“Despite recommending substantial pay hikes, the much awaited Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) Report has elicited strong reaction from some sections of the government. The strongest reaction has come from the Armed Forces, even though the Commission accepted their demand for a special Military Service Pay (MSP) and recommended their lateral absorption into the central paramilitary forces. Some have gone to the extent of recommending a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces.
The figures say it all: according to one report, only 172 cadets joined the National Defence Academy this year, against the stipulated strength of 300; and only 90 cadets joined the Indian Military Academy against a vacancy of 250 seats.
As the Indian Armed Forces have proved their professional mettle over six decades of India’s existence, it is essential to examine the recommendations of the pay commission and the grievances of the armed forces dispassionately.
Over the years, a perception has gained ground in the Armed Forces that their stature within the society has been eroded and their status has been lowered vis a vis their civilian counterparts by a number of subtle measures.
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These have mainly consisted of numerous cadre reviews, which have created new grades at higher levels. As a result, from 1947 when the police force in the state of Uttar Pradesh was headed by an Inspector General, today it has over two dozen Director Generals (DG) and scores of Additional Director Generals(ADG).
Similarly in the bureaucracy newer ranks were created at the top which included Principal Secretary, Special secretary and even Cabinet Secretary. There has been upgradation all along and Superintendents of Police (SP) became Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), the Secretaries became Principal Secretaries.
But the armed forces, to some extent due to their functional requirements, and to a greater extent due to their rigid mindset, failed to follow their civilian counterparts. Some half baked measures like upgrading the commanding officer of a battalion from a Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel were taken but as they were not backed up by faster promotions, they turned out to be counter productive.
The hierarchy conscious Armed Forces leadership simply failed to emulate their civilian counterparts, resulting in an overwhelming superiority of the bureaucracy especially the IAS.
According to a former Chief of the Naval Staff, the bureaucrats consider themselves superior to service officers by virtue of having passed a single examination, which most of the service officers never appeared for.
The Pay Commission did take some cognisance of the steep pyramidical structure of the armed forces, and to overcome the maladies of rather early supercession recommended an integrated pay scale for the armed forces, which is actually essential to prevent stagnation in the officer cadre. Strangely enough, the armed forces pay commission cells had never sought this.
The integrated pay scale demanded by the Armed Forces was granted to them exclusively by the Fourth Pay Commission, which took into account their peculiar service conditions. This ensured that an officer continued to get an increment even when he could not be promoted. Rank Pay was introduced to ensure that those promoted got a jump.
The Armed Forces had then asked for an integrated pay scale up to the rank of Major General, basically because in every other all India service promotion up to the rank of Joint Secretary is assured, while in the armed forces not even one per cent of officers reach that level. This, however, was not accepted, and an integrated pay scale up to the rank of Brigadier only was accorded. This met the aspirations of the armed forces only to some extent, as the feeling of stagnation was removed.
However, the all powerful IAS lobby was not satisfied by this arrangement as the seniority between officers of different cadre is decided on the basis of basic pay and with this scale of pay most of the defence officers managed to get somewhat respectable salaries at par with their civilian counterparts.
This arrangement was withdrawn, despite firm opposition by the three service chiefs, in the Fifth Pay Commission, where the IAS had managed to plant a member secretary.
The sixth pay commission has reverted to an integrated scale for the Armed Forces. But it introduced this for the other services as well, and has fixed this integrated scale way below that of the Joint Secretary. As a result a Brigadier with over 30 years service will draw less pay than a Joint Secretary with only 14 years of service.
To firmly establish the IAS superiority, the commission has recommended that the seniority of officers be decided by grade pay rather than the basic pay. The IAS stranglehold on the pay commissions has continued in the form of Member secretary in this pay commission as well. The distinct aim of the commission report seems to be to perpetuate IAS supremacy, which explains the murmurs of protest from all other services.
A serving police officer has described the report as the “Manusmriti of the civil services” which perpetuates this “bureaucratic caste system”. He further asserts that despite realising “the need for more open, less hierarchical, and merit-driven organizations”, the government apparently does not see the need to change “a system that substitutes the privileges of birth with the privileges of the UPSC exam. If you are born a Brahmin it is enough for a lifetime of privilege. As the 6th CPC sees it, the same logic applies to the IAS”.
At the lower end of the spectrum, the pay commission has equated a soldier to a semi-skilled worker and after accepting the hardships he undergoes has recommended a paltry MSP of Rs 1000/-. There can be no rationale for a differential MSP between the officers and the soldiers, as both face similar hardships.
Ideally all soldiers and all officers upto the rank of Major General should get Rs 6000/- as the MSP or if egalitarianism has been buried with Marx, an MSP of minimum Rs 3000/- must be given to the soldiers.
Similarly the Pay Commission makes a strong case for inducting defence personnel into the paramilitary forces. But the question is, why only PMF, and not other organs of state? Depending on their suitability the defence officers need to be inducted in all organs of state, including the Ministry of Defence. When officers from other All India services can man various ministries, why can’t defence officers and personnel do the same?
A time has come for the government to be more sympathetic, considering the peculiar circumstances of the defence services and the fact that they cannot go on strike in support of their demands. The soldiers’ grievances must be assuaged and the MSP for the soldiers must be raised. In case of officers the integrated pay band must include the entire scale of Joint Secretary as well, because not only do officers rise to that level in every other service, but also because the broad pay band for a Major General is useless as the defence officers will never serve in that rank for long enough period to enjoy the full benefits of that wide pay band.
It is a classic case of a civilian template being superimposed on an entirely different military structure. The stranglehold of the IAS on this Pay Commission has been so strong that the Director of a well known economic think tank called it a Pay Commission ‘of the IAS, by the IAS and for the IAS’.
Right or wrong, such perceptions are extremely dangerous and in future the government must ensure that the Pay Commission never includes a potential beneficiary either serving or retired.
Ideally the Pay Commission must comprise of judges, academics and HR professionals. Unfortunately the government has appointed a committee of Secretaries to go into the anomalies. How does it expect the IAS officers to undo the damage when all it does is to perpetuate their supremacy? A time has come for the ministers to start thinking independently of their secretaries.
The views expressed in the article are of the author’s and not of Sify.com.
