Defence services, India: personnel issues
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.
|
AWOL
SC judgement
The Times of India, October 29, 2015
He who goes AWOL can't be good soldier
A rmy personnel who go on unauthorised leave can never be A good soldiers and there is nothing wrong in discharging such persons from force without issuing show cause notice, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. A bench of Justices A R Dave and A K Goel upheld the government decision to discharge army man Manoj Deswal who went on leave without taking permission from his commanding officer. The SC said no special notice is required to be given before discharge of a person if he is accused of such indiscipline.
Dismissal of Adm Bhagwat, impatience with Gen V K Singh
The Times of India, Mar 29, 2012
Is Admiral Bhagwat saga playing out again?
On December 30, 1998, shortly after midday a special aircraft arrived at the naval base in Kochi, and almost around the same time the then defence minister George Fernandes was on line with vice admiral Sushil Kumar, the then commander-in-chief of Southern Naval Command. Fernandes asked Kumar to collect a letter carried by the pilot and report to Delhi by 6pm the same day. “The President is pleased to promote you to the rank of admiral and appoint you in command of the Indian Navy as chief of the Naval Staff, with effect from PM 30 December, 1998,’’ it said. Almost simultaneously, the then Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat was served another order: “The President has withdrawn his pleasure for your continuation in the Indian Navy for lack of confidence in you as the chief of the Naval Staff, with effect from PM 30 December, 1998.” It drew the curtains on a tumultuous standoff between Admiral Bhagwat and the defence ministry that was going on for several weeks. For many veterans and serving officers, the present developments surrounding Army chief Gen V K Singh have brought back memories of that unique event in Independent India: the sacking of a military chief.
The developments over past few days have painted the government into a corner over how to deal with the Army chief, who first dragged the government to the Supreme Court over the age issue, and now has repeatedly embarrassed the government over bribery claims and by leaking his letter to the PM. The Rajya Sabha in 2012 witnessed an unusual political consensus, and concern about the leak of the detailed letter written by General Singh to the PM expressing concern about the Army’s preparedness. While there are several parallels between 1998 and now, there is something else that stands out in case of General Singh.
Defence minister A K Antony received overwhelming support from political parties for any possible action to be taken against the Army chief. Some opposition members took care to tell the ruling front MPs that they wouldn’t be doing what the Congress and Left did to them when Admiral Bhagwat was sacked. In 1999, when the BJP-led NDA government sacked Bhagwat, Congress and Left parties had opposed the sacking. The sacking of Bhagwat came about after weeks of standoff between the two sides senior level postings, but soon spread to operational matters and even strategic outlook. The MoD had launched scathing and repeated attacks on Bhagwat, who retaliated in his inimitable way. However, the government soon ran out of patience, and sacked the Admiral, and made history.
Deaths during peacetime
2014-17
Defence services peacetime casualties, 2014-17
From: Rajat Pandit, Accidents, suicides, ailments kill 1,600 soldiers every year, December 3, 2017: The Times of India
See graphic:
Defence services wartime casualties, 1947-1999; Defence services peacetime casualties, 2014-17
Without going to war, India loses around 1,600 military personnel every year. And the single biggest killers are road accidents and suicides, much more than counter-insurgency operations or firing duels with Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
Latest figures collated by TOI show that road accidents claim the lives of over 350 soldiers, sailors and airmen every year, while another 120 personnel take the extreme step of committing suicide. Other big causes are training accidents and various health reasons, which itself is a big worry for the forces that are supposed to be fighting fit.
India does have the dubious distinction of recording the highest number of road deaths in the world, as also one of the highest suicide rates, but the same being reflected in the highlydisciplined and trained environs of the armed forces is alarming for many.
The Army, Navy and IAF have lost over 6,500 personnel just since 2014. The highest toll, of course, is found in the 11.73-lakh strong Army, which dwarfs the IAF and Navy in terms of sheer manpower.
“Physical casualties” are more than 12 times the number of “battle casualties” in the Army. If the force recorded 112 fatal battle casualties in border skirmishes, shelling, counter-insurgency operations and operational accidents in “notified areas” in 2016, it lost over 1,480 soldiers due to physical casualties.
This year, the battle casualties in Army have just about crossed 80 till now, while the physical casualties have already touched 1,060.
Sources say Army chief General Bipin Rawat last month expressed concern about his force losing “nearly two battalions (each battalion has 700-800 soldiers) worth of personnel every year” due to physical casualties. “He has stressed the urgent need to address this issue…new measures are being put in place, while the older ones are being fine-tuned,” said an officer.
Road accidents remain a big worry. A series of directives have been issued for proper training of drivers, regular monitoring and medical fitness tests, and strict punishing of errant or negligent behaviour.
“Night driving, if not operationally required, is also being discouraged. But the Army is also huge in terms of manpower, with massive vehicular movement in difficult terrains around the country every day,” said a senior officer.
