Pay & perks: CAPFs have edge over armed forces

CHANDIGARH: While the hullabaloo over the grant of one rank, one pension (OROP) to members of the armed forces continues, with some central armed police forces (CAPFs) too jumping into the melee with similar demands, the edge that the armed forces held over other uniformed forces in terms of pay and allowances has eroded and CAPFs, which function under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), are much better placed on the monetary as well as administrative front.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 2

While the hullabaloo over the grant of one rank, one pension (OROP) to members of the armed forces continues, with some central armed police forces (CAPFs) too jumping into the melee with similar demands, the edge that the armed forces held over other uniformed forces in terms of pay and allowances has eroded and CAPFs, which function under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), are much better placed on the monetary as well as administrative front.

Implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission and some other recommendations put forth by the CAPFs top brass, drawn from the Indian Police Service cadre, there is now wide variance in the allowances and some service benefits applicable to the uniformed personnel functioning under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the MHA.

While the living conditions and some facilities available of CAPFs personnel deployed in border guarding duties of internal security duties in hard areas leave a lot to desire, certain allowances paid to them are several times more that similar benefits applicable to the armed forces.

The CAPFs include, among others, the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force and Seema Shashtra Bal.

Special Forces personnel in the Army who have to operate behind enemy lines, for example, get an allowance of Rs 800-1,200 per month, where as members of the CRPF’s COBRA battalions tasked for anti-Naxal duties get Rs 7,200-11,000. Similarly, the instructor allowance for senior officers in the armed forces is RS 1,800 where as it is Rs 19,000 for CAPFs.

Other allowances enjoyed by CAPFs but which the armed forces are deprived off includes double house rent allowance for Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, Headquarters allowance of Rs 4,000, 12.5 per cent of basic pay as special duty allowance for peace stations in the north-east and detachment allowance of Rs 300 per day.