Support from Dehradun for 6th March Rally by Brig KG Behl

From: Kishan Gopal Behl
To: REPORT MY SIGNAL (Chander Kamboj)
Cc: IESM GovBody-
Sent: Thu, 3 March, 2011 9:31:28 PM
Subject: From: Kishan Gopal Behl
To: REPORT MY SIGNAL (Chander Kamboj)
Cc: IESM GovBody-
Sent: Thu, 3 March, 2011 9:31:28 PM
Subject: Support from Dehradun for 6th March Rally

Daear Chander,
In response to your personal appeal through
Email dated , the following donations were made. by Ex
Servicemen and some supporters in Dehradun in support of the cause.
1. Deposited on 23 Feb in Dehradun HDSF A/C NO. 06162000001330 of
IESM in the name of Mrs KAMAL BEHL
Rs.15000.00 (Cash)
2. Air Marshal B.D.Jayal, PVSM,AVSM,VM (Sent Cheque) Rs. 1000.00
3.Lt Gen G.S.Negi PVSM,AVSM,VSM '' Rs. 1000.00
4. Lt Gen Y.S.Tomar ""
Rs.1000.00
5. Maj Gen C. Nandwani, VSM ""
Rs. 2100 00
6. Maj Gen P.Dutt AVSM,VSM ""
Rs. 1000.00
7. Air Comdr. A. Goswami ( PNB DDUN Cheue NO.966873
DT 03 03 2011 in favour of HDFC ,IESM A/C 06162000001330
"deposited on 03 03 12011
Rs. 5000.00
8. Mr. Pradeep Datta ( Deposited on 3/3 cash)
Rs. 2000.00
9. Brig P.S.Gurung YSM ( Deposited cash on 3/3) Rs. 2000.00
10. CPO Dr. B.K.Nautiyal ( Deposited Cash on3/3) Rs.1000.00
11. Lt col 'B.M.Thapa (Sent earlier)
Rs.1000.00
12. Lt Col B.S.Kshetri ( Daeposited cash on 3/3)
Rs.1001.00

We held officers contributory lunch on 26th Feb and requested all to
contribute as they would like to and we are yet to know how much
further they have sent The Report of the function is enclosed where
many points have been covered besides Rally at Delhi. You may like to
circulate it to others for information.
We wish the rally on 6th March at Delhi a great success.
Regards
Brig BEHL

VETERANS CONTRIBUTORY LUNCH HELD ON 26 FEB AT D S O I IN GAY MOOD
Inspite of the inclement weather a large number of officers and
families turned out for Ex Services contributory Officers lunch held
in DSOI. Though arrangements were made in the hall and verandah but
as the Sunshine appeared every one came to the beautiful lawns to
enjoy with their drinks which were sponsored by veteran Lt Col
S.K.Makin, Engrs, CMD Makin Assocites, Dehradun. Maj Gen Ranvir
Yadav,VSM, GOC Uttarakhand Sub Area was the chief guest. Maj Gen
S.Choaudhuri, Comdr 501 FSEG, Brig A K Verma, Comdt. MH., Col
D S Punia, Col V M Chauoudhari, Lt Col O P Chhabra were the honoured guests
Prominent among those who attended were, Lt Gen M.S.Gosain, Lt Gen
Anand Swaroop MVC, Vice Admiral V.Koppikar, Lt Gen V.K.Sharma, Lt Gen
G.S.Negi, Maj Gen B.C.Khanduri, Former CM, Uttarakhand, Maj Gen
Shamsher Singh,MVC ,Maj Gen S.R. Bahuguna, Maj Gen P.Dutt, Maj Gen O P
Sabarwal, SM, Maj Gen Lal Ji D Singh, Maj Gen M M Verma,Air Commodore
A. Goswami, All Brigadiers N.C.Mehra, B.Kapoor, Vijay Kumar, B M
Verma, Vinai Rai, H C Marwah, H C Joshi, PKulkarni,Wg Cdr M
Trevwdi,Cols S S Thapa, M S Rawat,
R S Negi, U S Thakur, R S Thapa, D M Rai, S Kapoor , Capt M G Singh
& many others.
Lt Col B.M.Thapa, General Secretary, DESL, Lt Col A.S.Arya, Vice
President DESL, Lt Col B.S.Chhetri, Snr Vice President DESL, looked
after all the arrangements. ASC Jazz Band was in attendance and
entertained

all. Shri Kailash Prasad took the snaps.
Before going for lunch it is a practice that a light talk apprising
all about the latest happenings, called ‘Pep Talk’, which serves as an
mappetizer, is delivered for better assimilation of food. Brig
K.G.Behl, President DESL, gave all the details, copies of which were
circulated and cheered all with some latest jokes. The talk included:
1.Rank Pay of Officers- Case in Supreme Court It is learnt that the
case came up for hearing on 24 Feb 2011 in the Court of Justice Shri
Aftab Alam & Justice Shri RM Lodha (Court No 12). There were partial
arguments on the pay fixation done as per IV
Pay Commission. The court has asked UOI to file an affidavit on the
pay fixation of civilian officers who were drawing the same basic pay
as that of army officers at the time of IV Pay commission. The next
date of hearing has been fixed as 08 Mar 2011.
2.Modified Parity for Casualty awards. The letter on modified parity
for casualty awards has finally been issued. Casualty awards from now
onwards are to be calculated based on 6th CPC scales.
In brief, this shall be the fresh entitlement with effect from 01-01-2006 :
Special Family Pension : Would not be less than 60% of minimum of 6th
CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X Group Pay
(wherever applicable) corresponding to the rank held.
Liberalized Family Pension : Would not be less than the (100% of)
minimum of 6th CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X
Group Pay (wherever applicable).
Disability Element : Would not be less than 30% of the minimum of 6th
CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X Group Pay
(wherever applicable) for 100% disability, proportionately reduced for
lesser disability.
War Injury Element : Would not be less than 60% of the minimum of 6th
CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X Group Pay
(wherever applicable) for 100% disability proportionately reduced for
lesser disability in cases of retirement / discharge and 100% of the
minimum of 6th CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X
Group Pay (wherever applicable) for 100% disability proportionately
reduced for lesser disability in cases of invalidment.
Some more categories have been added in death due to snake bite,
unintentional killing by own troops, accidental deaths due to natural
calamity, electrocution, and accidents while performing duties in
operational areas. MOD letter n dated 03 Feb 2011.
3. One Rank One Pension (OROP)
In one of his talks the Army Chief has stated that OROP, so far
as JCO’s and Ors are concerned is almost through but the recent reply
sent by Jt. Secretary Pension who has replied on 11.02.2011 to Lt Gen
S.K.BahriPVSM(Retd) that a committee under the chairmanship of
Cabinet Secretary was set up to look into the demand of OROP and
related issues. Although the committee did not recommend OROP but
substantial improvement in the pension of commissioned officers and
JCOs and Ors have been made recommended. All orders implementing the
recommendations of the committee have been issued vide MOD’s letters
dated 30.10.2009, 19 01 2010, 21 01 2010 and 08 03 2010.
The above letters, so far as JCOs ,Ors are concerned have
merely removed the disparity existing between various classification
pays and made pensions better but not near OROP. This is where
agitation of Ex Servicemen is continuing at Delhi where they are
planning to hold a big Rally on 06 03 2011 and have requested support
from Ex Servicemen all over the country. Those who wish can contribute
to the cause.
4. Welfare Measures by not setting up commission ordered by the Supreme Court.
In one of the cases in Supreme Court the restoration of some one's
dues after more than four decades, has been described as welfare
measure and have the guts to tell the Hon'ble Supreme Court, through
Attorney General of India that they restored pension of Rs
75/- sanctioned to the family of a Major who died in 1967, to Rs
18000/-. Surprisingly the Court did not ask them why it took them so
many years to give justice if it was a welfare measure taken by them.
They did it ,not as a welfare measure, but when they were cornered to
do that through ESM organisations and courts. Their contention that
'a proper mechanism is being evolved to address the grievances of
ex-service personnel at their "doorsteps", and Government was fully
concerned with the welfare of the armed forces and greatly valued
their contribution to the nation and there was no need at the moment
for setting up any separate commission to address the problems of
ex-servicemen as the defense
department has a separate welfare wings at the district level to
tackle the grievances appears a farce.

