Neglect of Armed Forces is not good for the nation

India suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Chinese in the 1962 war, when we lost over 3,000 soldiers and a chunk of our territory to them. This was the result of political miscalculations and pushing an ill-equipped Army into the war. We learnt lessons after paying the heavy price, equipped the military and did well in the 1965 war, forcing Pakistan to take recourse to negotiations. Further consolidation and preparations brought about the spectacular victory in the 1971 war when East Pakistan was liberated to form Bangladesh, with 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendering, the second biggest surrender in military history.

After 1971, India has not fought a full-scale war. Kargil was a limited conflict in 1999. Over the years, the Army has been fully engaged in internal security, fighting insurgents, fighting calamities like flood, earthquakes, maintenance of law and order during civil unrest, rescue of children from borewells, etc. In all such operations, the Army has performed exceedingly well, winning the hearts of the countrymen. But, sadly, only damage has been inflicted on the Armed Forces by all governments since 1971, affecting their morale and dignity.

At the time of Partition, the Commander-in-Chief was No. 2 in the order of precedence, next only to the Viceroy. The demotion started soon after Independence and, today, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) stands at No. 12. Field Marshal Maneckshaw lived for 35 years after he was promoted to the rank, but there is no mention of Field Marshal in the order of precedence. A Bharat Ratna awardee is placed at No. 7, but there is no place for a Param Vir Chakra awardee. In Britain, everyone, including cabinet ministers, stand by for a Victoria Cross-winner to pass by; in India, a Param Vir Chakra-winner is like anyone else on the road.

Prior to the Third Pay Commission, Defence personnel were receiving pensions at 70% of their last-drawn salary in view of their early retirement. The Third Pay Commission brought down their pensions to 50% -- at par with civilians who retire at 60. The reservation of jobs for ex-servicemen is a mere 3% when around 50,000 servicemen retire every year.

The One Rank One Pension (OROP) recommended by the Koshyari Committee, set up by the UPA government, was endorsed by Parliament but the government dilly-dallied on its implementation. OROP was a promise by Prime Minister Modi during the election campaign in 2014, but implementation has only been partial. To add insult to injury, no revision took place in 2019 as was promised. The veterans community had demanded a revision every two years, which the govt rejected. Lakhs of crores of rupees have been spent by the government to wriggle out of the bad debts of banks, but for implementing OROP, they don’t have the money!

In Defence Headquarters, a Colonel or equivalent was designated as ‘Director’ till 2017. In 2017, the Ministry of Defence downgraded Colonels to ‘Joint Director’. There was a hue and cry all around after this degradation. Finally, the government promised that parity as before would be reinstated, but on the ground the demotion remains. The Sixth Pay Commission granted Non-Functional Upgradation for all central services and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). However, the same has been denied to the Armed Forces.

The recent proposal to cut the pension by 25-50% for premature retirees is destructive. As per the pension regulations, a premature retiree can leave with full pensionary benefits of his length of service after 20 years. The present proposal makes 35 years’ service mandatory for full pension benefits. With this proposal, anyone leaving between 20-35 years of service would get pension at only 50% level. The proposal is double damage as it will cost the government, too -- the units and formations will have too many superseded officers, that too in the higher age groups, with medical liabilities.

There are very many issues on which the government has inflicted deep wounds on servicemen. The service ration, which was introduced in 1982, was suddenly withdrawn in 2018. It was restored after the government came under all-round criticism. The facility of hotel stay for officers on temporary duty remains withdrawn. All Defence officers on temporary duty have to stay in Defence facilities whereas their civilian counterparts in Defence are entitled to the best hotel accommodation.

What’s more, the government is fighting numerous cases in the Supreme Court, spending crores of rupees, to deny disability and other benefits to the next of kin/widows of deceased soldiers. The money spent in fighting court cases is sufficient to mitigate their grievances, but the government has chosen to deny them. For the speedy disposal of grievances, the government set up the Armed Forces Tribunals, but the award of the tribunals are challenged by the government in court, defeating the very purpose of setting them up. Today, many of the tribunals are defunct as no judges/members have been appointed. The list of woes is endless.

Why is this injustice meted out to Defence forces every time? They are prohibited by law from forming a union and demanding their dues. But they have been pushed to an extent that dissatisfaction and dissent has started to crop up. The recent incidents of mutiny by jawans against officers and as many as 700 servicemen approaching the Supreme Court on various issues are all the results of this neglect. The man behind the weapon is more critical than the weapon. It will be a sad day for the country when a soldier has to demand his dues. It is high time that the government stops the neglect of the Armed Forces and restores their dignity, status and perks, lest at some stage it may cost the nation heavily.