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Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 29

The Centre today approved recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission on pay and pension which will boost consumption and economy by putting extra disposable income in the hands of the 47 lakh Central Government employees and 53 lakh pensioners.The decision to implement the recommendations, including 23.5 per cent  hike in pay and pension, was taken at a meeting chaired by PM Narendra Modi. Briefing the media, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Cabinet, however, deferred the revision of allowances. Calling the hike “inadequate”, workers’ unions have decided to start protests from next week.A panel headed by Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa would look into the pay panel recommendations in that regard as there was resentment among employees over the suggestions to scrap four allowances. Till then, existing allowances would continue.In January, the government set up a panel headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha to process pay panel recommendations. The commission had recommended a 23.5 per cent increase in pay, pension and allowances under a “business as usual” scenario. It envisaged a hike of Rs 39,100 crore in the pay bill, Rs 29,300 crore in allowances and Rs 33,700 crore in pension, taking the total financial impact for 2016-17 to Rs 1.02 lakh crore.With allowances deferred, the burden on the exchequer would be Rs 72,800 crore on account of salaries and pension and over Rs 12,000 crore on account of arrears, aggregating to Rs 84,933 crore.Of this, Rs 60,608 crore would come from the General Budget and Rs 24,325 crore from the Railway Budget.The recommendations will be effective from January 1, 2016. The Finance Minister said, “The employees had to wait for 19 months for the implementation of the 5th Pay Commission and for 32 months in case of the 6th Pay Commission. This time, the 7th Pay Commission recommendations are being implemented within six months from the due date.”The Cabinet also decided that pay and pension arrears would be paid in the current financial year (2016-17) itself, unlike in the past when parts of arrears were paid during the next financial year.The minimum pay has been raised from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000 per month, while the maximum pay has been capped at Rs 2.5 lakh per month. The starting salary of a newly recruited employee at the lowest level will now be Rs 18,000, while it will be Rs 56,100 for a freshly recruited Class I officer. This reflects a compression ratio of 1:3.12 signifying that pay of a Class I officer on direct recruitment will be three times the pay of an entrant at lowest level. For the purpose of revision of pay and pension, a fitment factor of 2.57 will be applied across all levels in the pay matrices. The maximum pay is set at Rs 2.25 lakh per month for apex scale and Rs 2.5 lakh per month for Cabinet Secretary and others at the same pay level (as against the current Rs 90,000 per month).The report had recommended replacing the present system of pay bands and grade pay with a new pay matrix. Separate pay matrices have been drawn up for civilians, defence personnel and Military Nursing Service. The principle and rationale behind these matrices are the same.The Cabinet approved further improvements in “defence pay matrix” by enhancing “index of rationalisation” for brigadiers and providing for additional stages for Lt colonels, colonels and brigadiers to bring parity with their Combined Armed Police Forces counterparts. The lump sum ex gratia payable in respect of civil and defence personnel has been enhanced from Rs 10-20 lakh to Rs 25-45 lakh. The rate of Military Service Pay has been revised from Rs 1,000, 2,000, 4,200 and 6,000 to Rs 3,600, 5,200, 10,800 and 15,500, for defence personnel.

Govt okays 7th pay commission report1 cr Central govt staff and pensioners to benefitRs 18,000 minimum pay, up from Rs 7,000; maximum hiked from Rs 90,000 to Rs 2.5 lakhRs 84,933 cr additional burden on the exchequer for 2016-17; this includes arrears for 6 months  

• For a freshly recruited Class I officer, pay will be Rs 56,100
• Gratuity ceiling up from Rs 10 to Rs 20 lakh, will increase by 25% whenever DA rises by 50%
• The hike to be implemented  from January 1, 2016
• Increment rate retained at 3%
• Present system of pay bands and grade pay done away with
• Status of an employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in pay matrix
• Separate pay matrices drawn up for civilians, defence personnel and for Military Nursing Service
• Further improvements in the Defence Pay Matrix approved by enhancing Index of rationalisation for Level 13A (brigadier) and providing for additional stages in Level 12A (Lt colonel), 13 (colonel) to bring parity with Combined Armed Police Forces counterparts
• Ceiling on House Building Advance to be raised from Rs 7.50 lakh to Rs 25 lakh