It is just an eye wash and cannot be believed as so many cases
reported to them long back are still to see the light of the day as
those are the real Welfare measures which need to be resolved. A
welfare measure is that, when action is taken suo moto as and when
any matter is either seen or reported against certain laid down rules,
where welfare of other Defence Forces is being jeopardised. But
nothing of the sort is being done by the welfare directorates of the
MOD and rather the cases already decided by the courts are either
being delayed or twisted to
the disadvantage of the Defence Personnel. It will be a misnomer to
call these welfare measures.
Surprisingly even the PCDA(P) Allahabad, whom those
irregularities were pointed out, expressed their helplessness as it was
a matter of Policy which only MOD can decide. Was It not their duty
,as auditors of Defence Accounts, to bring it to the notice of MOD and
get the orders amended, When nothing came out the Comptroller and
Auditor General was approached to find out why their auditors cannot
detect the glaring anomalies and get those rectified which are later
pointed out by Courts in a long drawn process and by the time
judgments are implemented some of the beneficiaries leave this world.
Who is looking after the welfare of the Defence personnel?
Even judgments of the Supreme Court, when
quoted, are not being implemented and same is the plight of the
Judgments of the Armed Forces Tribunal. Heavens are not going to fall
even if the Commission suggested by the Hon'ble Supreme Court is
constituted by the Govt. Though it has not been given any powers but
may only expedite in waking up authorities and prompt them to take
quick remedial action. They are scared to constitute above commission
because ,unlike Govt. committees, the aggrieved persons will be
feeding them directly and not MOD who had been feeding earlier
committees with data they wanted to project and not what was required.
Those who drew less lumpsum gratuity after 1.1.2006 on retirement
can draw up 3 to 41 to 43% as per latest rules.
Use of word - PBOR AHQ letter No.13048/SD- 1B dated 30 Dec. 2010
The issue has been considered at the IHQ of MoD(Army). It has been
decided that the acronym PBOR will not be used, instead JCOs & ORs
will be used in all letters/Comns.
Purchase of vehicles through CSD
The case for removing all limitations on such vehicles is being
processed and it has been promised by the CM that all those will be
removed to bring those at par with other States.
Allotment of land for State War Memorial has been taken up with Army
Comdr during his recent visit. Plan to hold a big rally during the
year has also been mooted.
We appreciate the efforts of Maj Gen Ranvir Yadav,VSM, GOC
Uttarakhand Sub Area for taking up actions to improve facilities in
CSD, ECHS and taking up other welfare activities.

Daear Chander,
In response to your personal appeal through
Email dated , the following donations were made. by Ex
Servicemen and some supporters in Dehradun in support of the cause.
1. Deposited on 23 Feb in Dehradun HDSF A/C NO. 06162000001330 of
IESM in the name of Mrs KAMAL BEHL
Rs.15000.00 (Cash)
2. Air Marshal B.D.Jayal, PVSM,AVSM,VM (Sent Cheque) Rs. 1000.00
3.Lt Gen G.S.Negi PVSM,AVSM,VSM '' Rs. 1000.00
4. Lt Gen Y.S.Tomar ""
Rs.1000.00
5. Maj Gen C. Nandwani, VSM ""
Rs. 2100 00
6. Maj Gen P.Dutt AVSM,VSM ""
Rs. 1000.00
7. Air Comdr. A. Goswami ( PNB DDUN Cheue NO.966873
DT 03 03 2011 in favour of HDFC ,IESM A/C 06162000001330
"deposited on 03 03 12011
Rs. 5000.00
8. Mr. Pradeep Datta ( Deposited on 3/3 cash)
Rs. 2000.00
9. Brig P.S.Gurung YSM ( Deposited cash on 3/3) Rs. 2000.00
10. CPO Dr. B.K.Nautiyal ( Deposited Cash on3/3) Rs.1000.00
11. Lt col 'B.M.Thapa (Sent earlier)
Rs.1000.00
12. Lt Col B.S.Kshetri ( Daeposited cash on 3/3)
Rs.1001.00

We held officers contributory lunch on 26th Feb and requested all to
contribute as they would like to and we are yet to know how much
further they have sent The Report of the function is enclosed where
many points have been covered besides Rally at Delhi. You may like to
circulate it to others for information.
We wish the rally on 6th March at Delhi a great success.
Regards
Brig BEHL

