In defence of defence personnel
By Pritam Bhullar

WHEN a delegation led by Brigadier (retd) Mohinder Singh, President Indian Ex-Services League (IESL), New Delhi, met the Defence Minister George Fernandes on April 7, the latter informed them that he was "about to concede" the one-rank, one pension demand. He also said that the delay in issuing orders for the revised pension introduced from January 1, 1996 was due to the pending notification of one rank, one pension.

Thereafter, Fernandes said at Anandpur Sahib on April 10 that one rank, one pension demand had been accepted in principle and its "implementation" was a matter of only a few days.

Incidentally, the requisite notification for the revised pension of the Central Government pensioners was issued in the third week of December 1998 and they (barring the defence personnel) are already getting this pension.

The terms and conditions of service of the defence personnel are totally different from those of the Central Government employees. There should, therefore, be a separate pay commission for the former. This point has been projected to the government a number of times. But it has been turned down every time.

One of the gross differences in the service conditions is that due to their early retirement, the defence personnel up to the rank of Naib /Subedar cannot complete 33 years of qualifying service to earn 50 per cent pension of their pay even after the weightage of five years service is granted to them. Their pension is, therefore, reduced correspondingly, that is, between 33 per cent to 40 per cent of their pay. Why are they being selectively discriminated against as compared to their civilian counterparts? George Fernandes also told the IESL’s delegation on April 7 that he found it ridiculous to compare the terms and conditions of defence personnel with the civilian Central Government employees. If you are convinced about it Fernandes, then what are you doing to remove this anomaly?

Army is overused

Lieut-Gen H.M Khanna, GOC-in-C Northern Command said in New Delhi the other day that the Army was geared up to ensure safe and smooth panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Gen Khanna also said that the Army’s role in J and K was to "stiffen the spine" of the civilian Special Task Force (STF) in order to ensure its larger involvement in countering urban insurgency.

One may accept it or not, but the Army is virtually fighting an internal war in J and K and in the North-east which is not likely to come to an end in the foreseeable future unless positive political inputs are thrown in with sagacity.

Soon after the restoration of a democratically elected government in J and K in October 1996, M.N. Sabbarwal the then Director General of Police (DGP) of the state, replaced Lieut-Gen D.D. Saklani as head of the unified headquarters. But within a month this arrangement was reverted by creating another unified headquarters and appointing both the Corps Commanders, one each for the valley and the Jammu region, as ex-officio security advisers.

This inescapable, but unwanted set-up during the regime of a democrative government, evoked protests from the police, bureaucracy and the public, yet we are where we were in October 1996. If assembly elections in 1996 were held under the security cover provided by the Army, the panchayat elections are also being held with the Army providing a security blanket.

It is time the STF and the civil administration not only "stiffened their spines" but were also seen having done so. Should we nurse a hope that the Army would be kept in the background in the Lok Sabha election in September/ October?

Sobbing widows

Every year a number of young brides turn into widows, thanks to the counter-insurgency operations in which their soldier husbands fall while proving their valour. This killing gets more pronounced during summer months because of the inflow of militants from across the border in J and K due to the melting of snow.

From April 13 to May 2, five officers—four Majors and one Captain—got killed, four in J and K and one in the North-east, two of them, a Major and a Captain , in an accident.

It has become a common feature to see sobbing and unconsolable widows with babes in their laps in a state of catastrophic shock every now and then. The politicians do not get tired of making promises to these hapless widows, which they know they do not have to fulfil.

Unfortunately, Chandigarh and its satellite towns i.e. Mohali and Panchkula have been very unlucky, for several young soldiers from these towns have been killed in the counter-insurgency operations in the past three to four years.

When it comes to helping their widows, it is precious little that is doled out to them. Rupinderpal, widow of Major Harminder Pal Singh who got killed in the valley on April 13, is no different: she like most others, is desparately trying for a job of an appropriate status.

As per the rules, even an officer’s widow can be given only a class III or class IV job, whereas if a civilian gets killed, his widow or a dependent son/daughter gets a job of the same status as was held by the deceased. Why this? Because these rules are framed by the bureaucrats.

According to a provision of the J and K Government, a soldier who gets killed in counter-insurgency operations in the state, gets Rs 2 lakh as ex-gratia grant. Sadly, this grant has not been paid to the widows so far, despite the best efforts of Headquarters Northern Command. Reason : The J and K Government has no money. Ironically, this grant to the widow of a police constable in the state is Rs 12 lakh.

Surprisingly, the Punjab Government pays only Rs 25,000 as ex-gratia grant to the soldiers’ widows. What a mockery!