RSS affiliate Mazdoor Sangh unhappy too

• New Delhi/Chennai: The Confederation of Central Government Employees on Wednesday rejected the pay hike announced by the government and threatened to go on a strike next week, a decision which got support from the central trade unions. The confederation said the pay hike approved by the Cabinet on the 7th Central Pay Commission’s recommendations was “not acceptable”. RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and other trade unions also rejected the hike, saying this was the lowest increase in the past 70 years that would increase disparity between the minimum and maximum pay. agencies

The forces argue that the anomalies lower the status and pay parity of forces vis-a-vis their counterparts in the police and civilian administration. PTI file photo

New Delhi, September 16

Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) Chairman Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha has issued directions to all service headquarters for implementing the 7th Pay Commission.

This means that soldiers will receive their new salary in their pay in September.

The development came after Raha, along with Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, met with Defence Minister Parrikar earlier this week. Parrikar assured them that the central government would consider reviewing the “anomalies” they pointed out in the 7th Pay Commission, defence sources said.

In a surprising move, the three services had on September 9 issued letters to their formations saying they had asked the central government to hold “in abeyance” the implementation of the pay commission due to the “unresolved anomalies”.

Sources claimed Parrikar even had a gazette notification announcing the 7th Pay Commission amended to make sure the military retains its edge over the Central Armed Police Forces.

The Defence Ministry had recently notified the 7th Pay Commission.

Sources pointed out that a cabinet notification could not have been corrected before it was notified.

“The anomalies committees are meant to correct the shortcomings,” sources said.

The forces argue that the anomalies lower the status and pay parity of forces vis-a-vis their counterparts in the police and civilian administration. — PTI

Ex-servicemen burn the national flag of Pakistan in Ambala on Monday.TRIBUNE PHOTO

Ambala, June 27

Ex-servicemen under the banner of the Ex-servicemen Welfare Committee, Ambala, today held a demonstration and burnt the national flag of Pakistan to mark their protest against the attack on a CRPF convoy in which eight security personnel were killed in Pampore.Subedar Attar Singh Multani, president of the committee, said, “For how long do we keep mourning our soldiers? We request PM Narendra Modi to take the right decision and direct the Indian forces to attack all militant camps being run in Pakistan.” — TNS

Kolkata, September 10

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh today described pellet firing as non-lethal and said it was a “sensible and well-thought decision” by the Home Ministry to use the weapon for controlling the protesting mobs in the Kashmir valley.“Pellet firing is non-lethal. The Home Minister’s (Rajnath Singh) decision was sensible and well-thought. People who come close to firing get injuries,” the minister said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Federation of Association of Small Industries of India.However, pellet firings have caused at least six deaths, including one today, when security forces fired at a protesting mob in a south Kashmir village.Hundreds of civilians, including minors, have lost their eyesight, partially or fully, after they were hit by pellets in the restive Valley. — IANS

We owe it to ourselves to take a hard look at the way we conducted ourselves, diplomatically and politically in this entire NSG saga. We have ended up looking rather indigenous, a little immature and a bit desperate to grab things. What about some quiet diplomacy

PM Narendra Modi with Chinese President XI Jinping in Tashkent:China was not the only nation that stalled India’s NSG bid. PTI