VETERANS CONTRIBUTORY LUNCH HELD ON 26 FEB AT D S O I IN GAY MOOD
Inspite of the inclement weather a large number of officers and
families turned out for Ex Services contributory Officers lunch held
in DSOI. Though arrangements were made in the hall and verandah but
as the Sunshine appeared every one came to the beautiful lawns to
enjoy with their drinks which were sponsored by veteran Lt Col
S.K.Makin, Engrs, CMD Makin Assocites, Dehradun. Maj Gen Ranvir
Yadav,VSM, GOC Uttarakhand Sub Area was the chief guest. Maj Gen
S.Choaudhuri, Comdr 501 FSEG, Brig A K Verma, Comdt. MH., Col
D S Punia, Col V M Chauoudhari, Lt Col O P Chhabra were the honoured guests
Prominent among those who attended were, Lt Gen M.S.Gosain, Lt Gen
Anand Swaroop MVC, Vice Admiral V.Koppikar, Lt Gen V.K.Sharma, Lt Gen
G.S.Negi, Maj Gen B.C.Khanduri, Former CM, Uttarakhand, Maj Gen
Shamsher Singh,MVC ,Maj Gen S.R. Bahuguna, Maj Gen P.Dutt, Maj Gen O P
Sabarwal, SM, Maj Gen Lal Ji D Singh, Maj Gen M M Verma,Air Commodore
A. Goswami, All Brigadiers N.C.Mehra, B.Kapoor, Vijay Kumar, B M
Verma, Vinai Rai, H C Marwah, H C Joshi, PKulkarni,Wg Cdr M
Trevwdi,Cols S S Thapa, M S Rawat,
R S Negi, U S Thakur, R S Thapa, D M Rai, S Kapoor , Capt M G Singh
& many others.
Lt Col B.M.Thapa, General Secretary, DESL, Lt Col A.S.Arya, Vice
President DESL, Lt Col B.S.Chhetri, Snr Vice President DESL, looked
after all the arrangements. ASC Jazz Band was in attendance and
entertained

all. Shri Kailash Prasad took the snaps.
Before going for lunch it is a practice that a light talk apprising
all about the latest happenings, called ‘Pep Talk’, which serves as an
mappetizer, is delivered for better assimilation of food. Brig
K.G.Behl, President DESL, gave all the details, copies of which were
circulated and cheered all with some latest jokes. The talk included:
1.Rank Pay of Officers- Case in Supreme Court It is learnt that the
case came up for hearing on 24 Feb 2011 in the Court of Justice Shri
Aftab Alam & Justice Shri RM Lodha (Court No 12). There were partial
arguments on the pay fixation done as per IV
Pay Commission. The court has asked UOI to file an affidavit on the
pay fixation of civilian officers who were drawing the same basic pay
as that of army officers at the time of IV Pay commission. The next
date of hearing has been fixed as 08 Mar 2011.
2.Modified Parity for Casualty awards. The letter on modified parity
for casualty awards has finally been issued. Casualty awards from now
onwards are to be calculated based on 6th CPC scales.
In brief, this shall be the fresh entitlement with effect from 01-01-2006 :
Special Family Pension : Would not be less than 60% of minimum of 6th
CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X Group Pay
(wherever applicable) corresponding to the rank held.
Liberalized Family Pension : Would not be less than the (100% of)
minimum of 6th CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X
Group Pay (wherever applicable).
Disability Element : Would not be less than 30% of the minimum of 6th
CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X Group Pay
(wherever applicable) for 100% disability, proportionately reduced for
lesser disability.
War Injury Element : Would not be less than 60% of the minimum of 6th
CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X Group Pay
(wherever applicable) for 100% disability proportionately reduced for
lesser disability in cases of retirement / discharge and 100% of the
minimum of 6th CPC pay band + Grade Pay + Military Service Pay + X
Group Pay (wherever applicable) for 100% disability proportionately
reduced for lesser disability in cases of invalidment.
Some more categories have been added in death due to snake bite,
unintentional killing by own troops, accidental deaths due to natural
calamity, electrocution, and accidents while performing duties in
operational areas. MOD letter n dated 03 Feb 2011.
3. One Rank One Pension (OROP)
In one of his talks the Army Chief has stated that OROP, so far
as JCO’s and Ors are concerned is almost through but the recent reply
sent by Jt. Secretary Pension who has replied on 11.02.2011 to Lt Gen
S.K.BahriPVSM(Retd) that a committee under the chairmanship of
Cabinet Secretary was set up to look into the demand of OROP and
related issues. Although the committee did not recommend OROP but
substantial improvement in the pension of commissioned officers and
JCOs and Ors have been made recommended. All orders implementing the
recommendations of the committee have been issued vide MOD’s letters
dated 30.10.2009, 19 01 2010, 21 01 2010 and 08 03 2010.
The above letters, so far as JCOs ,Ors are concerned have
merely removed the disparity existing between various classification
pays and made pensions better but not near OROP. This is where
agitation of Ex Servicemen is continuing at Delhi where they are
planning to hold a big Rally on 06 03 2011 and have requested support
from Ex Servicemen all over the country. Those who wish can contribute
to the cause.
4. Welfare Measures by not setting up commission ordered by the Supreme Court.
In one of the cases in Supreme Court the restoration of some one's
dues after more than four decades, has been described as welfare
measure and have the guts to tell the Hon'ble Supreme Court, through
Attorney General of India that they restored pension of Rs
75/- sanctioned to the family of a Major who died in 1967, to Rs
18000/-. Surprisingly the Court did not ask them why it took them so
many years to give justice if it was a welfare measure taken by them.
They did it ,not as a welfare measure, but when they were cornered to
do that through ESM organisations and courts. Their contention that
'a proper mechanism is being evolved to address the grievances of
ex-service personnel at their "doorsteps", and Government was fully
concerned with the welfare of the armed forces and greatly valued
their contribution to the nation and there was no need at the moment
for setting up any separate commission to address the problems of
ex-servicemen as the defense
department has a separate welfare wings at the district level to
tackle the grievances appears a farce.

