Chandigarh, September 28

Ex-servicemen have decided to resume their agitation and fast at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in protest against the government failing to resolve perceived anomalies in the implementation of “one rank-one pension” (OROP) formula.A statement issued by the Indian Ex-services Movement today said the protest would commence from October 2 in Delhi as well as at other places. — TNS

COMMENTS

Sole purpose to collect funds over and above already collected in crores at JM and to launch Fauji Janta party a Political out fit a brain child of Maj Gen Satbir Singh.

Till date Maj Gen Satbir has not met Reddy commission but wants Reddy Commission to meet him.

Maj Gen Satbir Singh and his team of Janta  Mantar are misguiding the ESM of the Nation as they have not been invited by any Govt Agency since long.

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sanjhamorcha303@gmail.com

The killing of Burhan Wani, the acknowledged face of new-generation militancy in Kashmir, has thrown a new set of challenges before the  system: How to  counter his legacy of guns  and its exploitation on social media. Security forces have claimed a major success, but the real achievement will be an atmosphere in which his death closes a chapter once for all. In this third decade  of militancy in Kashmir, Burhan combined multiple images: an angry young man filled with revenge against the forces that mauled the dignity of his brother six years ago, the boy next door, a symbol of “sacrifice”. His brother was killed by the Army last year. He used social media to lure young and educated boys in South Kashmir into militancy. On his death Omar Abdullah has noted: “Burhan’s ability to recruit into militancy from the grave will far outstrip anything he could have done on social media”. Kashmiri anger has erupted after his death. It requires careful handling. Post-Burhan, the road ahead is quite tough for the government and security agencies.  It is tougher for parents who nurture dreams of seeing their wards pursue studies and careers. This is a difficult challenge. It needs a narrative of peace in Kashmir. Many of those who call for peace are being condemned as collaborators. Peace is considered an Indian philosophy and normalcy abnormal by these young activists on social media.The halo of “martyrdom” is being conferred on Burhan for he graduated from a teenaged militant to the awe-inspiring “commander” of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. He mastered his terrain from his birthplace Tral in Pulwama to the encounter site in Kokernag in Anantnag. Guns can be neutralised by guns, but there is no counter to folklore in the making. The real test and challenge for the government in Kashmir is how to get the “boys” turn to the pen from the gun. Burhan was “our boy” in the Kashmiri political lexicon — a son of a teacher who drifted away and took to the gun. The only solution is to treat the common man with dignity — in the street and in the home.

• 

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

NEXT MOVE Action plan handed over by Parrikar, decision on implementation to be taken by PM and his Cabinet

From page 01 NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government is working on a multi-pronged plan incorporating military options in its post-Uri campaign against Pakistan. The diplomatic part of the plan has been launched at the United Nations with India calling Pakistan a terrorist state that poses a global threat.

PTI FILEThe arms and ammunition recovered from the slain terrorists who attacked the camp in Uri.

New Delhi plans to intensify the diplomatic effort with Islamabad’s traditional supporters in West Asia next by providing direct evidence of the involvement of a Pakistan-based terror group in the Uri attack.

South Block sources said a military action plan has been handed over to the government by defence minister Manohar Parrikar. The decision on its operationalisation is for Prime Minister Modi and his Cabinet to take, they said. “There is no point in retaliating now with Pakistan forces beefed up across the Line of Control and an alert on the international border with India,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity.

There are no Pakistan markings on either the AK-47 rifles or the two under-barrel grenade-launchers used in the attack but two code sheets in Urdu for wireless communication, two map sheets, two global positioning system (GPS) devices, two wireless set and stores recovered from the four terrorists killed at Uri reveal that the attackers were from a proscribed terrorist group from Punjab in Pakistan, sources said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team probing the September 18 attack that claimed the lives of 18 soldiers is expected to return to Delhi by the weekend. The damaged GPS devices will then be examined by experts to ascertain the route used by the four terrorists to cross the LoC and attack the army brigade at Uri. The wireless codes have already been deciphered by the security agencies, incriminating the terror group behind the attack.