Stress-related deaths like suicides and fratricide (to kill a fellow soldier or superior) also take a huge toll. Over 330 soldiers, including nine officers and 19 junior commissioned officers, have committed suicide since 2014. There have also been a dozen cases of fratricide in the timeframe.
Suicide cases in the armed forces have showed no signs of reducing despite all the so-called measures being undertaken to reduce stress among soldiers, airmen and sailors deployed in far-flung areas away from their families, as earlier reported by TOI.
Soldiers undergo mental stress for not being able to take care of the problems being faced by their families back home, which could range from property disputes and harassment by anti-social elements to financial and marital problems.
Prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and north-east also takes a toll on the physical and mental endurance of soldiers. All this is also compounded by relatively poor salaries, denial of leave, lack of basic amenities and ineffectual leadership.
Measures being implemented to stem this trend range from provision of mental counselling and improvement in living and working conditions to provision of additional family accommodation, a liberalised leave policy and strengthening of grievance redressal mechanisms.
Dismissal from service
Act of cowardice
The Supreme Court has granted pension to eight soldiers who were dismissed by the Army for an act of cowardice during a militant attack in 2003 on an EME battalion in Akhnoor of Jammu & Kashmir.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar partly allowed the Union government's appeal against the decision of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), which had ordered their reinstatement with full back wages. The SC granted them only pension benefits and refused back wages.
Nine soldiers were on guard duty in Akhnoor on July 22, 2003, when terrorists struck at around 5.50 am and attempted to move towards the quarter guard area where arms and ammunition were stored.
The nine soldiers who formed the rear guard failed to take action to neutralise the terrorists. During a Court of Inquiry , it was found that most of these nine soldiers had returned almost the entire ammunition allotted to them (one of them returned 37 rounds of the 40 rounds of ammunition allowed to him). The CoI found the soldiers blameworthy of displaying cowardice, failing to take effective steps to counter the threat and failing to neutralise the terrorists despite being armed.
Challenging the AFT decision, additional solicitor general Maninder Singh argued that there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate that these soldiers displayed cowardice. The bench agreed with Sing but decided to take a lenient view since seven of the eight dismissed soldiers had reached the age of superannuation.
Disability pension for schizophrenia
AmitAnand Choudhary, Cannot Deny Disability Pension: Court, Feb 24, 2017: The Times of India
SC relief for family of schizophrenic ex-soldier
The Supreme Court has come to the rescue of the family of an ex-Armyman who was discharged from service for suffering from schizophrenia but was denied disability pension on the ground that his psychiatric disorder was not triggered because of his job. The Armyman died in 2015.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi said Army personnel were recruited after extensive medical tests and if a soldier developed any mental disorder later, it would be presumed that it was caused because of the work. It said the government could not deny disability pension if someone was discharged due to stressrelated mental disorder.
“A general presumption is to be drawn that a member is presumed to have been in sound physical and mental condition upon entering service except as to physical disabilities noted or recorded at the time of entrance. If a person is discharged from service on medical ground for deterio ration in his health, it is to be presumed that the deterioration in the health has taken place due to service,“ the bench said. The court passed the order on the plea of family members of Laxmanram Poonia who was discharged after he was detected to be suffering from `acute schizophrenia like psychotic disorder'. He had served in the 27 AD Regiment for four years. Poonia died in 2015, two months after the Armed Force Tribunal dismissed his pension plea. His legal heirs then moved SC.
Advocate Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Poonia's family members, contended that he was physically and mentally fit when he was inducted in the Army but developed mental disorder and hypertension due to continuous duty hours for several days. She said his medical condition deteriorated as he was not allowed leave and was overburdened with work due to scarcity of staff.
The government refuted the allegation and told the bench that Poonia's medical condition was not work related and he must have been suffering from the illness before joining the force.
It contended that a person's psychiatric disorder could not be detected in the medical examination conducted at the time of enrolment. The bench, however, rejected the Centre's contention and said there was nothing on record to show that he was suffering from the illness at the time of joining the force.
“When he was enrolled in the Army on September 14, 2005, nothing was recorded in his service record that he was suffering from any disease or disability. Likewise, during the entire period of training and while he was performing his service there was no sign of any abnormal behaviour or disability. For the first time, in or about 2007, he is alleged to have shown his agitated behaviour,“ the bench said. “In the absence of any evidence on record to show that he was suffering from any such disease like schizophrenia at the time of entering into military service, it will be presumed that he was in sound mental condition at the time of entering into military service and the deterioration of health has taken place due to military service,“ it added.
Civilians’ emoluments vis-à-vis defence personnel
2004 onwards: Defence personnel paid considerably higher than civilians
The Times of India, November 23, 2015
Pradeep Thakur
Post-2004, salary gap continues to widen: Panel analysis
Defence personnel get higher pay than civilian counterparts
Officers of the three defence services -Army, IAF and Navy -are paid 29% higher salary compared to their civilian counterparts from the IAS, IPS and other Group A services at the starting level, the seventh pay panel has said. For post-2004 recruits, this pay differential has increased to 43% in favour of defence officers as civil servants who joined thereafter have to contribute towards pension benefits. This gap continues to remain wide at over 20% in favour of defence officers for the first nine years of service and remains uninterruptedly higher for 32 years.