It is just an eye wash and cannot be believed as so many cases
reported to them long back are still to see the light of the day as
those are the real Welfare measures which need to be resolved. A
welfare measure is that, when action is taken suo moto as and when
any matter is either seen or reported against certain laid down rules,
where welfare of other Defence Forces is being jeopardised. But
nothing of the sort is being done by the welfare directorates of the
MOD and rather the cases already decided by the courts are either
being delayed or twisted to
the disadvantage of the Defence Personnel. It will be a misnomer to
call these welfare measures.
Surprisingly even the PCDA(P) Allahabad, whom those
irregularities were pointed out, expressed their helplessness as it was
a matter of Policy which only MOD can decide. Was It not their duty
,as auditors of Defence Accounts, to bring it to the notice of MOD and
get the orders amended, When nothing came out the Comptroller and
Auditor General was approached to find out why their auditors cannot
detect the glaring anomalies and get those rectified which are later
pointed out by Courts in a long drawn process and by the time
judgments are implemented some of the beneficiaries leave this world.
Who is looking after the welfare of the Defence personnel?
Even judgments of the Supreme Court, when
quoted, are not being implemented and same is the plight of the
Judgments of the Armed Forces Tribunal. Heavens are not going to fall
even if the Commission suggested by the Hon'ble Supreme Court is
constituted by the Govt. Though it has not been given any powers but
may only expedite in waking up authorities and prompt them to take
quick remedial action. They are scared to constitute above commission
because ,unlike Govt. committees, the aggrieved persons will be
feeding them directly and not MOD who had been feeding earlier
committees with data they wanted to project and not what was required.
Those who drew less lumpsum gratuity after 1.1.2006 on retirement
can draw up 3 to 41 to 43% as per latest rules.
Use of word - PBOR AHQ letter No.13048/SD- 1B dated 30 Dec. 2010
The issue has been considered at the IHQ of MoD(Army). It has been
decided that the acronym PBOR will not be used, instead JCOs & ORs
will be used in all letters/Comns.
Purchase of vehicles through CSD
The case for removing all limitations on such vehicles is being
processed and it has been promised by the CM that all those will be
removed to bring those at par with other States.
Allotment of land for State War Memorial has been taken up with Army
Comdr during his recent visit. Plan to hold a big rally during the
year has also been mooted.
We appreciate the efforts of Maj Gen Ranvir Yadav,VSM, GOC
Uttarakhand Sub Area for taking up actions to improve facilities in
CSD, ECHS and taking up other welfare activities.

Support from Dehradun for 6th March Rally

From: CS Kamboj [mailto:kamboj_cs@yahoo.co.in]
Sent: 04 March 2011 07:43
To: Kishan Gopal Behl
Cc: Kamboj CS
Subject: Re: Support from Dehradun for 6th March Rally

Dear Brigadier Behl,
Thank you SO MUCH for your very kind efforts for collecting contributions from Military Veterans in Doon Valley.
I am sure Gen Kadyan will personally respond to this email of yours.

Forgive me for pointing out an error - the email ID kamboj_cs@yahoo.co.in , on which you have sent this email, was abondoned by me morer than a month ago as I receive lot of trash on this ID. I had informed all about and had requested to delete this ID from their address book. Somehow, you missed that message.

Sometimes I check this email box to ensure nothing important is missed out - and today I found your VERY IMPORTANT email here today burried in lot of trash.

My only valid email ID now is CS.Kamboj@yahoo.in
Kindly record this new ID and delete all other email IDs of mine that you may have.

Once again SIR THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR VERY KIND EFFORTS.

I am redirecting this email to my current valid ID, from where I will write to the IESM Governing Body and inform them of your great effort.

Very fond regards and my Salute to you and Veterans in Doon Valley.
Chander Kamboj

MoD drops use of term PBOR in Armed Forces

MoD drops use of term PBOR in Armed Forces
Bhartesh Singh Thakur Posted online: Thu Mar 03 2011, 00:36 hrs Chandigarh : The Ministry of Defence has accepted a long-pending demand of ex-servicemen to drop the use of the term ‘Personnel Below Officers Rank’ (PBOR) in official communication. A letter to this effect has been issued to all command headquarters of the Army, Air Force and Navy. Henceforth, in official communication, soldiers will be referred as Other Ranks (Sepoy, Naik and Havildar), Junior Commissioned Officers (Hony Naib Subedar, Naib Subedar, Subedar, Subedar Major) and Officers (Lieutenants and above). Officers are commissioned in forces, so are Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs). The JCOs also put on stars on shoulders like officers. The JCOs are Class II gazetted officers and their gazette notification is also signed by the President of India. Some JCOs do take on officer’s duties, responsibilities and also draw officiating allowances for that. Lt Gen Raj Kadyan (retd), former Vice-Chief of the Army and chairman of the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement, said: “I am happy the system has recognised it. It was unfair to call Junior Commissioned Officers as PBORs.” The term PBORs is considered derogatory because it draws a line between officers and the other ranks. “It creates a deep sense of difference in the hearts and mind of ex-servicemen and also in forces,” said Lt Col SS Sohi (retd), president of the Ex-servicemen Grievance Cell. He had also petitioned the MoD to drop the term. Bhim Sen Sehgal, chairman of the All-India Ex-servicemen Welfare Association, however, said everybody should be called ex-servicemen after retirement. "After retirement, all are equal and categorising soldiers who have served at the lowest ranks as Other Ranks should also be avoided," he said.

__._,_.___

IESM Tamilnadu Meeting -27 Feb 2011

Dear Members,

The Meeting went off well. I am happy to report that members from Madurai, Thirunelveli, Thanjavur, Trichy, Villupuram, Thiruvallur, Kanchepuram, Chennai, Kumbakonam & a few other Districts participated. A total of 71 IESM Members & another 14 Office Bearers of five other ESM Organisations attended the Meet.

Eleven new members have also joined the Movement. Many more from the interior Tamilnadu are also likely to join the Movement shortly.

From 9 am to 10 am, Col Charavarthy projected a Video presentation of 1971 war & the celebration of Martyrs Day in Chennai.

The detailed report will be sent in a couple of days.

Regards,

Col TN Raman
Convener IESM Tamilnadu

RALLY 6 MAR 2011

From: Vinay Khanna [mailto:ransomesindia@yahoo.com]
Sent: 25 February 2011 22:20
To: Satbir Singh
Cc: CS.Kamboj@yahoo.in
Subject: RALLY 6 MAR 2011

Dear Satbir,
I have attended every rally at Jantar Mantar since inception.
As in the past, I herewith enclose a small donation of Rs 10,000 towards rally expenses.
Union Bank of India cq No 027991 dated 24 Feb 2011 has been posted

Last time it was nice to see the outstation faujis and the ladies who had come all the way from different places being handed over lunch packets in an organised manner. I am sure under your devoted managementship, this time it will be even better.

Best wishes for a successful rally & I shall be there.

Lt Col Vinay Khanna
Signals ( 1957 Batch IMA )
C -79, G.K.- I , New Delhi - 110 048
M 91 9818301089

Erroneous Instruction for Family Pension of Lt Cols Amended

From: CK Sharma
Sent: 28 February 2011 22:07
To: Members_IESM
Cc: 22NDA; 84th/24th
Subject: [IESM_GovBody] Erroneous Instruction for Family Pension of Lt Cols Amended

Affected families can now breathe easy!
Take Care!

Wg Cdr CK Sharma (Retd)Treasurer, IESM--------------Incorrect pension to families of Lt Cols: Clarification issued
As discussed earlier, the Ministry of Defence, in its letter dated 15-11-2010, had incorrectly mentioned the ordinary family pension in respect of Lt Cols as Rs 8760/- per month whereas it should have actually been Rs 15420/- per month.

