Any govt decision on pay issue will be good for country: army

New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) As the committee headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is looking into the armed forces' grievances over their new pay scales, the army Wednesday said any decision by the government on the issue will be for the good of the country and the Services.

"The pay anomalies issues is currently with the Cabinet
and I am sure it will take care of it. Whatever it decides, it
will be for the good of the country and the armed forces,"
Vice-Chief of the Army, Lieutenant-General M L Naidu, said on
the sidelines of an Army Postal Service Awards ceremony here.

"They (the committee members) are our national leaders
and they will keep all issues in mind before taking a
decision. It (pay issues) is not a matter of our
expectations," Naidu said, replying to a query on the course
of action the armed forces would take if all their
expectations are not met by the Mukherjee committee.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had late last month set
up the Mukherjee committee with Defence Minister A K Antony
and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as members to consider the
four "core issues" raised by the armed forces on what they
called a "discriminatory" 6th Central Pay Commission (C.P.C.)
report.

In fact, the issues had snowballed into a controversy
over the armed forces' reluctance to implement the Cabinet
decision on the C.P.C. taken last month.

Consequently, the 1.5 million armed forces personnel took
home their old pay scales in October, while their 3.5 million
civilian counterparts got their revised pay scales under the
C.P.C.

To another query, Naidu said pointing out some
discrepancies in the C.P.C. was not "defiance", but
professional duty (of the armed forces).

The armed forces are demanding that the government place
Lieutenant-Colonels and their equivalents in Pay Band-4,
ensure parity in Grade Pay of officers from Captains to
Brigadiers with their civilian counterparts, accord the Higher
Administrative Grade Plus status in pay scales to Lieutenant
Generals and restore 70 per cent pensionary benefits to
jawans.

To another question over the misuse of army's combat
fatigues by paramilitary and police forces, Naidu said the
army had already informed the Centre and the state governments
about it.

"Now, the state governments have taken very strict
action, because they have realized that by not insisting on
this, it is causing some confusion. Now they have done it
(enforce laws against misuse of army uniforms). And hopefully
it will be sorted out," Naidu said.

Asked about the uniforms and camouflages being freely
available in the open market, the army vice-chief said as far
as clothes, low-quality products are concerned, they were
available (but not the Army's).

"A solution is being worked out and the Home Ministry is
doing what is necessary to curb such sales. By law, sale of
military uniform in the open market is banned. It should not
be available. If it is, there is a separate enforcement agency
working on curbing the sale of military uniform. In J&K, they
are very actively curbing the sale," he added. PTI NCB
SAK
NNNN

The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this
message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain
proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify
the sender immediately and destroy all copies of this message and any attachments
contained in it.