and a few senior officers that matter in the call to oppose pay commision.
    Yours truly,
    A friendly army officer

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  22. Anonymous1:12 AM

    It is being aired as a celibrity news that "MSP for Jawans are getting doubled". Why can't they say as "MSP raised from 1000 to 2000. What extra an officer is putting before the nation and the citizen, whereby he is becoming eligible elite to recieve an MSP of Rs. 6000/- comparing with a PBOR. You must see what a Technical /Admin Officer does in the elite ranks of Indian Air Force other than signing letters and signals. And when it comes into the case of a leave application of a PBOR, it sit comfortobly on his table for more than the total leave days for a signature.

    1000 of well trained Airmen are quitting every 6 months and 1000s of applications for premature discharge are pending in HQs.IAF is simply unable to stop the outflow of the Sergeants who complete 20 yrs bond as they cannt be shown a ray of hope by the authority to keep them remain in IAF.

    These facts are nowhere mentioned. No media is covering this. When it come to Forces, its just officers, the problems of officers, the shortage of officers. Then protect this democracy with a Force consisting of only officers. When the GORA SAHIBS are gone, the lot were simply replaced by a less coloured lot. Thats was the only change occurred on Armed Forces of India Post independence. You may wonder, what IAF records when its officer get married. It scribes as "Married to a Virgin". And when its men get married, the organisation writes "Married to a Spinster". Is there a class difference between the female lot of India where an immense demand for 33% reservation for ladies going on.?????

    My friends, being a PBOR u will never get anything, let it be money, let it be welfare, let it be socil status, or the least...... a humanitarian consideration from ur Saahib.

    If I am wrong somewhere, pls comment upon.

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