The PCDA(P) had also floated a circular to all Pension Disbursing Agencies (PDAs) with the same incorrect amount.

However now, the PCDA(P) vide a circular issued on 22-02-2011, has clarified the following to all PDAs :
“There shall be no change in the entitlement of the rates of minimum guaranteed family pension for the rank of Lt Col (TS) / Lt Col (S) which had already been notified as 15420/- pm under VI CPC vide MOD letter dated 21.05.2009 and circulated vide this office circular No. 412 dated 26.05.2009”
-----------

New members by Cdr Pathak

From: Ravindra Pathak [mailto:raviwarsha@gmail.com]
Sent: 01 March 2011 15:53
To: Satbir Singh, Maj Gen
Cc: Brig C S Kamboj; Kirit Joshipura; Wg Cdr C K Sharma; wingco_2001@yahoo.com
Subject: IESM membership

Dear Sir

I have today registered the following members online.
Maj Gen Appachu, CJ Rs 100+400+1000(Donation)
Wg Cdr Chandrasekaran M Rs 100+400+4000(Donation)
... edited ...

Brgds

Ravi

New members at Hissar on 20 Feb 2011

Friends,
During the IESM Rally @ HISSAR on 20th Feb, I have enrolled the following SIXTEEN new members of the IESM ( U will be3 happy to note that most of those who attended that rally were already members of our IESM ).
We owe our Sincere THANKS to Sub HARI SINGH's tireless efforts & Shri RANBIR SINGH BENIWAL for motivating these Veterans to become members of IESM.

... edited ...


Amounts collected & Forms will be given to Gen Satbir/CEEKAY, Sir during next mtng

1. Sub AZAD SINGH
2. Sub Clk RAJINDER SINGH
3. Hav SANJEEV KUMAR
4. Sgt HARENDER SINGH JAT
5. Hav RAJBIR SINGH BENIWAL
6. Nk DHARAMPAL SINGH
7. Nk RAM NIWAS SHEORAN
8. Sep Partap singh
9. Sep VED PAL SINGH
10.Sep RAM KANWAR
11. Spr RADHA KRISHAN
12. Sub SURENDER SING
13. Sub RAM SARUP
14. Sub Maj SHAMSHER SINGH VIJAI
15 Sub OM PARKASH
16. Hav PRABHU NEHARA

IESM -- 'JAI HO'

General A.J.B.Jaini, AVSM
Member Gov Body - IESM
9810180189

Usage of PBOR

From: kishore sule [mailto:thesignalmanmcte@yahoo.co.in]
Sent: 26 February 2011 09:07
To: Report My Signal (Chander Kamboj)
Subject: Re: SOME OF THE EMAILS RECEIVED FROM MEMBERS - "REPORT MY SIGNAL" - EMAIL 082/2011 - 25 FEB 2011 (LIST-6)


Sir,
I have been voicing my concerns on the usage of PBOR. One such write-up published in the MCTE Newsletter is att.
Lt Col(Retd) H S Bhandari
--------
PBORSome things you don’t digest. Hard as you may try to convince yourself to swim along the current, you may yet be uncomfortable. As a uniformed man for so long, I have not been able to accept our rank and file category being called ‘PBOR’. This was coined by bureaucrats in the South Block and we have lapped it up gleefully. In civil departments there are officers and non-officers. In the MOD, the ACSO (Assistant Civilian Staff Officer) is not an officer, per se, but the CSO (Civilian Staff Officer) is an officer. This classification has different sets of rules as regards to recruitment, training, transfers and growth. Take Central Police Organizations, for example. The officers are bureaucrats (IPS or State Polices Service cadre) but the troops are fauji type soldiers. In banks, when a clerk is due to become an officer he declines the promotion because now he would be liable to transfers.
We take pride in having Junior Commissioned Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers in our ranks for whom the tenures, terrains, transfers are the same as for the Officers. Air Force and Navy can, to some extent, think on these lines (PBOR) but surely not the Army. This PBOR started from South Block, came to Sena Bhawan and now it is an accepted nomenclature even in Part I Orders published ‘somewhere in the western sector’. It is painful to notice that the Record Offices have started using this acronym.
In MCTE, where 50% staff is civilian, we may be tempted to the classification of Os and PBOR. What about a Field unit ? And we talk of values and traditions ! Do we no longer take pride in our JCOs and NCOs ? What about the junior leadership ? The Platoon or Section 'Commanders' leading the patrols or even the operations ?
Change is good. It should be in the outlook, in thinking and in deeds. Copying the bureaucratic jargons just to please them ‘on file’ is definitely lowering the bar.

ATF slaps Rs 1 lakh fine

ATF slaps Rs 1 lakh fine on pension officer

(should be AFT, really!)
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 27.
Taking the pension disbursing authorities to task for virtually forcing a 100 per cent disabled soldier into litigation to get his due pensionary benefits, the Armed Forces Tribunal has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the Defence Pension Disbursing Officer (DPDO), Pathankot.

The tribunal’s bench, comprising Justice NP Gupta and Lt Gen NS Brar, also granted liberty to the government to recover the said amount from the salary of the officer concerned.

The case related to a 100 per cent disabled soldier, Havildar Hari Singh of Manwal Upperala village near Pathankot, who was granted a constant attendance allowance (CAA) by the government on being medically boarded out. Vide orders issued in May 2009, the allowance was revised to Rs 3,000 per month after the 6th Pay Commission with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006.

However, the DPDO, Pathankot, instead of releasing the amount to the soldier from January 2006, paid it only from July 2009 onwards. Constant requests of the soldier as well as the Army to the DPDO fell on deaf ears. Thereafter the veteran was forced to knock the doors of the tribunal. On filing of the case, the DPDO immediately released the balance amount of about Rs 1 lakh.

