Browne demands fair representation of forces in 7th Pay panel

IAF Chief NAK Browne has demanded a fair representation of the armed forces in the 7th Pay Commission, announced today, against the backdrop of controversies over alleged anomalies in implementation of the last pay panel report.

In a letter written to Defence Minister A K Antony this month, the armed forces have also backtracked from their earlier demand of having a separate pay commission for the military personnel.

"The IAF chief, who is also the Chairman, Chiefs of Staffs Committee, has asked the Defence Minister and through him, from the government to have a full representation of the armed forces in the central pay commission," an IAF official said here.

The IAF wants that with an appropriate representation of the armed forces in the 7th Central Pay Commission, all the issues related to the pay parity, military service pay and rank pay issues can be addressed holistically by the government, officials said.

On the issue of having a separate pay commission for the armed forces, the IAF chief has said that this was one of the recommendations of the Group of Secretaries formed in 2008 to look into the alleged anomalies of the armed forces.

But in the letter, Browne said that a pay commission with representation of armed forces would help in achieving the objectives for getting a fair deal for the military.

After the demands made by the armed forces in 2008, the Prime Minister's Office in 2009 informed the Defence Ministry that the armed forces personnel would henceforth have a separate pay commission, which is delinked from the civilian pay panel.

After the armed forces expressed their displeasure over the pay commission recommendations in 2008, the government had set up a committee to address the issues.

Issues related to alleged anomalies are still pending with the government and Defence Minister A K Antony had last year written a letter to the Prime Minister over the "growing discontent among the services personnel due to the anomalies in payment and salaries".