“It does not take into account allowances, which are intended to compensate for specific hardships and risks that (defence) officers face in the discharge of their duties,“ the pay panel noted while doing a comparative analysis of salaries of defence officials with civil servants.
The analysis of pay does not account for other benefits in cash and kind admissible to defence officers such as free rations, tax concession for canteen, travel in railways and by air and free electricity up to 100 units each month.
The comparison was drawn after the three defence services in their joint memorandum urged the panel to maintain their edge in pay over civil servants. In its report submitted to the government on Thursday , the pay panel observed that after the sixth pay commission award, “the pay of defence service officers remains un interruptedly higher for a 32year period. Thereafter, pay of defence and civil service officers are at par“.
“The edge in initial pay for defence service officers, which was 7% post-third CPC, fell marginally to 4% and 3% in the fourth and fifth CPC respectively, has postsixth CPC increased sharply to 29%,“ the report said.
The commission, however, justified the pay edge and said, “Defence forces personnel are trained for war-like situations with highly sophisticated war machinery . They have to keep themselves posted in modern warfare. The military institutions are a key symbol of national pride.“
Further, a study commissioned by the seventh pay panel showed that salaries of defence officers and JCO ORs in India, based on sixth CPC pay scales, compared favourably with that of defence personnel in countries like the US and the UK, where the GDP per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms is significantly higher than that of India -9.4 times in the case of the US and 6.7 times in the case of the UK.
The pay panel clarified that these conclusions were equally applicable to civilian employees who were similarly placed. The Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses carried out the study comparing the salary structure of personnel in the Indian defence forces with that of UK and US on PPP basis.
Emoluments of service chiefs
2016: After the 7th pay commission
The Times of India, Apr 27 2016
Pradeep Thakur
A comparison drawn by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a defence ministry think tank, on the pay packets of Army chiefs and equivalent in the US, the UK and India said a general and equivalent in the US was paid $181,500 per annum (in PPP terms). The salary in the UK for similar ranks was $269,868. In India, the three services chiefs, who enjoy pay equivalent to the Cabinet secretary , received $140,520.
If the recommendations of the 7th pay panel are implemented, the Indian Army chief 's annual salary will jump to $189,482 (in PPP terms), almost $8,000 more than what a general and equivalent ranks draw in the US. The huge salary hikes will apply equally to civilian officers too.
India's annual per capita income is $5,833 (in PPP terms) while it is $54,630 in the US and $39,137 in the UK. The purchasing power parity conversion factor, used worldwide to compare income levels in different countries, is “the number of units of a country's currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as a dollar would buy in the US“.
The pay panel observed, in light of protests by the three Service chiefs asking for more money and perks, that “defence service officers and JCOORs in India, based on 6th CPC pay scales, are placed quite well in terms of pay , even in relation to defence personnel in countries like US and UK, where the GDP per capita in PPP terms for the country as a whole is significantly higher than that of India“.
These conclusions are, however, equally applicable to civilian employees of the government who are similarly placed. The pay panel's analysis did not take into account the augmentation of pay being recommended by the 7th CPC.
The IDSA, an autonomous institution funded by the government, was in 2015 commissioned by the Pay Commission to study how well the military and the generals were paid.
Gallantry award winners
Allowances doubled: 2017
Union government has finally doubled the monthly allowances for gallantry medals won during wars and peace, but they are still far away from being substantial. Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), country’s highest medal during war, and its peacetime equivalent Ashoka Chakra (AC), for instance, will still get only Rs 20,000 and Rs 12,000 per month, respectively.
Gallantry award winners also get one-time cash awards or plots from their state governments but they vary widely with no uniformity. “They range from a paltry Rs 22,500 (PVC) and Rs 20,000 (AC) in Gujarat to Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore in Punjab and Haryana. States like Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Bihar give between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for ACs and PVCs,” said an officer.
Medals like PVC and AC are awarded — mostly posthumously — for “pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice”. Only 21 PVCs, for instance, have so far been awarded despite India having fought several wars and conflicts since the 1947-48 J&K operations. Similarly, just 83 ACs have been awarded till now.
“The meagre monthly allowances are embarrassing,” said Subedar Major and Honorary Captain Bana Singh (retd), who was awarded the PVC for “displaying the most conspicuous gallantry and leadership under the most adverse conditions” while dislodging entrenched Pakistani soldiers from a post located at an altitude of 21,000-feet in the Siachen Glacier in 1987.
Colonel D P K Pillay (retd), awarded a Shaurya Chakra for saving the lives of two children despite being injured during counter-insurgency operations in Manipur in 1994, was much more critical about the “raw deal” gallantry medal winners get in India. “While common people have a lot of regard for our heroes, disdain among babus in defence ministry is clearly visible. It’s not just about monetary benefits but honour and respect.”