THANK heavens for Brexit. It helped take some attention off the fiasco in Seoul where India’s desperate bid to get into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) suffered a rejection. What makes it even more embarrassing for the government is that this is a twin failure. First, a rebuff at the diplomatic level, where despite the Foreign Secretary rushing off to Seoul failed to save the mission; and, second, a substantive failure at the political level where the Prime Minister received a royal Chinese snub. The double rebuff was totally avoidable.  India’s desire to get into the NSG is understandable but what puzzles an observer is the hype that was created around it. Any oldtimer would have told the Modi establishment; do the smart diplomatic homework before shouting about it from the rooftops. Politically, one wonders who advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invest his personal prestige to the extent of himself raising the issue with the Chinese President. A smart diplomat and an astute politician should know that the Prime Minister steps in only to seal a deal, not to make requests. In the case of the NSG fiasco, India messed up at both the fronts and pretty badly.It makes no sense to now make a case that it was “one country” that repeatedly raised procedural issues and thwarted India’s bid. China, to its credit, was very public in its opposition to India’s entry. In the runup to the NSG plenary meeting in Seoul on June 23-24, China repeatedly issued statements that made it amply clear that it was in no mood to let India into the elite nuclear club. India had its work cut out —  and that was to talk and convince China. From President Pranab Mukherjee travelling to China last month, to the Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar making a below-the-radar visit to Beijing just two weeks before the NSG session, India tried convincing China — and failed. The failure to convince China should have made the Foreign Ministry more cautious about going so public about its NSG bid. Again, this failure should have alerted the top bosses in the Foreign Ministry not to advise the Prime Minister to raise the stakes by taking up matter with the Chinese President when they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tashkent. To any observer of foreign policy, it remains a puzzling scenario as to who advised Prime Minister Modi to then raise this issue with President Xi Jinping. Did someone really think that China would reverse its decision just because the request was being made by India at the highest level? Surely, no one could have been that naïve not even in this national security establishment. Maybe it was a political decision to hype the NSG berth and for Modi to raise the issue with Xi Jinping himself. After all the headlines would have been awfully good if the Prime Minister’s request had been accepted by the Chinese leader. It makes one wonder who is doing all this fantastical thinking in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Prime Minister’s Office. Is it the Foreign Office which misled the Prime Minister in thinking that India’s NSG berth would give him the same kind of historical legacy as the Indo-US civil nuclear deal in 2008 gave former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh? Or was it a political push to the Foreign Office to deliver, to make this desperate bid so that a political historical “event” could be created? Whoever might be at fault, one thing that has emerged crystal clear from the NSG fiasco is that many of the top officials — bureaucrats and politicians — in this government are yet to grasp the brutal realities of geopolitics. If legacies were this easy to create, well, our history books would be way thicker. But both past and current history teaches us one valuable lesson — which was conveniently forgotten this time around — do the groundwork, be sure of the outcomes, before going public with it. Also, somewhere let us not be parsimonious with facts. China was not alone. Turkey, New Zealand, Brazil and even Switzerland raised their objections in Seoul. Now Switzerland is another blot here. Modi travelled all the way to Switzerland, again made a public spectacle of the Prime Minister requesting the Swiss leadership for support for a berth in the NSG. The Swiss “agreed”, a diplomatic feather was added to the Prime Minister’s hat and everyone went ga ga over how India and the Prime Minister is winning the world over. Cut short to Seoul, a few weeks later, and the Swiss don’t seem to be supporting India. Again,  should we not be asking some tough questions of the people who were leading the charge. China, yes, is uncomfortable with India’s rise and wants to always hyphenate us with Pakistan and hence no support. We always knew that, but “pray” what happened to the Swiss? Someone should be doing a lot of explaining here. Even Turkey took a “principled” stand and said that India and Pakistan’s applications be considered simultaneously. The world knows about Pakistan’s proliferation record and no one needs a re-introduction to A Q Khan, but didn’t India realise that “right” arguments do not always convince the other? We owe it to ourselves to take a hard look at the way we conducted ourselves, diplomatically and politically in this entire NSG saga. We have ended up looking rather inelegant, a little immature and a bit desperate to grab things. And as India moves into the next round of negotiations for NSG or other “clubs”, a bit more grace and quiet diplomacy should be the preferred norm.  

