The Indian armed forces have always had a bone to pick with the police and the civil administration vis-a-vis anomalies in status and pay parity. And now the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission have triggered a breach between the forces and the government that’s finding support from the likes of Lieutenant General HS Panag (Retd), actress Gul Panag’s father, and celebrity VJ and music entrepreneur Nikhil Chinapa, son of an ex-army paratrooper.
Gen Panag and Chinapa, in a series of tweets, have hit out against the 7th Pay Commission anomalies that treat the armed forces as inferior in status, not to mention the great disparity in pay. Chinapa has even called for the resignation of the three chiefs of the armed forces.
For instance, according to one of the recommendations made by the commission, the disability pension for an Additional Secretary is Rs 70,000, and that of a three-star General only Rs 27,000. One wonders what are the chances of an Additional Secretary losing his limbs over a General! Also, the military service pay (MSP) for Junior Commissioned Officers - who actually maintain troop morale and act as a bridge between soldiers and officers - has been kept the same as that of a soldier. No prizes for guessing how that would work out.
The armed forces, in a statement on Thursday, said the service chiefs and the members of the Armed Forces Pay Commission Cell have raised the “anomalies” in the 7th Pay Commission recommendations with defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who has promised to look into it.
(Additional inputs: Firstpost)
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