Incidentally, the BJP manifesto for 2009 Lok Sabha elections had promised 10-fold hike in monetary allowances for gallantry medals, which included Rs 30,000 for PVC from the then Rs 3,000 per month, with retrospective effect. But as per the new monetary allowances announced on Wednesday, which come into effect from August 1, a PVC awardee or his widow will get only Rs 20,000 per month.
Junior commissioned officers (JCOs)
‘JCOs are gazetted officers’
JCOs are gazetted officers, says Army, November 3, 2017: The Times of India
Amid the persisting heart-burn in the armed forces over the entire issue of rank equivalence between military officers and their civilian counterparts, the Army has clarified junior commissioned officers (JCOs) like Subedar Majors, Subedars and Naik Subedars are “gazetted officers (Class-B)“ and not “nongazetted“ officers.
While the clarification will come as a relief for the over 90,000 JCOs in the 12lakh strong Army , the officers in the three Services are waiting with bated breath for the defence ministry's decision on the contentious rank parity issue.
The defence ministry (MoD) in October last year had issued a controversial letter to equate a Major General (Rear Admiral in Navy and Air Vice-Marshal in IAF) with a principal director in Armed Force Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service. Similarly, a Brigadier (CommodoreAir Commodore) with 25-26 years of service was made equivalent to a director (with about 14 years of service), and a ColonelCaptain Group captain to a joint director in the civil service.
After a major uproar in the armed forces, the MoD had clarified that the “entire issue“ would be re-examined by a three-member committee, headed by an additional secretary-rank officer, with the aim to “resolve it once and for all“. But nothing much has come out of it till now.
MoD officials, however, say the rank-parity issue is being “studied from all angles“ in great detail. “It's no one's intention to benefit one side at the cost of the other. We are also being cautious that no false equivalence is created or allowed,“ said an official.
As for the JCOs, the Army headquarters has cancelled a communication issued by it in 2011, in response to an RTI application, which had stated that the JCOs had the status of non-gazetted officers. Correcting the “major mistake“, the Army headquarters has now made it clear that JCOs are gazetted officers to remove the confusion.
Pension, disability-
The position in 2016
ii) Percentage of officers retiring with disability vis-à-vis JCOs/ ORs, 2006-13.
Count Of Officers Retiring With Disability Rose Sharply In '13-'14
The government's decision to discard the 6th CPC's percentage-based determination -30% of last drawn basic pay for 100% disability -with a slab-based one in the 7th CPC is intended to bring more equity among different ranks risking their lives in battlefield operations.
After the 6th CPC, when percentage-based calculation was introduced, for 100% disability at the lowest rank for jawans, the disability pension went up from Rs 1,550 to Rs 3,138, a little over double, while at the highest level for officers, it rose from Rs 2,600 to Rs 27,000, more than 10 times.
The disparity seemed to reflect in disability being reported in the higher ranks of brigadier and above. Officers retiring with disability in the armed forces increased from 13% in 2007-08 to 20% in 2013-14. On the other hand, jawans and JCOs retiring with disability decreased from 19% in 2007-08 to 7% in 2013-14.
There are 13.20 lakh soldiers and other ranks who stand to lose from this skewed system that seems to benefit 66,700 officers (strength of the three Services). Military officers have been demanding that the government make an upward revision of disability pension from the 6th pay level of 30% of last pay drawn to 50% of last pay in cases of 100% disability .
But this would mean a retired general with 100% disability will draw pension equal to the pay of a serving general. A soldier at the bottom of the curve will get an additional Rs 10,00015,000 per month, besides the normal pension, in case of 100% disability . Disability pension is in addition to normal pension.
As per the new slab of the 7th pay panel, officers of the three Services, including honorary commissioned officers, will get Rs 27,000 per month disability pension in addition to normal pension in case of 100% disability . Subedar major, subedar, naib subedar and equivalent ranks in other Services would get Rs 17,000 a month; havildar, naik and sepoy would get Rs 12,000. The equity between the highest paid disability pension to officers and at the lowest rank has been restored to the pre-6th pay panel level.
According to the 7th CPC, the ratio of maximum to minimum compensation for disability across the ranks witnessed a decline from 4.85 prior to the 3rd CPC to 1.67 after the 5th CPC. But as a consequence of implementation of the percentage-based system in the 6th CPC, the ratio of maximum to minimum was reversed to 8.60.
After implementation of the percentage-based disability pension, it was noticed that more senior officers in the rank of brigadier and above were claiming disability and “Service officers invalidated out and one who served on and retired in due course got the same quantum of disability element“ in their monthly remuneration package.
Pension, family-
Op. Falcon (for China) not on par with Ops. Rakshak, Meghdoot (Pak LoC)
Did you know that Army soldiers deployed on the borders with Pakistan and China are treated differently in terms of benefits to their families if they are killed in accidents or while performing operational duties in the face of enemy forces?
Kin of soldiers who die on the western front with Pakistan get “liberalised“ family pensions and “enhanced“ ex gratia, but those on the northern and eastern fronts with China do not. The Army has been battling to get this “continuing injustice“ recti fied for decades, but without any success till now.