simraj68@yahoo.com.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 6

Set up seven years ago to provide an ‘independent’ forum for redressal of grievances for ‘quick dispensation’ of justice to armed forces personnel, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) is facing a massive shortage of judicial members. Of the eight Benches, only three are functional. Making matters worse, one of these could become non-functional this month.The AFT has eight Benches across the country, with each Bench comprising two or three courts. Each court is held by two members— a judicial member, who is a retired judge of a High Court, and an administrative member, who is a senior retired defence officer.The three functional  benches include the ones at Chandigarh and Lucknow. The judicial member of the Guwahati Bench is functioning as officiating chairman and travels between New Delhi and Guwahati. Consequently, either Bench is functional at one time. A ninth Bench at Jammu has been approved, but is yet to be notified. This has left armed forces personnel, including ex-servicemen and disabled soldiers, without any effective means of seeking relief.The AFT is required to have 17 judicial members, but is doing with just five. The sole judicial member at Chandigarh will retire this month. The number of administrative members is the same.When the AFT came into being, the number of pending cases was 9,449, according to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence. By 2015, the pendency had risen to a staggering 16,138. “The number of cases being filed has over the years also increased, particularly those related to Pay Commission anomalies. But then it is the disposal rate that matters, which has been dismal,” said a lawyer.While the AFT adjudicates on service matters pertaining to court martial verdicts, promotions, pay, allowances and pensions, it is the High Courts that decide on transfers and postings, summary punishments and verdicts of summary court martials. “This is a bizarre situation where smaller issues have been placed with a higher court and larger issues  before a court lower in the hierarchy,” another lawyer said.A vital issue regarding the functioning of the AFT pending before the Supreme Court is moving the AFT outside the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence and placing it under the Law Ministry. The Punjab and Haryana High Court last year accepted the argument that there was a conflict of interest in AFT members being selected by a panel in which the Defence Secretary was a member and the MoD paying these members salary and allowances.

Air Marshal Navkaranjit Singh Dhillon

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 23

A decorated officer of the Indian Air Force, Navkaranjit Singh Dhillon, has been promoted as Air Marshal. He joined as Air Marshal on June 5.It is a proud moment for the holy city in particular. Born on January 2, 1961, Dhillon was brought up in Dhand village, near Amritsar. Now, his family is residing at Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar.Air Marshall Dhillon is an alumnus of St Francis School, Amritsar; Sainik School, Kapurthala; and Khalsa College, Amritsar. He is a graduate of National Defence Academy, Defence Service Staff College and National Defence College.Air Marshall Dhillon was awarded the Ati Vishisht Sewa Medal by the President of India in 2014 for his distinguished service.Dhillon joined Indian Air Force as fighter pilot in 1981. He has a total 3,700 flying hrs to his credit of which 3,100 hrs are exclusively for flying MIG 21.Air Marshal Dhillon was the topper of the fighter strike leader course at Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE). Later, he served as directing staff at the TACDE in the capacity of head of the Training and Deputy Commandant. He has commanded a MIG-21 squadron and has been the chief operations officers of a premier flying base.He also commanded a helicopter base in DR Congo as part of UN Peace Keeping Mission. Dhillon served as Principal, Director Air Defence, and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (inspection) at Air Headquarters.Dhillon comes from the family, who has been rendering its services for the country for the last five decades. Dhillon acknowledges contributions of his father, Advocate Khazan Singh Dhillon, and mother Balbir Kaur Dhillon. His elder brother Prof Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, an economist, is currently the registrar of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, His younger brother Preetinder Singh Dhillon is a business professional.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc (2nd L) feed fish in Hanoi. REUTERS

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a $500 million line of credit for ‘facilitating’ a deeper defence cooperation with Vietnam, is expected to open doors for a greater number of India-made warships and missiles to be supplied in what is China’s backyard.New Delhi with its $500-million offer has clearly landed in the next league to be counted as “friends of Vietnam” that is locked in a dispute with China over territorial rights in the hydrocarbon-rich South China Sea. The country uniquely enjoys a strategic relationship with the US, Japan and Russia. New Delhi’s “Act East Policy” clarifies that Japan, Vietnam and Australia are the pillars when it came to countering China.In October 2014, New Delhi ignored expected protests from Beijing and agreed to supply military equipment, naval ships and launch a space satellite for Vietnam along with a $100 million line of credit.So, a line of credit for Hanoi is not new, it’s the quantum jump in amount that will make Beijing take note. Since 1976, India has extended 17 lines of credit worth more than $165 million to Vietnam. India had in the past extended line of credit of $100 million for infrastructure and defence procurement, Modi has made it five times bigger. “I am also happy to announce a new defence credit for Vietnam of $500 million for facilitating deeper defence cooperation,” Modi told reporters in Hanoi.This falls in line with a five-year (2015-2020) joint vision statement between India and Vietnam on defence cooperation to build closer strategic ties. Earlier this year, the US lifted a 50-year-old arms embargo on Vietnam. Japan is Hanoi’s biggest bilateral donor, a large trading partner and the third largest foreign investor. Japan has provided six vessels to Vietnam to boost maritime security. Vietnam’s Air Force operates Russian-made SU-30MK2 fighter jets while its tanks, helicopters and kilo-class submarines are from Russia. India, which operates the same subs, trains the Vietnamese Navy in operating the vessels and also provides English language training for the armed forces of Vietnam. 