The bench, however, took strong exception to the fact that economically weak, disabled veterans were being forced into litigation even on issues which did not require any interpretation or clarification by the authorities concerned. In the instant issue, the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) as well as the Army had issued clear directions to the DPDO for grant of arrears with effect from January 2006, but despite the orders issued in May 2009 the veteran was paid his dues in January 2011 and that too after he filed a petition before the tribunal.
------------

MODIFIED PARITY FOR PRE-2006 DISABLED WAR VETERAN

From: DIWAVE Disabled war Veterans [mailto:diwave1@gmail.com]
Sent: 02 March 2011 10:37
To: DELETED
Subject: INTEPRETATION OF MOD LETTER

MODIFIED PARITY FOR PRE-2006 DISABLED WAR VETERANSEXPLANATORY NOTE As a result of DIWAVE’s persistent efforts to take up issues relating to war injury pension and other welfare measures of concern to disabled war veterans, MoD has issued an order dated 15.2.11 revising war injury element of war injury pension (as also disability element in respect of other disabled ex-servicemen). The letter was circulated vide DIWAVE email dated 25.2.11.
2. We have been receiving several queries, seeking clarifications regarding the order and other related issues which are addressed as follows –
a) This is a major policy decision resulting in substantial benefits to pre-2006 recipients of war injury pension.


b) With this order, war injury element will be calculated w.e.f. 1.1.06 on percentage basis linked with reckonable pay (minimum of relevant Pay Band + Grade Pay + MSP). Service element is already 50% of reckonable pay for pre-2006 invalided out.


c) This replaces the earlier system of fixed amount (for 100 % disability - 11760 for officers, 8600 for JCOs & 7020 for ORs).


d) Also, w.e.f. 1.7.2009, the cap on maximum war injury pension at 100% of minimum pay of PB has been removed. That means those with 100% disability will now get 150% of their reckonable pay.


e) Also, pre-96 invalided out war veterans have been granted broad-banding benefit w.e.f. 1.7.09. (20-49% = 50%, 50-75% = 75% and 76-100% = 100%) Efforts are still continuing to get broad-banding benefit w.e.f. 1.1.96, covering invalided out as well as superannuated /discharged war veterans, at par with the disabled civilian pensioners.
3. Examples of current entitlement of war injury pension -
A. Pre-2006 invalided out Captain with 100% disability –
Reckonable Pay (Minimum Pay in PB3 + Grade Pay + MSP) = 27700 (X)
Service Element – 50% of X = 13850 (Y)
War Injury Element – 100% of X = 27700 (Z)
Current rate of Dearness Relief – 45% of (Y+Z)
Current Pension = (Y+Z) x 1.45 = 60247.50
Pension from 1.1. 06 to 30.6.09 = 27700 (maximum capped at 100%) + DR as revised from time to time.

B. Pre-2006 invalided out Colonel with 60% disability Reckonable Pay (Minimum Pay in PB + GP + MSP) = 37400 + 8700 + 6000 = 52100 (X)
Service Element = 50% of X = 26050 (Y)
War Injury Element (w.e.f. 1.7.09) = 75% of X (after broad-banding) = 39075 (Z)
Current Rate of Dearness Relief = 45%
Current Pension – (Y+Z) x 1.45 = 94431
Pension from 1.1.06 to 30.6.09 = 52100* +DR as revised from time to time. *Maximum capped at 100% of pay.
C. Pre-2006 superannuated Brig with 40% disability
Reckonable Pay ( Minimum of PB + GP +MSP) = 37400 + 8900 + 6000 = 52300 (X)
Service Element = 50% of X = 26150 (Y)
War Injury Element = 50% (after broad-banding) x 60 % of X = 15690 (Z)
Current Rate of Dearness Relief = 45%
Current Pension – (Y+Z) x 1.45 = 60668
Note - Post-96 invalided out disabled war veterans were granted broad-banding benefit vide MoD letter dated 31.1.2001, but maximum pension remained capped to 100% of reckonable pay until 30.6.09 i.e. up to that date, broad-banding benefits only those with < 50% disability element.


4. For revision of war injury pension and payment of arrears, PCDA (P) Allahabad needs to issue revised PPO. To expedite it, you can write to PCDA (P), giving reference of the following letters –
a) No. 17(4)/2008(1)/D (Pen/Policy)/ - Vol-V dated 15.2.2011 (Grant of Modified Parity)
b) No. 10 (01)/D (Pen/Pol)/2009/Vol.II dated 19.1.2010
(Grant of broad-banding and removal of cap on maximum pension.)

Other Major decisions sought from MOD are awaited and we hope that orders on these will be issued shortly.


Col H N Handa
President Diwave
B6/6 DLF City, Phase 1,
Gurgaon 122002
Tele: 0124-4051570, Fax: 0124-4051572
Mob: +919811920190, Mail: diwave1@gmail.com

Why they chose to go down with the ship by Ms Ameeta Mulla Qattal

Why they chose to go down with the ship

Ameeta Mulla Qattal
Thu Dec 09 2010

The dark night of December 9, 1971, is imprinted on my mind like a scar. Thirty-nine years ago during India’s war with Pakistan, two vintage anti-submarine frigates that my father, the late Captain Mahender Nath Mulla, commanded, were ordered to hunt and destroy a Pakistani submarine lurking off the coast of Diu. The operation was doomed from the beginning. Like in Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, the brave men went into the night as commanded.

One of the two frigates was torpedoed by the modern Pakistani submarine, the PNS Hangor.The INS Khukri sank, taking 178 Indian naval ratings and 18 officers including my father to their watery graves. It was reported that the captain of the ship showed extraordinary courage during those last minutes of his life, helping save as many of his men as he could and not abandoning his vessel. He went down with his ship, along with the other brave soldiers.

A Mahavir Chakra was awarded to him posthumously.

I have often wondered what made my father decide to go down with his ship. Was it a quest for immortality beyond death? Or was it an old naval tradition? Or did he make the choice because he felt it was the right thing to do? My sister and I had come home on vacation before the war. The anti-aircraft guns that lit up the night of December 5 in Bombay were, for us, a display of fireworks. War and death were just fast-moving images of action movies seen in the security of the United Services Club from where we could make an exit.

This innocence was torn apart on that December night. The torpedo that struck INS Khukri was not the screenplay of a film. This real-life battle had no exits. The news of the sinking of the Khukri was brought home to my mother along with weak assurances that the captain of the ship had been rescued. I recall that my mother felt a hopeless despair because she knew that her husband would not put his own safety before the safety of his men. The period immediately after the war was marked by euphoria and Indians drank, in the words of Ramachandra Guha, “the elixir of victory”.

The loss of a ship was collateral damage in the theatre of war: an awkward event, perhaps best forgotten, especially because the larger war had been won. With the passage of time my mother became involved with the widows of the sailors. The Khukri story repeats itself in different ways. It is the grand narrative of national success and the achievements of a few that frequently submerge the narratives of small folk who live their lives battling unknown enemies and are often deprived of little compensations.

Why is it that the voices of widows and mothers of the “shahids” of Kargil or Kashmir remain submerged like that ill-fated frigate? Has our moral space become so limited that those who have been elected or selected to serve this nation have no need for ethical barometers? What a cruel joke it is when these protectors create an “Adarsh” (ideal) housing society on the foundations of a Khukri Park.

