Modi’s military faux pas

My aunt’s husband died on duty when his fighter aircraft crashed in Kalaikunda in 1962. His brother died in a military mountain climbing expedition 10 years later. My closest friend was killed while a test pilot in Bangalore in 1982. He was practicing maneuvers for a group of MPs expected to visit the next day and his jet failed to go into a climb. My father retired as a major general and received the pension of an officer of that rank dated 1979 after 38 years of military service.
He and his three younger brothers all became generals, the only four real brothers in any army in the world to attain that rank in the same corps. Between them they served 150 years in the Indian Army. One of them won the Mahavir Chakra.
All these individuals or their widows as the case may be receive and received totally disparate pensions. Only the IAS enjoys the OROP equality.
In 1973 when Indira Gandhi swooped in and happily gave off the fifth star to Sam Manekshaw but ignored Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal and Admiral Nanda, within two years of the war with Pakistan she scrapped the One Rank One Pension concept.
For 37 years that followed the issue lay frozen and no one did it any reverence. It was in December 2011 that the Koshyari commission comprising 10 MPs, which was asked to make a report did just that. Clear, concise and valid. Unanimous.
Give the armed forces back the OROP and balance out the pensions as per rank and length of service.
There is no ambiguity about it. It is simply a matter of implementing it.
Prime Minister Modi integrated the OROP into his election promise, mentioned it on glaciers, in meets and rallies and on the INS Vikramaditya. But now it is hanging fire and the excuse is that there are too many interpretations of the elements in OROP. This is not true. It is already functional in the IAS so who needs a fresh interpretation?
The second myth is the cost to the exchequer. It is not a crippling amount. On the contrary there is even no need to be concerned about the retrospect angle. Most of the senior ex-servicemen, whose pensions are at the low end of the scale having retired years ago, are, to put it bluntly, dead. A large majority of them are octogenarians. There is no huge mass of ex-soldiers out there seeking this upgrade in their salaries, that is a myth. I have to quote a piece that has mysteriously been sent to me with no byline: The IAS crafted the Pension Fixation Formula in such a manner that they are immune to any post-Pay Commission disadvantage to the old retirees.
A few decades ago, the IAS “invented” a secret magic wand to make sure that they get OROP eternally and surreptitiously but others don’t. This is how it was manipulated: The highest pay in the government currently is Rs.80,000 fixed, called the Apex Scale. Only the three defense chiefs and the Cabinet secretary get the higher fixed pay of Rs.90,000. The invention of this concept of “fixed” pay was meant to shield them forever from the ill effects of the formula they devised for others. It was contrived that the pension of the Apex Scale retirees would always be linked to whatever the revised Apex Scale is in future. Since most of the IAS/IFS officers retire in the Apex Scale, this decree eternally ensured OROP for this class. To meet any murmur to the stratagem, some Apex Scale peanuts were also flung at a few posts in some other services including the defense forces. Army Commanders and a large number of lieutenant generals and their equivalents in the other two forces were also granted this privileged scale.”
The main thrust has always been to ensure that no senior person gets less than a junior. That is common sense but currently this is not the situation. This lacuna is further exacerbated by the fact that though the law on OROP was settled by the Supreme Court seven years ago in the SPS Vains case, it was applied by the government only to the petitioner’s rank, i.e. major general.
It defies logic because what it means is that every rank in the armed forces must petition the courts separately and seek relief or so the government would want. While retired IPS officers were practically granted OROP when they challenged the pension fixation formula and are now in litigation with government over bit being implemented the IAS cheerfully sail on enjoying the benefit. Herein lies the rub. Let’s repeat the mantra. If it is valid for the IAS why is it not valid for the armed forces?
Even we take all these issues and place them in cold storage and just seek the re-introduction of the OROP in its plainest form we still find resistance and that is what one cannot understand. By this inordinate delay the government has robbed the armed forces of the satisfaction of being given their just dues. It now looks like a tooth is being pulled out and even if the OROP is reinstated the reluctance that it is served on makes it unpalatable.
When you renege on a promise and finally “surrender” it not only spawns disenchantment but also generates a bitterness that is often translated into more demands. And while a government can think it “safe” to take a liberty with retired service personnel it fails to appreciate that those in service can feel the ripple effect and this is dangerous.
Much of the civilian indifference is bed-rocked in the history of peace. Those not in uniform find it easy to downplay the forces when security is not threatened. It has been nearly half a century since the last all out war. Such a large standing force in a time when weaponry has changed the paradigm produces the foolish notion that such a force is not needed. The truth is not only is it needed but it must be constantly combat ready. Part of that combat readiness is morale and if morale droops then the readiness is compromised.
Equally integral to this state of mind is the comfort derived from knowing that if anything happens to the soldier his family will be looked after. In fact, one of the provisos should be the parity given to war widows in pensions. That makes good sense.