A tale of two officers

[Guest guest]

This is a true story, adapted from Colonel Rajan's public lament, a

tale typical of every officer and jawan.

 

S.S. Rajan, the son of an army officer, joined the army with an

engineering degree and was commissioned in the corps of engineers in

June 1963, with his pay at Rs 460 per month.

 

He served in NEFA and later fought in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. In

that war, his vehicle was blown up, maiming and killing his

comrades, but he was lucky to escape with major injuries.

 

He was recommended for the Vishisht Sewa Medal on four occasions.

After over 19 years of service, he was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant colonel, whereas IAS and IPS officers automatically

become joint secretaries and equivalent on completion of 18 years of

service or less.

 

Rajan was promoted to colonel in August 1985 and retired after over

33 years of meritorious service, when he had a daughter aged 15 and

a son aged 8 to take care of. He received a pension of Rs 9125 per

month and got a lump sum of about Rs 10 lakh for commutation of

pension, gratuity, provident fund, army group insurance and leave

encashment not enough to buy even a small two-bedroom flat in

Bangalore. To add insult to injury, his pay was fixed at

the " starting pay " for a colonel plus one increment, whereas it

should have been fixed at the maximum pay eligible for a colonel.

 

Rajan's contemporary, R. Swaminathan, joined the Armed Forces Head

Quarters (AFHQ) Cadre as a lower division clerk. Being in the AFHQ

Cadre, he was posted in Delhi throughout his career. He worked hard

and steadily rose up the ladder, with promotions at regular

intervals and finally retired as Deputy DG (Personnel) in June 2003.

His children studied in one school throughout. Before his

retirement, his son graduated as an engineer from IIT, Delhi and his

daughter graduated as a doctor from AIIMS, Delhi. Not being

subjected to transfers he could afford to save more.

 

On retirement, Swaminathan was granted pension on par with a senior

deputy secretary (IAS) and got Rs 45 lakh in cash, by way of

gratuity, provident fund, leave encashment and commutation. This is

not an isolated instance. It happens to all military personnel. The

telling effect of this true story on the morale of soldiers and

their children is obvious. Rumblings have increased and should be

heard by the discerning, before a catastrophe occurs.

 

courtesy--Wg Cdr (Retd) VG Kumar <vgk

The writer is a retired lieutenant general