A liberalised family pension is equivalent (100%) to the last-drawn pay of a soldier. In sharp contrast, the family pension for a soldier who dies on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is only 60% of the last-drawn pay . Enhanced ex gratia to the family of a soldier dying on the Line of Control (LoC) would amount to around Rs 45 lakh, while it would be around Rs 35 lakh on the LAC.
The issue has become all the more relevant with addi the more relevant with additional Indian troops being forward deployed in hostile high-altitude regions along the 4,057-km LAC with China, stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, as a fallout of the Doklam stand-off. It's crucial to understand that the terrain and oper ational conditions on the LAC often have far more challenges than the 778-km-long LoC and the 198-km international boundary in J&K with Pakistan, said a senior officer.
“Families of soldiers who have laid down their lives in the line of duty , whether due to cross-border firings or accidents and avalanches, should not be treated differently . But the families of soldiers on the LAC get less benefits as compared to those on LoC and IB,“ he added.
Successive governments, for one, have refused to ac cord official sanctity to Operation Falcon, which was launched way back in late 1986 by then Army chief General K Sundarji along the border in Arunachal Pradesh to counter Chinese incursions in the region. The show of strength and diplomatic parleys ultimately led to Rajiv Gandhi becoming the first Indian PM to visit China, at the invitation of Premier Li Peng, in 34 years.
Notification or promulgation of Operation Falcon would lead to better death and disability benefits or “higher compensation“ for soldiers who continue to be forward deployed along the LAC, on the lines of the noti fied Operation Rakshak along the LoC or Operation Meghdoot under way since 1984 in the Siachen GlacierSaltoro Ridge region. As per rules, a soldier is declared a “battle casualty“ if the death or injury occurs in an operationally notified area.
But after the defence ministry's repeated rejections on the ground that LAC was not “a live border with a war-like situation“ like the LoC, which was also a reflection of the long-prevailing ultra-defensive mindset vis-à-vis China, the Army changed tack around the time the Modi government took office.
Keeping aside Operation Falcon's notification, the force pushed for “liberal ised“ family pensions and “enhanced“ ex gratia for families of soldiers who die on the LAC. Renewed ef forts were launched earlier this year before the Doklam crisis erupted in mid-June.
“But nothing concrete has happened till now due to general politico-bureau cratic apathy . The files just keep travelling between different wings and depart ments in the defence minis try ,“ said a source.
Injuries from defective equipment
HC: ‘Pay Wg.Cdr. Kalia Rs 55 lakh’
In a ruling that may force manufacturers to improve their safety track record of defence equipment, the Delhi high court on Tuesday held the government and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) liable for injuries received by an IAF pilot in an air crash.
The pilot, Sanjeet Singh Kalia, was rendered unfit to fly after his MiG-21 developed a snag mid-air and crashed. He suffered debilitating wounds while trying to save a village in Rajasthan from the crashing jet in 2005, ejecting at the last moment.
Asking Centre and HAL to compensate Kalia, a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Deepa Sharma on Tuesday observed that officers of the armed forces cannot be put to “more risk than they had bargained for“, and directed the Centre and the PSU aircraft manufacturer to pay Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh respectively.
In his plea filed through advocate Bharat S Kumar, Kalia, who is a serving wing commander, focused on fixing accountability on HAL and government for handing him a defective jet that led to the crash and left him with debilitating neck and back pain.
He submitted that the intent behind filing the petition was to ensure that “HAL is made accountable and aware of the ramifications of their actions, impacting the security of this country .“ MiG-21s are notorious for their poor safety track-record and have been derided as “flying coffin“ and “widow maker.“
Kalia also sought directions to the government and HAL to issue a formal apology for alleged manufacturing defect and faulty workmanship of the MiG-21fighter jet.
The HC concurred and held that putting officers of the armed forces into more than expected “normal risk“ is against the fundamental right to life, especially the right to work in a safe environment guaranteed under the Constitution. It held HAL liable to compensate the officer for “exposing him to more than a reasonable risk.“
“Immediately after take off, the petitioner experienced a drift to the left side of the aircraft. Simultaneously , the petitioner was informed by a pilot flying the second aircraft about a fire at the jet's rear end. Assessing the emergency , the petitioner promptly carried out all essential directives and lowered the landing gear of the aircraft for a landing,“ Kalia's petition said.
“Despite a near-complete enginecontrol failure and at grave risk to his own life, the petitioner continued to stay put in an almost uncontrollable aircraft so as to steer it away to safety from a nearby village... to save human life, the petitioner ejected only seconds before the crash,“ it said.
Kaila claimed that despite sending a representation to the government on December 25, 2012, seeking justice by compensating him for the loss suffered by as a result of the air crash, no response was given by the government.
