Time to listen to people, Mr PM

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I was initially reluctant to write this letter to you. But, since The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence have now been postponed, and your next trip to Mumbai is shrouded in uncertainty, thereby robbing our chance for a brief heart-to-heart, I felt that this would probably be the best way to catch your attention.

With every newspaper leader writer churning out editorials full of admonishment, you might just like to read this column, by way of a pleasant diversion. This column also proposes to provide you with some counsel-unsolicited, as always.

* The first piece of advice for you would be to revisit the sixth pay commission recommendations for the armed forces. This encompasses all associated issues, such as reduction in status as well as disparity in pay scales with civilian counterparts. True, there is some merit in the argument that, as a democracy, India needs to maintain its fine civilian-military balance. It’s our strength and that should be preserved. But, that same divide is now becoming a deep rift and could pose unspeakable dangers.

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Sixth Central Pay Commission | IT (Income Tax) officials appeal to Manmohan on pay anomalies

Unhappy with modified Sixth Pay Commission award, taxmen have pointed out discrepancies in the revised pay scale and have sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention in the matter.

Pointing out the discrepancies in the revised pay scale, income tax officials said when compared with their counterparts in some other departments, it amounted to virtually “lowering of status” of senior revenue officials.

“We are shocked at the decision of the government to ignore recommendations of the Pay Commission to upgrade the pay scale of members of CBDT to Rs 80,000 (fixed), even though the pay scales of Directors General of Police and Principal Chief Conservators of Forests have been upgraded without any recommendation,” said a memorandum submitted by the Indian Revenue Service Association.

Six Pay Commission | Armed Forces take Pay Panel Grievances to PMO

Unhappy with the lowering of parity in payscales in comparison with the bureaucracy and paramilitary forces, the armed forces have drawn Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attention to the issue rising from the Sixth Pay Coommission’s recommendations.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman and Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta met the prime minister on Thursday and discussed the issue with him.

“Admiral Mehta has gone to the prime minister to brief him about his recent visit to Japan and South Korea and seized the opportunity to draw his attention to the erosion of parity between the armed forces officers and their civilian and paramilitary counterparts,” a senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It is understood that the prime minister assured the naval chief that he would consider the issue.

Ahead of meeting the prime minister, Mehta wrote to Defence minister A K Antony on September 1 that these “core issues” would affect the joint operations of the armed forces and paramilitary forces. He also asked the cabinet, rather than the anomalies committee, to consider their demands over the pay panel report.

“The command and control functions will be seriously hampered between the army, BSF (Border Security Force) and CPMF (Central Paramilitary Forces), and infighting will jeopardize the operations,” the letter says.

The reviewed report of the Sixth Pay Commission has upgraded the civilian and paramilitary counterparts of officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and equivalent to the higher pay band. Due to this, civilian officers who were in the lower pay bracket and were hitherto drawing lesser pay than lieutenant colonels and officers of equivalent rank would now draw a higher basic salary.

Following the revised report, even a short service commissioned officer in the paramilitary forces will get a higher pay than most permanent commissioned officers in the armed forces.