The three Services Chiefs are likely to meet Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar shortly to express their concern over the increasing pay disparity between defence personnel and their civilian counterparts in the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission submitted to the government recently. The armed force personnel feel if the Pay Commission recommendations are implemented in its present form, it will position them much below their civilian counterparts in terms of salaries, facilities and status, sources said here on Monday.
Pointing to one of the anomalies, they said a civilian bureaucrat will get more ‘hardship allowance’ as compared to a soldier posted in Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield. According to Pay Commission recommendation, a senior IAS official posted in a city in northeast India will draw much more as “hardship allowance” when compared to the Rs31,500 per month that military officers posted in Siachen are to receive, sources said adding the difference will come out to be over 50 per cent.