Recruitment, training
Future officers to be engineers
After Navy, IAF Makes BTech Must Cyborgs like `Terminators', or even `Ironman' for that matter, may still figure only in the realm of fiction, but with modernday warfare becoming more and more technology-intensive, the Indian armed forces want to be prepared for battles of the future. So, with the aim of inducting “high-tech“ warriors for digitised and network-centric battlefields in the years ahead, the armed forces are now slowly but steadily making it mandatory for new officers to be engineering graduates.
With long-range unmanned combat drones akin to fighter jets, directed-energy weapons like lasers and highpowered microwaves, complex ballistic missile defences, hypersonic missiles, cyber warfare and the like increasingly becoming the norm, the forces desperately need “techsavvy“ officers at all levels.
First, it was the Navy that kicked off the BTech programme for cadets who join the tri-Service National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakwasla (Pune) after Class 12. And now, the IAF has also made it “compulsory“ for cadets at the NDA.The Army has left it “optional“ for now, officials said.
BTech in applied electron ics and engineering was launched for Naval cadets at the NDA from the June 2016 course. It began for IAF cadets from January 2017, while the one for Army cadets is planned to commence from the coming December course.
Around 350-400 cadets join the NDA after clearing the UPSC exam and SSB (Services Selection Board) interviews every six months for the three-year course. “Cadets, apart from undergoing military training and learning leadership skills, used to complete their BSc degree in the three years at NDA till now,“ a senior officer said.
“Now, they will do three years of BTech programme at NDA, without impacting their core military training, and do the fourth year at their respective Army , Navy and IAF academies,“ he added.
The Navy was the first service to ensure all its new officers were armed with BTech degrees, or at least an MSc (applied electronics) degree, because of the unprecedented expansion in warship technology , with state-of-the art weapon and sensor systems coming into play , as was first reported by TOI.
The force has now also taken to shortlisting candidates for its direct 10+2 cadetentry scheme for the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala (Kerala) on the basis of performances in the Joint Entrance Exam (Main).
The IAF, too, is looking to the future now. “While flying skills are very important, technical skills will give fighter pilots the edge they need to vanquish rivals.Fourthand fifth-generation fighter jets are, in any case, very complex flying machines,“ an officer said.
With cyberspace and space also emerging as new frontiers of warfare, apart from the traditional ones of land, sea and air, the armed forces are trying to build dedicated cadres of information technology experts.
Cyber-weapons, after all, can cripple a country's strategic networks and energy grids, banking and communications, and even sabotage its nuclear programme.
Recruitment rules
Height requirement for Himalayans: 163cm
Yeshika Budhwar, Army eases height norm for hill people, August 19, 2017: The Times of India
The Indian Army has fulfilled a long-standing demand of people from Himalayan states to reduce the minimum height requirement for soldiers from 166 cm to 163 cm.Sources said that a notification in this regard has been sent to regimental centres in the western Himalayan region by Army headquarters.
The western Himalayan region includes Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Hills (the area south and west of the interstate border between Himachal Pradesh and Punjab as well as north and east of Mukerian, Hoshiarpur, GarhShankar, Ropar and Chandigarh). Confirming the development, a top source in the Army told TOI, “The Army has decided to reduce the minimum height requirement by 3 cm for natives of the western Himalayan region. The order will be implemented from October 1. The concession has been made on the demands of people from hilly areas who claimed that they were unable to join the Army because of their height.“
Former defence minister Manohar Parrikar during a visit to Dehradun in 2016 had said that relaxation in height would be implemented on pri ority, which had been reiterated by Army chief General Bipin Rawat. The demand for height relaxation for applicants to the armed forces has been raised often by local politicians and MPs in the past.
The Army has different height requirements for separate regions. The eastern Himalayan region has a minimum height requirement of 160cm. For western plains region the minimum height required is 170cm, while it is 169cm for eastern plains. The height requirement is 168cm and 166cm for central & southern regions respectively .
Increase in number of aspirants in pre-recruitment training camps
Yeshika Budhwar, Army height bar down, applications up 30%, October 25, 2017: The Times of India
The Indian Army's decision to reduce the minimum height requirement for recruits from Himalayan states has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of aspirants applying to pre-recruitment training camps, with the figure shooting up by as much as 30% in Uttarakhand alone.
The Army had in August reduced the height criteria from 166cm to 163cm for recruits from the western Himalayan regions of J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab as well as Garhwal and Kumaon in Uttarakhand. The impact of the new rule has been “immediate and drastic“, say organizers of prerecruitment training camps in Uttarakhand.
An Army recruitment official (ARO) on condition of anonymity told TOI that the number of applicants to the Army had indeed risen.“Approximately 18,000 youths had appeared in the recruitment drive held by the Army in Gauchar in Chamoli district in April while 22,000 aspirants lined up at the recruitment drive in Dehradun in October.Several young men who had been rejected in previous drives after failing the height criteria participated in the latest recruitment exercise.“ This was the first recruitment drive conducted by the Army in Uttarakhand after the new height rule came into effect from October 1.
