Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9

While armed forces personnel can look forward to getting salary arrears this month after the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, a bevy of messages doing the rounds on the social media giving diverse interpretations and speculating on the financial implications of the pay orders have prompted the service headquarters to step in and mollify troops.“Pay comparisons between defence services, All India Services and group-A services must be understood in totality and explained to the rank and file to dispel apprehensions about pay discrepancies,” states a signal floated by the Seventh Army Pay Commission Cell to all Amy and tri-service commands.Signals issued by air headquarters and naval headquarters to their respective establishment state that arrears arising out of the pay scales, applicable with effect from January 1, 2016, would be credited in May. The implementation of the pay commission report for the armed forces had been held up as the services had sought removal of several anomalies in the recommendations that they had projected before the government.The orders to implement the pay panel report were issued by the Ministry of Defence on May 3, eight months after similar orders were issued for the civilian employees. While a few anomalies have been addressed, several others remain.Among the few positive changes that have been made, the biggest take away so far is the change in pension rules, including the disability element. The pay panel had recommended a flat “slab system” for the armed forces, which has now been done away and the previous “percentage system” has been retained. For example, a lieutenant general and the head of a paramilitary organisation, if 100 per cent disabled, were entitled to Rs 52,560 per month under the Sixth Pay Commission. Going by the Seventh Pay Commission disparity, the Lieutenant General would have got Rs 27,000 compared to his civilian counterpart getting Rs 67,500. An improvement in the calculation of pension for pre-2016 retirees has also been accepted.While the contentious issue of non-functional upgrade (NFU) is pending before the Supreme Court for adjudication, key issues that remain to be resolved include disparity in status vis-à-vis civilians and lowering of salary of Group-X personnel.Redressal of several other issues raised by the services remain as reports of two panels, the anomalies committee and the allowances committee, set up for civilian as well as military employees are yet to be taken up by the government.