Sanjha Morcha

Rank-parity back on MoD table, ‘in detail’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 30

In an important development, the matter of the rank-parity is being looked into in ‘great detail’ by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), including the vital letter sent by the Prime Minister’s Office in December 2008. The letter mentioned setting up a high-powered committee to sort out parity issues.Top sources have confirmed that ‘no false equivalence’ will be allowed.  The rank-parity issue was highlighted by The Tribune in a three-part series recently.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)A  three-member committee headed by an Additional Secretary-rank officer had been tasked to study rank-equivalence norms between the armed forces and the civilians employed in the Armed Forces Headquarters, called the AFHQ cadre.The forces had lodged a serious protest, questioning the veracity of claims in the report and the documents relied upon.Sources said the MoD was looking into all angles of the rank-parity issue. Discussions are happening in the ministry and in no situation will the ministry stand to benefit or side with any one of the two sides — the forces and the AFHQ cadre of civilians. “The idea is not to benefit one side at the cost of the other, whichever that is,” sources said.Meanwhile, the MoD, in a bid to promote domestic defence manufacturing, is mulling on formulating a method under which obtaining security clearance from the Home Ministry, if delayed, will be “deemed to be approved”.After a recent meeting between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and representatives from the industry, the defence ministry is now discussing measures to help private sector industries get a final clearance, in case their request has been pending for a long time.The MoD has also asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to prepare a list of defence technologies it has developed and has not been given to any government or private sector for manufacturing. “Some technologies have already been given to private sector. We will work with DRDO to make a list of items which can be commercialised,” said a source.