Col Ajay Kothiyal, principal, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, who also founded the Youth Foundation Uttarakhand which organizes pre-recruitment training camps, told TOI, “After the Army eased the minimum height requirement in August, the number of applicants to pre-recruitment camps went up by 30% in September. In the next camp in November, we are expecting 70% more applications to pour in. Many people in remote areas are still unaware about the reduction in height criteria which is why we are expecting the percentage to increase further.“
Suraj Negi, member, Youth Foundation Uttarakhand, added, “Recruitment drives are held twice a year by the Army . The next one will be in March or April 2018 and cover districts of Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Tehri, so many more people are expected to apply .“
Amit Kumar, 20, from Pauri, is among the lucky ones to have passed the physical test conducted by the Army in Gauchar after the height rule was eased. “I was rejected twice since I'm 165cm tall. I was elated after I heard that the minimum height requirement has been reduced and I applied again.“
Sexual harassment, discrimination
2015-17: 12 complaints
A dozen women officers in the armed forces have lodged complaints of harassment and discrimination over the last two years, even as the government is working towards increasing more avenues for women in the Army , Navy and IAF.
Stating this in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Tues day , minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre said six cases of harassment and discrimination against women officers have been recorded in the Army since 2015. The Navy had three such cases, while IAF had two. Another such case took place in the military medical and nursing stream last year.
Women constitute a miniscule minority in the overwhelmingly male-dominated environs of the 14lakh strong armed forces, even though they are being commissioned as officers since the early-1990s.
Women officers currently number just 3,578 of the 66,044 officers in the three Services. There are also 1,288 women doctorsdentists as well as 4,094 nursing officers in the armed forces.
’Stealing the affections of a brother officer's wife’
Tribunal/ 2016: be lenient
Can't sack pilot for adultery, IAF told. Oct 20 2016 : The Times of India
Time Has Come To View Marital Ties, Infidelity A Bit Leniently: Tribunal
The military has been asked by the Armed Forces Tribunal to take a more lenient view on extramarital affairs and not award punishment as harsh as dismissal from service in such cases.
The observations by the Kolkata bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal were made while adjudicating a case last month related to the cashiering of a young Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, Flight Lieutenant Ishan Sharan, who was found guilty by a court of inquiry (CoI) of an extramarital affair with the officer wife of a brother officer. Squadron Leader Anindita Dasgupta committed suicide after the affair ended and Sharan married another woman four years ago.
The landmark judicial review by the AFT on September 14, 2016 has converted Flight Lieutenant Sharan's sentence from “dismissed from service“ to “released from service“. “The time has come when aspects such as unfortunate break-ups of existing marital relationships, consensual relationships with others and infidelity should not be viewed so seriously as to lead to the dismissal or even graver punishments that the IPC and statutory acts of the Army , Navy and Air Force provide for,“ the tribunal observed in its order.
“While not condoning extramarital relationships, we must at the same time reflect upon the changing mores of our society . With women joining the Armed Forces in large numbers, working closely and socialising with their male counterparts, it is unreasonable to expect that the military would be immune to social changes in relationships between the two sexes,“ the bench said.
Sharan was accused of “failing to exercise caution and restraint by staying with a senior lady officer in her house at Jodhpur's Air Force Station in the absence of her husband“. A CoI found him fit to be dismissed from service as he had been “behaving in a manner unbecoming of an officer by luring a senior lady officer into a relationship, thereby stealing her love and affection“. Anindita's husband, Sqadron Leader Vishak Nair, and Sharan were posted in Jodhpur at the time of the suicide in the intervening night of November 27-28, 2012. The tribunal took exception to the dismissal letter holding Sharan guilty of “stealing the affection of the wife of a brother officer“ and said its wording smacked of a patriarchal mindset.
“While certainly extramarital relations should not only be discouraged and disapproved of in no uncertain terms, to hold only one party responsible, that is, the male and not the female who may be as educated, as mature, even older and senior than the male, is reflective of a predisposed and biased mindset that also assumes that the wife of a brother officer is the property or chattel of the male and not an independent person in her own right who has the freedom to choose to live her life on her own terms,“ the tribunal said. It added, “The CoI did not take into account that in a marriage in the 21st century a well-qualified and educated wife, especially one in the Services and from a cosmopolitan background who holds the same rank as her husband, does have a mind of her own, a free will of her own, may pursue a path, however abhorrent and objectionable to her husband, including having an affair.“
The tribunal held that Sharan's dismissal was harsh, especially when the deceased seemed insistent on continuing with the relationship. It concluded that “at a belated stage, when much water has flowed under the bridge... it would be inexpedient and unwise to ask the Air Force authorities to take a fresh look at the entire episode in the light of the conclusions we have drawn. However, we cannot allow the stigma of dismissal to continue to remain on record given the circumstances of the case“.
Suicides
2009- 2013
597 military personnel have committed suicide in last 5 years, government says
The Times of India Rajat Pandit,TNN | Jul 22, 2014
NEW DELHI: The suicide toll in the highly-disciplined armed forces continues to cross the 100-mark year after year despite all the so-called measures being undertaken by the defence establishment to reduce stress among soldiers.