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 23

In what will be the first major weapon purchase aimed at bolstering the upcoming Mountain Strike Corps of the Army, the Ministry of Defence is expected to approve the purchase of 145 artillery guns specially meant for deployment in the Himalayas.The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, is scheduled to meet on Saturday to take a final call on the purchase of the 155mm M777 ultra-light howitzer (ULH). It will also decide on new warships carrying deadly missiles. It will also discuss the issue of having the ‘midget’ submarines used for special operations under the sea.The cost negotiation with BAE Systems for the supply of 145 guns is complete and the deal is expected to be signed at price between $725 million and $740 million. This will be the main ground-based weapon for the Mountain Strike Corps. The BAE has further tied up with Mahindra to make 50 per cent of the guns in India.BAE Systems will be asked to start deliveries within six months after signing the contract. In May last year, the DAC had approved the purchase of the ULH, which was originally proposed in 2008. Made of titanium, each gun weighs 4,000 kg, making it transportable by CH-47 Chinook helicopters, C-17 Globemaster and the C-130 Hercules aircraft or by trucks to ensure increased mobility in the mountains.In case of the warships, the Navy will be setting six missile carrying vessels that will replace the 1980’s design Soviet-era ships of this type. These will carry the BrahMos, surface-to-air missiles, medium-range guns, and close-in weapons systems. It will cost Rs 13,000 crore (approx).Also, the DAC will approve the installation of the 300-km range BrahMos missile on six warships, three of the Delhi class and three of the Talwar class. It will cost Rs 2,700 crore.The DAC will also decide on buying 44,000 automatic hand-held carbines for the Army. An Israeli company has emerged as the top bidder following trials.

DAC meet tomorrow

• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, is scheduled to meet on Saturday to decide on purchase of the 155mm M777 ultra-light howitzer and 44,000 automatic hand-held carbines, and installation of the 300-km range BrahMos missile on six warships.

Islamabad, August 30

The Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a welfare wing of the JuD- led by Mumbai terrorist attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has set up a camp for donations for “relief” in Kashmir, a media report claims.Banners displayed near the camp — set up in the Blue Area, Islamabad’s main business district — show JuD chief Hafiz Saeed asking people to “donate to the Kashmir Fund for the Kashmiri cause”, the Express Tribune reports.Apart from raising funds, the FIF is reportedly also playing “pro-Jihad” songs and showing videos of the unrest in Kashmir.Although JuD is on Pakistan’s watch list, FIF’s media coordinator Ahmad Nadeem said there were currently no restrictions on the charity wing’s activities in Pakistan.“There was a confusion over the issue last year and the FIF was forcibly stopped from collecting donations by different city administrations. But, later the Lahore High Court ruled in favour of the FIF and the charity organisation is free to carry out its relief activities and funds generation,” the Express Tribune quoted him, as saying.Nadeem added that the local administration had permitted the camp.The Punjab Home Department directed police to keep an eye on JuD’s fundraising activities through FIF in July.Pakistan banned TV channels from covering FIF and JuD’s activities in 2015.Some 70 people have died and thousands have been wounded in the violent protests that erupted since Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani was killed in a military operation in Kashmir’s Anantnag on July 8.The unrest has cooled an already tense relationship between India and Pakistan.India accuses its rival of stoking the violence. — ANI