My battle for life commenced after 1971. The sinking of the Khukri was my leitmotif and I never transcended the ideals that my father lived and died for. I remember him telling me: “Never call your best action a sacrifice. If one fights for a cause, it is because one cannot live with the way things are”.

His sacrifice influenced me to be a teacher. It is a choice I have never regretted.

On that fateful night, he helped as many sailors he could to the safety of lifeboats. When he had done his duty he took his decision to go down with his ship. I suppose he saw himself as the ship’s master, nurtured by his ideals. He made the choice not because it was the right thing to do, nor because it was expected of him, but because knowing him as I did, it was the only thing he would do. He was the first captain of independent India’s navy to go down with his ship and hopefully the last.

One such man is enough to bring honour to an entire nation for a lifetime.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The writer is principal of Springdales School, Pusa Road, New Delhi & the daughter of the late Captain Mahender Nath Mulla, MVC.

Donations by Col Dhaliwal

From: col h s kaushal [mailto:colhsk@gmail.com]
Sent: 07 February 2011 11:32
To: CS.Kamboj@yahoo.in
Cc: dalbir404
Subject: DONATION

Dear Sir,
A cheque for Rs.10,000/- towards donation for IESM Rally on 6 March
has been sent by COL D.S.DHALIWAL, Membership No. 009528L. He is the
Convener Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib district who has been sponspered
by me. Please note his email ID. dalbir404@gmail.com for direct
mailing. I have circulated your mail for donation widely. Hope more
donation will pour in.
Regards
Col H S Kaushal
Convener Ambala district

Donations By Lt Gen IM Ahuja and Maj DV Rao

Dear Sir

The following Donations have been gratefully received and amount deposited in the account.


Lt Gen I M Ahuja 10000/-
Maj DVR Rao 1000/-
The HDFC Bank receipt is enclosed as also the Donation forms.

Also enclosed is a note from Lt Gen Ahuja.

Thank you Gen Ahuja and Maj Rao for your kind generosity.

Brgds

Pathak


Cdr Ravindra Waman Pathak
Member Governing Body and Pension Cell IESM
1 Surashri,1146 Lakaki Road

Donation of Rs 10000 by Mrs Lalita Patil w/o Late Wg Cdr Ashok patil

From: sushan1005@yahoo.com
Subject: Mrs Lalita Patil's surprise visit
To: raviwarsha@gmail.com
CC: pensioncell_iesm@yahoogroups.co.in

Dear Ravi,
Mrs Lalita Ashok Patil w/o late Wg Cdr Ashok Patil called on us yesterday. I had settled her pension arrears etc about six months back. She stays at Kolhapur and thus I had forgotten about this case.She wanted to become member of IESM but could not visit Pune all these days.I gave her application form and asked to donate voluntarily. She gave me a cheque for Rs 10,000/- alongwith the application.She has also, on my request ,agreed to assemble exclusive meet for widows at Kolhapur in next few months. I have handed over additional membership forms for this purpose.
I will be handing over her application and cheque this evening to you.
We must promptly send her a donation receipt. Cdr NP Jain's receipt is still awaited.
BRGDS,
Gp Capt SS Phatak(retd)

RANK PAY CASE OF OFFICERS - MOST URGENT MESSAGE FOR ALL VETERANS

REPORT MY SIGNAL"
Dear Friends,
Jai Hind,
A few minutes ago, President Retired Defence Officers’ Association (RDOA) rang up.

He is very disturbed because some veteran officers, who have no clue of the problem and do not know about existence of RDOA, are planning to file another case with AFT/Supreme Court about the Rank Pay Case. Some selfish lawyers, in order to make quick buck, are further adding fuel to fire.

Those of you who do not know, RDOA was specially created by some dedicated veterans to fight the case of Rank Pay. The President of the Association and his dedicated team has done exceedingly well.

The Association has been regularly informing all its members about the progress of the case and has also been keeping "Report My Signal" informed about it. In turn, "Report My Signal" has been keeping you all informed about it.

The team of lawyers employed for this case is headed by top lawyer Shree Harish Salve, Former Solicitor General of India.
Most of you must be aware that Mr Salve on TV had expressed shock about the way Govt of India has been denying justice to Defence Services Veterans of India. The other members of the team are Shree Mahabir Singh, another top lawyer of Supreme Court, Gp Capt Bhatti and Smt Aishwarya Bhatti.

The next hearing of the case is on 24 Feb 2011. It is most likely to be decided in our favour on that date.
It is assured to you all that when this case is decided in our favour, it will be applicable to all veteran and serving officers of the three services.

If any other ill informed ESM group, misguided by selfish lawyers, files a fresh case about Rank Pay Case, the present case will go for a six. Choice is yours.

I request all the veterans receiving this email to kindly disseminate the contents of this email to maximum number of retired and serving officers of the Indian Defence Services, spread all over the world.

We will keep you informed about further progress of the case – till then please relax.

You may also visit the website of RDOA to learn complete details of the case - http://sites.google.com/site/rdoaindia/ .

Vande Matram
In service of Indian Military Veterans
Chander Kamboj.
------------

Visit to CBD Belapur 29 Jan 2011 ..Brig Luktuke/Lt Col Vinod Patil and Cdr Pathak

Dear Sir

As planned Brig Luktuke/Lt Col Vinod Patil and self visited CBD Belapur on 29 Jan 2011 and attended the meet organized by Ex Servicemen League CBD headed by Cdr D S Yadav

The meet was attended by about 100 Veterans and families.

After the briefing there was a lot of enthusiasm and some members joined on the spot.Many applications have been taken for individual membership and the Ex Servicemen League CBD headed by Cdr D S Yadav is expected to complete all formalities and join as Associate Member soon.Their membership strength is about 430.

Photos of the meet are enclosed.