As many as 597 military personnel committed suicide in 5 years between 2009 and 2013.
Disclosing these figures in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, defence minister Arun Jaitely said, "The government has taken various measures to create an appropriate environment for defence personnel, so that they can perform their duty without any mental stress."
These measures, said Jaitley, include improvement in living and working conditions through provision of better infrastructure and facilities, additional family accommodation, liberalized leave policy, a grievance redressal mechanism, psychological counseling and conduct of yoga and meditation as part of a battalion or unit's routine.
But the steps do not seem to be working very well on the ground.
In the Army, by far the largest of the three services, for instance, 116 soldiers committed suicide in 2010, 105 in 2011 and 95 in 2012. Last year, while 86 soldiers committed suicide, the figure for airmen and sailors stood at 15 and 6.
As reported by The Times of India earlier, stress-related cases in the shape of suicides and "fragging" (to kill or wound a fellow-soldier or superior) incidents have shown no signs of abating, and often also lead to disquiet and "clashes between officers and jawans.
Soldiers posted in far-flung areas often undergo tremendous mental stress for not being able to take care of the problems being faced by their families back home, which could range from property disputes and harassment by anti-social elements to financial and marital problems.
While prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and northeast also takes a toll on the physical endurance and mental health of soldiers, it's compounded by poor salaries, lack of basic amenities, ineffectual leadership and sometimes humiliation at the hands of their officers.
Though former defence minister AK Antony had repeatedly asked state chief ministers and Union Territory lieutenant governors to make their civil district administrations more responsive to grievances of soldiers and their families, the situation remains almost the same.
2012-15: 100+ suicides every year
The Times of India, Dec 12 2015
.jpg)
Armed forces still record at least 100 suicides every year
The armed forces continue to lose around 100 personnel to suicides every year despite all the so-called measures being undertaken by the defence establishment to reduce stress among soldiers.
As many as 413 military personnel have committed suicide just since 2012, minister of state for defence Rao Inderjit Singh told Lok Sabha on Friday . The suicide toll in the 1.13-million strong Army was 334 soldiers since 2012, while the number stood at 67 for IAF and 12 for Navy .
“The major reasons for such incidents include occupational hazards, family issuesdomestic problems, perceived grievances, personal issues, mental built, financial problems and inability to withstand stress,“ said Singh.
As reported by TOI earli er, stress-related cases in the shape of suicides and “fragging“ (to kill a fellow-soldier or superior) incidents have shown no signs of abating and often also lead to disquiet and “clashes“ between offi cers and jawans. The Army ncidentally , has seen eight cases of fragging since 2012.
Soldiers posted in far-flung areas often undergo tremen dous mental stress for not be ng able to take care of the problems being faced by their families back home, which could range from property disputes and harassment by antisocial elements to financial and marital problems.
Prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in J&K and northeast also takes a toll on the physical endurance and mental health of soldiers. All this is also compounded by poor salaries, lack of basic amenities, ineffectual leadership and sometimes humiliation at the hands of their officers. Singh said the government has taken several measures to prevent such incidents, with a large number of officers having being trained as counsellors. “The measures include improvement in living and working conditions through provision of better infrastructure and facilities; additional family accommodation; liberalised leave policy; establishing a grievance redressal mechanism; provision of counselling; conduct of yoga, meditation as part of the unit routine etc,“ he said.
But they have not proved very effective in stemming the suicide rate. In the Army , 69 soldiers have already committed suicide this year, while 13 airmen have also taken their lives in the IAF.
“One of the biggest worries for jawans is the hardships their families face back home. With mobile phones, our jawans keep on getting constant updates from their families, which adds to their mental stress and strain,“ said an officer.
Widows’ issues
Liberalised family pension to continue after remarriage
Castigated by courts for following “derogatory and draconian policies”, the defence ministry has scrapped an archaic rule that restricted payment of monetary allowances to a gallantry award winner’s widow if she re-married someone other than her late husband’s brother.
“The government, after considering the issue and receiving several representations, has now decided to remove the condition of the widow’s remarriage with her late husband’s brother for continuation of the monetary allowance,” a defence ministry official said on Tuesday. The move will restore the gallantry award’s monthly allowances for many women in the country. It comes after the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) rapped the government in an appeal filed by Janak Anand, whose husband Captain S C Sehgal was awarded a Vir Chakra for exhibiting unusual courage while laying down his life in the 1971war just a few months after their marriage.
Though Janak continued to get “liberalised family pension” as Captain Sehgal’s widow, her allowance for the Vir Chakra was stopped after she married another Army officer, Major Dipak Anand, in October 1974.
The rule, reinforced by a letter issued by the defence ministry on January 31, 1995, said, “The widow will continue to receive the allowance until her re-marriage or death. The payment of the allowance will, however, continue to a widow who re-marries the late husband’s brother and lives a communal life with the living heir eligible for family pension.”
See also
Defence services, India: legal and service issues
Defence services, India: personnel issues
