Does Arun Jaitley bear a grudge

Harsha Kakar
While the veteran community rightly blames the MoD for not supporting their stand on issues which face the armed forces, there are some decisions which are beyond their powers. All financial decisions are controlled by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) headed by Arun Jaitley.
It as Arun Jaitley who lost the 2014 elections from Amritsar, a town with large military community, serving and veterans. Hence, the question, ‘Does Arun Jaitley bear a grudge’? Silently, the MoF has been hurting the armed forces, while the MoD faces the brunt. In a few cases, the armed forces hierarchy convinced the MoD to project their viewpoint, which was subsequently rejected by the MoF.
The most recent case was the rejection of the grant of increased Military Service Pay (MSP) to Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and equivalents in the armed forces. This was one of the major anomalies of the last pay commission. The JCO is a Group B gazetted officer and hence is entitled to an MSP higher than a soldier.
The army had been demanding that the JCO cadre, which is approximately 1.12 Lakhs from all the three services be granted an MSP of Rs 10,000, above the 5,500 granted to all soldiers. This anomaly, pending since the pay commission, was pushed by the armed forces and projected for clearance by the MoF, which rejected the proposal. The cost to the exchequer per year on accepting this proposal would have been a measly Rs 610 crore but would have been a major morale booster for a category which forms an important link in the military chain of command.
Its rejection has impacted morale at the lower level and anguished the top brass of the armed forces. It is also an indicator that the government is unwilling to even approve justifiable demands of the military on some pretext or the other. If one ministry is willing, the other is present to reject the same.
There are over 40 anomalies pending from earlier pay commissions. While the government claims to have created a group to study them, nothing moves. Anomalies of other central services are cleared faster as they have unions which can pressurize the government and stall its working, while the armed forces remain voiceless.
For matters of equivalence and policy the MoD is the road block, while for financial matters, the MoF joins them. The service HQs in this specific case would raise the issue again and demand a review, the results of which can be gauged already.
With increasing threats and enhanced challenges, the armed forces have been finding a reduction in the defence budget, rather than an increase in the capital share. Thus, capabilities which should have been increasing are now reducing. Reduced capabilities only enable our adversaries into becoming bolder. While an unlimited budget is never possible, a realistic budget is.
The present budget is the lowest in percentage share since the 1962 war, compelling the army to consider reducing its strength to create funds for procuring even the basic capabilities that it needs for meeting growing challenges. Even the creation of the defence planning committee under the NSA has failed to infuse funds for enhancing capabilities.
For an armed force to be effective, morale and equipment are two important factors. Equipment appears to be hard to come by, now even morale is being pushed down. If the veteran community is forced to protest for the rights of the serving and themselves, then there are major flaws in the government’s outlook to the military. The OROP agitation has been ongoing for almost three and a half years, with no end in sight. The initial release of OROP appeared to be a one-time grant, which is to be reviewed every five years.
The fact that the soldier retires at 35 to 40 years of age and has a measly amount to survive is of no consequence to the MoF, since it has no responsibility towards his rehabilitation. It is only concerned with cutting down expenditure for the military while it wastes billions on statues and other non-essentials. The same MoF directs banks to provide loans which subsequently becomes bad debts but ignores the soldier who has ensured security to enable growth and development.
An analysis of actions by different ministries would convey a combined onslaught on the armed forces including its veterans. The MoD has been battling cases of disability pensions granted by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in the supreme court. The Ministry of Home seeks to change the norms of functioning of the AFT by inducting non-military members into it, thus eroding the very reason as to why they were created. Earlier the MoF had rejected OROP as it was promised and has now turned down a genuine anomaly, solely because of financial outlays.
These combined actions come at a time when the nation is in the election mode. Promises made to the soldier in 2014 appear to be broken and rejected one by one. The government seems to be bent on pulling the armed forces down in every way, whether it be their status, basic entitlements and salaries. It seems to be conveying a message, you as a community do not matter to us in any way, as you are neither united nor do you carry the ability to influence voters.
While the armed forces personnel, serving and veterans may not be a close community politically, but every individual who is impacted has multiple votes from family and friends. It is evident that a rally like the Rewari one of Sept 2013 would never happen, as no leader of the ruling party can stand in front of the veteran community and state that promises made have been fulfilled.
As anger begins to grow on the government for its inactions, so would votes be impacted. The blind trust and support provided to the BJP in 2014 is unlikely. It is time the party leadership pulls up its ministers and compels them to look at the genuine demands of the armed forces. If it ignores them, they would be ignored in return.
(The author is retd Major General in Indian Army)
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