New Delhi, Sept 04: A day after Finance Ministry virtually rejected Armed Forces' pay demands, the three services chiefs Thursday noted that issues raised by them should
be addressed by the country's political leadership instead of the Anomalies Committee.
The three urged Defence Minister A K Antony the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) issues raised by them be addressed by the political leadership.
Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, in his capacity as
the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, also made a
forceful plea that the CPC notification be "kept in abeyance"
till the Central Cabinet considered the "core issues" and
issued a correction to the notification before it was
implemented.
"The CPC created disparities are not just pay
anomalies but core issues. Hence, these cannot be left to the
Anomalies Committee. But the Cabinet must consider them and
issue a corrigendum to the CPC notification," Mehta said, on
behalf of all the three services chiefs, in his latest letter
to Antony.
He said the issues such as "extant parities of pay" to
Lieutenant Colonels and equivalent officers vis-à-vis their
civilian and paramilitary counterparts was not just related to
the CPC, but could seriously jeopardise "operational" and
"functional" harmony of the defence forces whenever and
wherever they worked alongside the civilian and paramilitary
forces officers.
These issues, he said in the five-page letter, had
also "badly demoralised" the officers of the Armed Forces and
if the issues persisted, it could lead to "despondency" among
the defence cadre.
Mehta said the Armed Forces personnel have been and
would continue to work alongside civilian, paramilitary, DRDO,
MES, and central police forces in several areas, where the
disparities could come into play relating to operational
issues.
He said to avoid an unsavory situation in such
circumstances, the Cabinet should consider restoring the
inter-services "extant relativities" for officers in the rank
of Lt Colonels, who have been placed in Pay Band-3, whereas
their civilian counterparts have been placed in the higher Pay
Band-4.
Under the same issue, he noted that the Coast Guard
Commandants, who come from a junior service, would have an
advantage to the detriment of Navy's Commanders.
The letter also pointed out to the Grade Pay
disparities for the ranks of Captain to Colonels, whose
civilian counterparts would take home higher Grade Pay.
The Navy chief sought restoration of parity in the
Grade Pay too, as it existed under the 5th CPC, by equating
the Armed Forces officers' Grade Pay to that of the civilian
officers, who have been provided higher Grade Pay in 6th CPC.
On the creation of a new pay band of Higher
Administrative Grade (HAG) Plus, in which Director General
level officers of civil services and paramilitary have been
placed, Mehta sought that the Lt Generals and their
equivalents in Navy and Air Force too be placed under the HAG
Plus instead of their current HAG pay band.
Raising a new issue relating to Personnel Below
Officer Rank (PBORs), Mehta said their "extant pensionary
weightage" be restored till the time the proposal for lateral
entry for them into paramilitary and central police forces was
approved and implemented.
Bureau Report