WHY DO I FEEL CHEATED?

An article by Lt Col A K Rai, Member XISF


Many people have asked me why do I feel cheated after having read my article "I Feel Cheated" in the Indian Defence Review and Sify .com. My answer:

All along my stay at RIMC, Dehradun and Training at National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun I was informed by my seniors and the armed forces officers that the Officers of the Indian Army were at par with the IAS and certainly better than the IPS and that the Major (A rank attained after 13 Years of Service at that time) in the Army was equivalent to IAS officer with not less than 12 years of service an SP with not less than 15 years of service in the IPS. We were also told that where as the IAS Officers started his career at Rs. 700/- pm an army officer started his career with Rs.750/- pm

When I got commissioned into the Indian Army on 13 June 1981 I was thrilled to have been lucky enough to join this elite service. I continued to live with this illusion till I was transferred to the Army Ordnance Corps after seven years as I had broken my knee ligament and medically downgraded. From the 7 SIKH Regt I was posted to Ordnance Depot, Shakusrbasti, New Delhi. Here my illusions were broken by the ground reality. All along we had been told that the JCOs were Class II gazetted officers. But here the JCOs were equated with non gazetted civilian employees. The equation as existing today vis a vis clerical cadre of the army and the civilian clerical cadre in the organizations having both the civilian and the armed forces personnel like the three services Headquarters, Ordnance depots etc is as given below :


Army Ranks (Clerical Cadre) Civilian Clerical Cadre
Sepoy, Lance Naik, Naik and Havildar Lower Division Clerk
Naib Subedar (Gazetted Rank) Upper Division Clerk (With less than --- five years service) (Non Gazetted Post)
Subedar (Gazetted rank) Upper Division Clerk (With more than ---- five years service), and Office Supdt ---- Grade -II (both Non Gazetted Posts)
Subedar Major (Gazetted rank) Office Supdt Grade -I ( Non Gazetted Post)


I asked how? Nobody could answer. Then as luck would have it a civilian ordnance officer (a direct entry Class II gazetted who had joined the AOC in 1981) got promoted and became CSO and thus became equivalent to a major and also became senior to me as I was a Captain then. Now this was disturbing, as a person joining AOC as a civilian Class II officer with one promotion had become senior to an Army officer who had got two promotions (Lt and Capt). More importantly did he also became equivalent to a SP with not less than 15 years of service in IPS? There was something wrong somewhere. The truth was different? I started researching I read Reports of all the Pay commissions. The end result was that over the period starting right just a few years before independence the JCOs who were gazetted officers were degraded and made equivalent to non gazetted civilian employees. The officers were degraded two ranks and that is why we find Major Generals complaining that they with 32 y6ears of service are equivalent to Civilian officers with 18 years (now 14 Years) 0f service. Surprisingly some of the very knowledgeable officers have floated this myth that "the slow promotions in the armed forces are because of the steep pyramidical hierarchy".

Now before I go further, it is necessary for the readers especially armed forces officer as to the structure of the Group A Civil Services (Class- I, II , III and IV of yesteryears have been rechristened as Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D) has been . Like the army officers get promoted from a lower rank to a higher rank, the civilian officers get promoted from a lower Pay grade to a higher pay grade. Like the Army has the same ranks for all the arms and services the Group A Civil services (including the postal and the accounts) have standard pay scales as follows. I have given the comparative table before the "upgradation of The Army ranks" took place in the early 1980s.


Civil Services Army
Pay Grade Years required for Promotion Rank Years required for Promotion
Junior Scale On Appt 2nd Lt On Appointment
Senior scale 4 years (Incl Training Period) Lt 3 1/2 Years
Junior Administrative Grade 9 years Capt 7 1/2years
Selection Grade 13 Years Major 13 years
Higher Administrative Grade 14 years Lt Col 16 years
Higher Administrative Grade- Level I 18 years Col 20 years
Higher Administrative grades As per vacancy Brig, Maj Gen, Lt Gen



By a look at the above table you will feel that in the initial years the promotions in the army are faster whereas later the promotions in the civil services are faster. So what do I feel cheated about? Because the equation is not as given above but as given below:


Civil Services Army
Pay Grade Years for Promotion Rank Years for Promotion
Junior Scale On Appointment 2nd Lt, Lt and Capt
Senior Time scale 4 years(incl training period)Major 13 years
Junior Administrative Grade 9 years Lt Col 16 years
Selection Grade 13 Years Col 20 years
Higher Administrative Grade-Level II 14 years Brig 25 years
Higher Administrative Grade-Level I 18 years Maj Gen 32 years
Higher Administrative Grades As per vacancy Lt Gen As per vacancy


It for anyone to understand that the ranks in the armed forces have deliberately been degraded by equating first three ranks of the Indian army with the lowest pay grade of the civilian Group A services and by dividing the officers in the rank of Lt Gen into Army Cdrs and equivalent other Lt Gens.

The mechanism of the degradation can be clearly seen in Para 2.3.9 Page 73 and 74 of the "Report of the Sixth Central Pay commission where till Third Pay Commission the equation of the first four ranks of army was as follows:


Junior Scale 2nd Lt and Lt
Senior Time scale Capt and Major


And at the time of Fifth central Pay Commission as follows


Junior Scale 2nd Lt, Lt and Capt
Senior Time scale Maj


This is a clear evidence of deliberate degradation of ranks where till third pay commission four ranks were made equivalent to two pay grades and then between the third and fifth pay commissions the rank of Capt. was further degraded from Senior time scale to junior scale. Incidentally this was the same very period when all out efforts were being made improve the career prospects by upgrading the appointments.. And they have again done it by degrading the rank of Lt Col. The method is very clear. First down grade and then form "AVS Committees to Upgrade" so as to improve the career prospects of the officers of the Indian Armed forces. You may see the reason why the rank of 2nd Lt was abolished. Now to upgrade they may want to do away with the rank of Lt also.

There is very simple solution, equate the gazetted with the gazetted and non gazetted with the non gazetted i.e. equate JCOs with the Group B gazetted ranks and as far as armed forces Commissioned officers are concerned introduce the rank of 2nd Lt and give one rank one pay grade as is applicable to even the most unattractive Group A civil services department of Posts and Telegraph and the accounts department. The fair and just pay scales and pay grades should be as given below to bring the army ranks on par with the civil services


Rank Pay Band Grade pay
Sep PB-1 1900
Lance Naik PB -1 2400
Naik PB - 2 4200
Havildar PB - 2 4200
Nb Subedar PB- 2 4800 (5400 after 4 years)
Subedar PB -2 6400
Subedar Major PB - 2 6400
2nd Lt PB- 3 5400
Lt PB - 3 6600
Capt PB- 3 7600
Maj PB- 3 8700
Lt Col PB - 4 8900
Col PB- 4 10000
Brig PB -4 12000
Maj Gen 80000 Status Special Secretary to Government of India
Lt Gen 80000 Status Secretary to Government of India
Lt Gen (Army Cdr) 80000 Status Principle Secretary to the Government of India


Some of the bureaucrats will say that this will result in changing of the equation that has existed since pre independence days where Maj Gen and Brig is equated with IG and DIG. My answer is the IG and DIG that the Maj Gen and DIG were equated with are rechristened as DG and ADG today.

May I request the readers who agree that the armed forces deserve a better treatment to as well as the ex servicemen to pressurize the government in not listening to the bureaucracy by sending a post card stating "I too feel Cheated. Why this step motherly treatment to the armed forces" to the Prime Minister, Defence minister and their MPs.