The Government mustn’t shortchange the veterans with its version of OROP, as it will then be faced with the wrath of an even more militant community of ex-Servicemen. Yes, the ESM leadership must be flexible in its demands but politicians must desist from double standards
There has always been a naïve belief among the Armed Forces community, both serving and retired, that civilian bureaucrats, due to a variety of reasons including jealousy, have conspired to downgrade the military. In this, the poor politician, with his lack of awareness or understanding of matters military, has simply been a victim of doublespeak that the babus indulged in. As the One-Rank-One-Pension imbroglio has shown, nothing could be further from the truth. Certainly willing bureaucrats have played their part, but nothing has ever moved in any Ministry without the explicit direction or acquiescence of the political leadership. If nothing else, the removal of the Union Home Secretary for disagreeing with his Minister makes this clear.
Therefore, despite the crocodile tears that politicians are shedding over the manner in which our military has been mistreated over the years, the truth is that this is exactly the condition in which they wanted it to be. In their defence, they can’t ignore what an out-of-control military means for the politico-bureaucrat class as they get to see in our neighbourhood, though their very actions may actually result in what they fear the most, is another matter. Therefore, while the OROP issue spiraled out of control thanks to the inability of the Government and the NDA to foresee its genuineness, emotive appeal and impact on civil society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s actions in announcing grant of OROP, in the manner that he has, is only a rearguard action in view of the forthcoming Bihar election.
In his usual inimitable style the Prime Minister has put across a cogent response on the part of his Government for the delay, while simultaneously showing the Congress in poor light. He has also attempted to project his resolve, determination, decisiveness and large heartedness in tackling such a “complex issue” involving massive expenditures, all of it to ensure that he fulfilled a promise he had given. While sections of the media and civil society have been enamoured by his actions, the ex-Servicemen (ESM) community has remained suspicious in view of the issues left unresolved, especially the issue of Pre Mature Retirement on which even Mr Modi has obfuscated. That the veterans have decided not to call off their agitation till they see the Government’s letter points to a level of mistrust.
While the Government may be correct in believing that the ESM will lose popular support and followers from within its ranks because of their intransigence and their supposed lack of willingness to compromise, the Government will be committing a grave folly if, by its actions, it shortchanges the ESM community with its version of OROP, as most ESM believe it plans to do. The Government will then face the wrath of even more militant ESM, apart from facing the wrath and displeasure of the large number of ESM voters in Bihar — the very situation it wanted to avoid by announcing OROP in the first place.
While outstanding issues, such as equalisation on annual/ five yearly basis and composition of the Judicial Commission, can be resolved through discussion, the Government’s googly on keeping out those who proceeded on PMR from the ambit of OROP makes little sense. It reflects a petty mindset and will be a grave miscalculation.
It needs to be understood that PMR is not comparable to theVoluntary Retirement Scheme in which the employer makes a payout to those leaving voluntarily. Personnel proceeding on PMR get no such benefits. Most personnel who proceed on PMR do so on being either superseded, as few are willing to serve under their erstwhile juniors, or because of family problems. If this group, which reportedly forms 45 per cent of pensioners, is to be denied OROP, the matter will end up in court, as the Government appears to be discriminating against them and going against its own definition of OROP as announced by the Raksha Mantri. The Government has also probably not realised that of this group, more than 90 per cent in all probability, are from the Non Commissioned Officers cadre — the very lot that needs it most. The impact on serving soldiers has also been disregarded. Units will face serious motivation issues as personnel continue to serve their time out to ensure eligibility to receive OROP in future. Mr Modi can hardly afford to be ambivalent in this matter.
Therefore, before holding ESM responsible for their intransigence, it is worth noting that the Government carries out annual equalisation of pensions for all others employed by Government, except the Armed Forces. If it can be done for the Railways, it should surely not pose a problem for military pensioners.
The question of requiring vast resources to work all this out is wholly incorrect given that software programmes for this purpose have already been offered to the Ministry. lest a question of excessive financial impact be raised, it is worth remembering that this has reportedly been worked out at approximately Rs168 crore annually.
On the question of impact of OROP on the national budget, most ESM do not want to see this country in dire economic straits on their account. They fully understand that defending a country’s unity and sovereignty has little meaning if it finds itself unviable financially, another Soviet Union for example. But before concluding that the Rs8,300 crores that would be required for OROP to be made effective is unsustainable, it may be worth comparing the existing military pensions to that given to other Government employees.
Such data is difficult to come by in official documents, but figures circulating on social media, purportedly obtained through RTI from the Principal Controller Defence Accounts (Pensions), tell a different story, if accurate: The total pension allocation for FY 2015-16 as per the Union Budget (less Railways) is Rs88,000 crore; Total defence pension budget is Rs54,500 crore, of this military pensions is Rs33,000 crore and the amount paid to civilians from the defence pension budget is Rs21,500 crore. Military pension as percentage of total pension allocation is 37.5, and will be even lower if the Railways pension were to be included. The Government must explain why civilians paid from Defence Estimates, all of them non-combatants, receive pensions more than four times than that given to military pensioners. This is patently unjust.
If Mr Modi is serious about reducing the pension burden he must start by scrapping the Non Functional Upgrade that was introduced only for the All India Services and Organised Services by the Sixth Central Pay Commission. It is obnoxious to enhance the scale of bureaucrats for a post that they do not hold on the specious reasoning that some other batch-mate of theirs is holding such an appointment. Officials must receive emoluments for the appointment they hold and on no other grounds.
The Government must also look at lateral move of retiring soldiers to the Para Military and Central Armed Police Forces, as this will help the military reduce the ratio of serving personnel to the retired, and reduce the pension bill, apart from enhancing the quality of personnel in those forces and drastically reducing recruitment and training costs. While we expect and insist that the ESM leadership be flexible, it is just as important for the Government to be honest, straightforward and desist from double standards. What is good for the goose must also be good for the gander.
(The writer is a military veteran and consultant with the Observer Research Foundation)