The program that aired on CNN-IBN a couple of months back irked my mind. Anubha Bhonsle's "30 minutes" show focused on the Army officer's latest fight for parity in public service.
The Indian Soldier who has served all these years has been largely forgotten and is fighting a tough cause. Let's probe into what the Indian Soldier actually means to us in today's world and what they are fighting for.
As I write this, 10,000 troops are guarding Siachen, thousands of troops are guarding the Naxal hit areas and another set of troops are guarding the borders of the nation. In our day to day life, a Salman Khan song would be remembered more than the soldier. A flop reality star would be more recognizable than a soldier. An IPL star would be more recognizable than a sacrificed soldier. Such is the state of affairs and the recent demands made by the soldiers on the "One Rank One Pension" scheme are scarcely noticed by all of us.
The erstwhile soldiers of the Indian Army have been fighting for the cause of "One Rank One pension" scheme for some years now. The appeal is to ensure that the officers in the Army get the same amount of pension with same amount of rank, same amount of service and same quantum of service irrespective of when they retired. As per today, the pension that an official with less experience who retires after 2006 gets is vastly different from the one who retires pre 1996 with more experience.
For example, a pre 1996 Sepoy gets 82 per cent lower pension than his post 2006 counterpart. This vast difference in the amount of pension given has triggered a huge revolt within the army fraternity especially the soldiers before the 1996 era.
Army veterans recently gave up all their medals in a protest march to the President of India demanding that "same rank, equal service, same pension" under the One Rank One pension scheme. While this was the best that they could do, the major hindrance of their movement lies also on another issue.
A major hindrance to Army jawans is their retirement age and their lack of scope for promotion within their fraternity. The soldier's retirement age is very early compared to bureaucrats. While bureaucrats can stick around till 60, most of the Army officers retire early because age catches up with their fitness which is crucial for their operation. Army officers do not reap the benefits of full pension since they cannot serve the full period of 60 years due to the nature of the job (since pension is based on your last income before retirement).
Bureaucrats on the other hand can stick around till 60 since they do not have a handicap of physical fitness nor they do have the agony of going through emotional trauma through their periods of service. Equating both of them reflects a lack of sensitivity towards the need of a specific group of people who put their lives on the line for the nation. While numerous committees have been set up over this issue, there has not been an implementation that is inclusive of the officer's interests at large.
The criticism for the proposed scheme is twofold. One is the apparent equations of the service of different periods of time together. Another is the issue with bureaucrats raising a similar plea and thus causing a massive financial burden. While in the case of the former, one needs to understand that serving in the military is very different from service elsewhere.
At any point of time, serving the country putting your life at risk is worth the same amount whether it is in the 1980's or whether it is in the 20th century. With regards to bureaucrats raising a similar plea for parity, their case is less strong on face value since they fulfill their full service till retirement and sensitive issues such as loss of life (which is rampant in the army) does not occur as often to them in service.
Add to this that from 1990 to 2006, the pension of senior most army officers raised 45 times while the civil officers got a hike 108 times. Even if the bureaucrats argue for a revision that cannot be the reason to deny the army officers their due.
Our soldiers are people who have sacrificed their entire lives for the nation. Most of them have sacrificed their entire families for the national cause. In an era of materialistic obsession, their sacrifice is overlooked and underplayed most of the times. It is indeed sad that the great soldiers of our great nation are waiting and holding on for this scheme to be implemented.
After all a soldier once told me "You know what is worse than death? It is being forgotten".
I can only pray that the Indian Soldier gets his/her due; there is no one who deserves it more.
source : htt p://ibnlive. in. com/blogs/srirambalasubramanian/2990/62638/the-indian-soldiers-plight.html
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