Most of the Indian casualties were suffered as soon as the attack began and have been attributed to the fires in the tents and building housing the advance party of a Bihar Regiment unit. The terrorists were, however, prepared for a long operation as they were carrying dry fruit, medicines and nine packets of Pakistan-made juice powder and pouches.

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

Court agrees to independent inquiry into 1,528 ‘extra-judicial’ killings in Manipur

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court dealt a blow to the army’s immunity under a controversial law on Friday, saying it can’t use “excessive or retaliatory force” even in troubled places, and agreed to an investigation into hundreds of alleged illegal killings by security forces in Manipur.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (Afspa), which shields troops from prosecution and is in force in parts of the northeast and Kashmir, is blamed by human rights groups for illegal killings and arbitrary detentions by security forces. The military denies misusing the law.

Friday’s verdict came on petitions from rights groups demanding an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any special team into 1,528 alleged cases of “extra-judicial killings” by the army in Manipur in a dozen years through to 2012.

“If members of our armed forces are deployed and employed to kill citizens of our country on the mere allegation or suspicion that they are ‘enemy’, not only the rule of law but our democracy would be in grave danger,” the top court said. “Society and the courts obviously cannot and do not accept such a death (extra-judicial killings) caused by the State since it is destructive of the rule of law and plainly unconstitutional,” a bench headed by Justice MB Lokur said.

The remarks are the strongest judicial rebuke yet of the army’s special shoot-to-kill powers, which trace their origins to a British-era ordinance used to suppress the Quit India Movement of 1942. It said the situation in Manipur was, at best, an internal disturbance and not a “war-like” threat to national security.

“The army’s internal oversight mechanism is quite robust. Soldiers have been punished with life imprisonment in many cases,” said a senior army officer, who did not wish to be named as the matter is sub-judice.

“But most of the allegations of human rights violations against the army have been found to be false.”

Referring to the “Ten Commandments of the Chief of Army Staff ”, the court said it didn’t matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor did it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the State.

The law was the same for both and equally applicable to both, it added.

The court agreed to have an independent inquiry into the cases of extra-judicial killings in the northeastern state. It said a decision on who should investigate will be taken after it receives more data on all the cases.

The court said the army was free to initiate a court of inquiry against the accused personnel. Under army rules, court martial proceedings have to be time-bound but in Manipur many cases have dragged for years.

The top court will now take the up the matter after four weeks. By then, advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who is assisting the court in the case, has to gather data on 62 cases earlier investigated by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and a court-appointed panel headed by former SC judge Justice Santosh Hedge.

The human rights watchdog had concluded that 31 of the 62 cases were fake, while the Justice Hedge committee said charges were trumped up in 15.

The Centre defended the killings, arguing they are “part of the sovereign function discharged by the Union of India through the army”. Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi had said security forces could not be blamed for collateral deaths that critics describe as extrajudicial murders in Manipur.

The petitioners – human rights organisations – say troops have not faced action as they operate under Afspa, which grants powers to them to arrest and shoot to kill without fear of prosecution.

CONTROVERSIAL LAW

WHAT IS AFSPA?

HT FILEPeople in Manipur protest against civilian deaths.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act or Afspa was enacted in 1958 to bring under control what the government of India considered ‘disturbed’ areas It grants sweeping powers to the armed forces to arrest, conduct searches and seizures and also provides immunity from prosecution to members of the armed forces ENFORCED IN Parts of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir

THE PLEA

Human rights groups demand probe by CBI or a special investigation team into the alleged 1,528 cases of ‘extrajudicial killings’ in Manipur between 2000 and 2012 by the army

COURT REPLY

Says army can initiate a court of inquiry, but it must be time-bound Next hearing in 4 weeks. Decision on which agency will conduct probe pending.

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

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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