Children of a Lesser God

By Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi

11 Feb , 2015

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No one will ever reach even bit of dedication of a SOLDIER ..!!

The Indian soldiers, on account of their faith in the officers who lead them, their innate goodness and the discipline that has been ingrained in them have a great capacity to accept and absorb wrongs but if these continue to happen on a sustained and regular basis, as is happening, then it would be foolish to expect them to keep accepting policies that are patently discriminatory! The aspirations of the military may continue to be ignored but at the risk of a revolt, or even a coup!

There are huge deficiencies of officers in the military, massive stagnation and extremely short tenures at senior levels of the armed forces…

Government employees are of two broad categories – civilian and military. The former comprise administrators, diplomats, police, customs, auditors, technocrats and so on. However, it is the generalist administrators that fall in the category of bureaucrats. In most countries, the spheres of the two categories are well-defined and both are considered important organs of all types of governments.

Most countries also ensure that military personnel have an edge over their civilian colleagues on account of their extremely difficult conditions of service such as ever-present danger to life and limb, retirement at young ages and 24×7 duty; all this because security is considered to be of the highest importance without which, no progress in other spheres is possible. This is manifested in better status, better emoluments and pride of place for the military.

This was the situation in India too in 1947. Thereafter, this has been turned on its head, as our political leaders have been absolutely blasé about the military. Since they had also abrogated their powers and responsibilities to the bureaucracy, it is the latter that has been ruling the roost and steadily downgrading the military in every facet.

We now have a new government, which most soldiers believe will bring back the old days. I am a big sceptic, as the bureaucracy has so entrenched itself that even a bold, pragmatic, highly aware and no-nonsense political leader like Prime Minister Modi is likely to find it tough to bring about change to the desirable extent.

Such disparities were and continue to be the surreptitious upping of the emoluments by the bureaucrats…

Being an innate optimist, like most soldiers, I had initially thought that the political leadership, being the legitimate authority for governance, would wake up to the misconceived actions of the bureaucrats and restrain them, but unfortunately they did not do so, possibly on account of the “mutual back-scratching syndrome” that prevailed for long in the corridors of power! Will the new government change this or are military personnel destined to remain as “Children of a Lesser God”?

While a host of issues can be highlighted, space would permit only a few. A phrase oft-stated in our ancient texts and even scriptures is “Veer Bhogya Vasundhara”, meaning ‘the brave shall enjoy the fruits of the earth’. While the Indian Military has exhibited bravery in battle and has also displayed professionalism and efficiency in situations where the civil authority has collapsed – in Kashmir, in the North Eastern states, in Uttarakhand and indeed, in any and all internal and external challenges; the fruits of the earth have escaped it and have been gathered by the bushel by our remarkable bureaucracy!

From 1947 till the late 1950s, the Indian Military was a highly respected institution. It was also paid slightly better than the civilian counterparts. Then the decline started, when the wily bureaucracy assiduously started filling the ears of the political leadership by casting doubts about the loyalty of the military and the need to suppress it.

Encouraged by the lack of any action by the political leadership, the downgrading of the military continued apace. In 1947, the District Collector (DC) and the Superintendent (SP) in a district were equivalent to a young major and a captain respectively. Today, these worthies equate themselves with Brigadiers and Generals, citing the much larger pay packet they have managed for themselves!! Then in 1972, the bureaucrats unilaterally decided that henceforth, the Chief Secretaries of states would be senior to army commanders in that state. Till a few years earlier, these worthies were equated to Major Generals! After the Fourth Pay Commission, the Cabinet Secretary was brought up to the same scale as the Service Chiefs, again unilaterally and in the Sixth Pay Commission, the Director General of Police started getting higher remuneration than Corps Commanders!

It is incumbent up on the nation to treat serving soldiers, veterans and their families with the respect they deserve…

As is well known, there are huge deficiencies of officers in the military to the tune of over 10,000,, massive stagnation and extremely short tenures at senior levels of the armed forces while the bureaucracy is flourishing. Statistics bear this out in ample measure. The number of ‘Secretary’ grade officers in the IAS has risen from 45 in 1947 to nearly 400 – for cadre strength of 5,000, while equivalent Army Commanders have gone up only from four to eight for cadre strength of 40,000! While every IAS official will retire in the HAG+ grade, only 0.25 per cent will make that grade in all the three Services!

Another issue pertains to medical treatment in foreign countries. A few months ago, the government decided that officers of Class I services and their immediate families could seek medical treatment in foreign countries at government expense but military officers are excluded from this dispensation! The reasons for such disparities were and continue to be the surreptitious upping of the emoluments by the bureaucrats, leaving the military personnel at their earlier levels and the political leadership ignoring this gross injustice to the military. It is for this reason that the bureaucracy has repeatedly convinced a willing political leadership to keep the military out of successive Pay Commissions, despite the fact that the military has the largest number of government employees!

Coming to the veterans, in 1947 all military personnel were receiving ‘military pension’, which was calculated at 70 per cent of last pay on account of early retirement, while all civil officials were getting 30 per cent as pension. At the first opportunity, the bureaucrats upped their pension to 50 per cent and brought down military pension to 50 per cent!

Let us look at healthcare. During 2013-2014, while the budget allocations for civilian officials of the Central Government Health Scheme were based at Rs 10,700 per beneficiary, the allocations were only Rs 3,150 per beneficiary for the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). Why the disparity?

The armed forces have remained loyal and apolitical as they understand their duties fully but it is incumbent upon the nation to treat serving soldiers, veterans and their families with the respect they deserve and give them a fair deal.

The 34-year old saga of the grant of One Rank One Pension (OROP) is too well-known to be repeated here. Even though the grant of OROP has been finally accepted by both the previous government and the present one, it is the bureaucrats who are delaying its implementation on flimsy grounds.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) contests every award of pension or disability benefits granted by the High Courts and the Armed Forces Tribunals. Appeals to the Supreme Court are made as a matter of routine by the department that is ironically charged with the welfare of veterans, i.e. the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare! Contrast this with how veterans, disabled personnel, war widows and all soldiers are treated with the utmost respect in other countries.

The above are only a few issues of high-handedness by the bureaucracy. Protests have always been lodged but the culture of the military is not to resort to strikes, ‘dharnas’ and the like, as it expects the political leadership to take appropriate remedial measures. However, when such leadership abrogates its authority to the bureaucrats, they make merry and continue with their “chamrey ke sikke” (coins made of leather) as was done by a king centuries ago!

The Indian soldiers, on account of their faith in the officers who lead them, their innate goodness and the discipline that has been ingrained in them have a great capacity to accept and absorb wrongs but if these continue to happen on a sustained and regular basis, as is happening, then it would be foolish to expect them to keep accepting policies that are patently discriminatory! The aspirations of the military may continue to be ignored but at the risk of a revolt, or even a coup!

The armed forces have remained loyal and apolitical as they understand their duties fully but it is incumbent upon the nation to treat serving soldiers, veterans and their families with the respect they deserve and give them a fair deal. Their expectations have now heightened as a new dynamic political leadership headed by Prime Minister Modi is in place to assume its legitimate leadership role.