Recently at the Singapore club an interesting talk commenced with some officers of the Singapore air force, retired like me. The talk inevitably turned to the Indian armed forces. I was surprised as to how abreast the foreign officers were of the affairs in the Indian armed force, in particular the army.
The gist of the conversation was that the Indian army was losing its cutting edge and in the years to come would be so demoralized that it will not or could not hold India together and the balkanization of India was inevitable.
This appeared to me a farfetched thought, but the fact is that the armed forces right from the time of Nehru has been downgraded at every step and their perks and privileges pruned at every opportunity. This is surprising as a country like India facing an insurgency in the Indian heartland led by Maoists and independence movements in the North east as well as calculated terrorism in Kashmir are a neglected lot. The government be it of Nehru or Modi have not grasped that if India is to stay united it is only due to the army.
Nehru had his reasons as he feared a military coup and thus let the finest fighting machine in India go to seed, culminating in a massive defeat with China. Indira Gandhi was the best as the armed forces gave her a name in history for ever with the cutting to size of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh. I remember in 1984 on R Day she sanctioned free rations for officers as well.
Unfortunately Modi has talked about sanction of OROP, the most contentious item in the list of demands of the services. He promised, but like Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall. He has changed his mind and now is silent as his cabinet ministers Jaitley and Parrikar go about dousing the flames in the hearts of the servicemen. To say they are misled by the bureaucracy is a misnomer, for no civil servant can oppose something, if the government wants to give. It happened during the time free rations were sanctioned and again if the Modi and the government want OROP, it can be a reality.
There is apathy in the BJP government towards the armed forces. I wonder how they are better off than the Congress and Nehru. A decision of 2 parliaments has been negated by Modi. I am afraid he is the man; if he wanted would Jaitley and Parrikar not acquiescence?
A lot of blame must also go to our top brass, the army in particular, where successive chiefs for personal gain (maybe) have acquiesced with the government in demoting themselves and the soldiers under their command. If right from the time of Cariappa the armed forces commanders had put their foot down this state of affairs where the retired armed forces personnel are literally begging for OROP would never have happened.
Coming to OROP, I am afraid that what we understand in the classical concept of OROP will not be sanctioned.
I hope to god I am wrong, but 2 or 3 decades hence the Indian state will have to pay a heavy price for the antics of the political leaders from the time of Nehru to Narendra Modi.
The despair of Indian Armed Forces veterans has even reached Singapore, but astonishingly, it has not yet reached the ears of our own esteemed politicians.
ReplyDeleteTheir ears are filled with muck. They only open their mouth to eat what they can and while they can.
DeleteDear Brig Sethi,
DeleteI am thankful for your comment. I wonder what is the solution? Something drastic is required.
thank you sir for your support.
Dear manoj, Indeed our politicians are only good eaters .
DeleteThank you Sir.
DeleteThank you Sir.
DeleteI never applied my mind to OROP, except that I felt a country owes to look after its soldiers, who at times risk their lives, safeguarding the country. And that it wasn't unique requirement for India, but something being done by counties all over the world.
ReplyDeleteLittle analysis of just the two occurrences has revealed a very callous attitudes of our leaders both political and military dealing with the issues of pay, perks and pensions in the past, leading to such pathetic situation where Relay Hunger Strike is on by the Veterans.
Could anyone enlighten as to why in 1973 ie soon after achieving a decisive victory in war (December 71) against Pakistan, military pension was reduced by 28.5% in real terms at the time when the civilians' pension was increased by 51.5% in real terms? (by real terms, I am calculating with reference to pension and not taking the reference to last pay drawn, which reduces the impact in real terms).
Its stated this was done with a promise of OROP. But where was a need to reduce the existing pension? It wasn't coming in the way of OROP, which would have simply replaced what was existing.
And who accepted NFU (non functional upgradation) linkages for grade A services in terms of length of service with IAS without safeguarding the military against adverse effects in terms of both the pay and seniority? Thus leading to situations where officers who were getting less pay than military persons working in same appointments, suddenly started getting more pay and status while continuing doing the same job?
Problem is not bureaucracy, but the problem is lack of application of mind by our politicians.
You have raised some very relevant points. I am afraid the entire blame cannot be on the bureaucracy but also in great measure on the general staff led by the COAS.
Delete