Brgds

Ravi

Donations recd for 6 March 2011 rally

Name Mem # Amount Remarks Total

RAdm xx xxxxxxxxx xxxMno 1388 Rs. 20,000 For tea etc 20,000
Lt Col B Shyam Sunder Mno 11217 Rs. 5,500 General 25,500
Col AK Diwakar Mno 9085 Rs. 3,000 General 28,500
Lt Cdr MG Mehendale Mno 10859 Rs. 10,000 General 38,500
Lt Col JK Barry Mno 888 Rs. 5,000 General 43,500

Rank Pay case in Supreme court..24 Feb 2011 next date

From: RDOA India
Subject: Re: Fw: [IESM_GovBody] Fw: Approx Arrears Of Fourth Pay Commission
To: "ramantn sarma"
Date: Wednesday, 2 February, 2011, 10:43 AM


Dear Veteran,
There is no need for anybody to seek intervention in the case. It will only delay matters further. The verdict has already been given by the apex court.
The court has to decide on the appeal filed by the Govt for modification of order for which the date has been fixed as 24 Feb 2010.Kindly wait for that and please tell others also not to be trigger happy on going to courts. RDOA does not want the issue to get messed up. By doing so we would only be playing the govts card.
Thanks
col satwant singh
sect RDOA

Government negates Lokpal Bill: Citizens march to fight Corruption

Delhi acts against corruption
Abhinav Garg, TNN, Jan 31, 2011, 12.11am IST
NEW DELHI: The government of India and our "people's representatives" were put on notice on Sunday - either fundamentally reform the country's anti-corruption laws or perish.

Two former Union law ministers, India's first women IPS officer, a sitting information commissioner, a retired cabinet secretary, a current member of National Advisory Council (NAC) and leading social reformers joined thousands of citizens to give a powerful call to restructure India's anti-corruption laws so that they become effective.

Guided by Magsaysay Award winner and RTI pioneer Arvind Kejariwal, thousands converged at the Ramlila Grounds to exhibit symbolic defiance by tearing copies of the CVC Act, the Delhi Police Special Power's Act that governs CBI and the draft Lokpal bill proposed by the government. Kejariwal patiently explained to the crowd how the present laws flatter to deceive and therefore ought to be replaced.

A 'Vote Bank Against Corruption' movement was also launched that asks voters to blacklist a party or a candidate who doesn't work to implement the 'Jan Lokpal Bill', touted by the organizers as a better, more robust anti-graft law which will actually ensure that the punishment to the dishonest is swift, certain and severe.

'I pledge that I will not vote for the party which does not pass and support the Lokpal or Lokayukta Bill drafted by citizens, either in state or at the Centre,' is the oath that targets votebank politics established on caste, religious and regional lines.

Holding aloft banners and shouting slogans against rising levels of corruption in the country, thousands of people from all age groups poured into the grounds to demand an effective anti-graft law. Showing banners that proclaimed 'Corruption: Enough is enough' and 'Common people are raped in government offices', the protestors gathered at the Ramlila Maidan from where they later marched to Jantar Mantar to register their protest.

Former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi, social activist Swami Agnivesh, noted lawyers Ram Jethmalani, Prashant Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan, IC Shailesh Gandhi, Medha Patkar, Prabhat Kumar and NAC member Harsh Mander were among the key participants in the rally, which coincided with Martyrs' Day, the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. Bedi joined veteran lawyer Jethmalani and others to exhort the crowd to chant to Mahatma's favourite song 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram', as each speaker underlined the need to exert outside pressure on the legislature to amend anti-graft laws.

The march was part of the 'India against Corruption' movement being build up by a few social organizations demanding passage of the Lokpal Bill in the budget session of Parliament with important amendments. Eminent lawyers and activists have teamed up to draft an anti-corruption legislation which seeks to create an independent, empowered, transparent and accountable anti-corruption agency called Lokpal; to which agencies like the CVC and CBI will be accountable, independent from governmental interference.

"The Lokpal bill prepared by the public is so effective that it will eradicate corruption in next two-three years. Political parties should support the passage of this bill as the Lokpal suggested by the government is only a showpiece," former law minister Shanti Bhushan said while addressing the rally. According to activists, the government wants to make Lokpal an advisory body, which will only recommend to the government to prosecute corrupt ministers and remain toothless.
Read more: Delhi acts against corruption - The Times of India

I attended the Anti-corruption rally on 30 Jan. Very powerful rally. Very eminent intellectuals of India were present.
Chander

PBOR an acronym that spells `KALYUGA’

Respected Sirs,
PBOR: Yes! An abbreviation with an unknown, yet, not so unknown origin. Here from Acronym Attic it means:

Personnel Below Officer Rank (US DoD)

Patients Bill of Rights

Programmable Brown Out Reset (hardware)

PBOR stands for personal below officer’s ranks. A acronym that represents `KALYUGA’ in Indian Military fraternity. A word that is a matter of pride to some intelligent destructive brains. And while most soldiers are too naive to understand these petty schemes of the schemers, some of us do.

A divide is being created, and on purpose, between officers and the JCOs, NCOs and ORs. If we look at our military history, even before independence and after it both serving and retired soldiers have been referred to as officers, JCOs, NCOs and ORs. Suddenly a new term is coined. A monster is born. Not a person, just a tiny little abbreviation -- PBOR.

I clearly remember bringing this point to the foreground regarding the devaluation of JCOs, NCOs and equivalent ranks of all arms at the All India Veterans Meet organized by IESM held on Sept 30, 2009. We are all aware of the fact that JCOs are commissioned by President of India and that it is a Class II Gazetted rank. It has now been replaced by this monster of a term -- PBOR. I have asked this question in the past and I'm asking again, where did this term come from? How is it that the service chiefs have so easily accepted it? The same point has also been raised earlier by Sgt. Prabhjot Singh PIS (Retd.), President, Indian Ex-Services League, Punjab and Chandigarh and other ESM also. However there has been no action taken on ground by anyone.

Today the entrants to the forces at soldier level are more literate and aware than before. This is a result of increased awareness and availability of information to everyone. Fortunately, “BOSS IS ALWAYS RIGHT” slogan is now outdated. Today right is right and wrong is wrong, and surprisingly for many, this can be well identified by our soldiers. By way of highlighting this again, I humbly request our COAS, the other service chiefs and the rest of the top brass to wake these elements up and quit using such petty tactics to devalue JCOs, NCOs and ORs. These elements need to be stopped in order to maintain respect and discipline in the forces. Educated brains should not be compelled, forced to become rebellious.

JCOs have always been called the back bone of the forces. Although the recent developments suggest that they are a burden, an unimportant, redundant part of the the military. If that is the case, it'd be best to simply abolish these ranks instead humiliating them and thus weakening the forces. In the recent past, few other indirect humiliating actions have been observed. One such example is the placement of Honorary Ranks from pay band 3 to JCO’s Band. It is known that honorary rank is not merely a routine promotion based on seniority but is an extra ordinary promotion based on one's exemplary performance during the entire military career. It is granted by the President of India only on two prestigious national days i.e. 15th Aug and 26th Jan every year and is called “President Commission”. Thanks to IESM Chairman and some other ESM organization that raised this point seriously with COAS and QMG Br and this order was revoked. We all are thankful to CAOS who has taken serious view of this situation and revoked the order issued by QMG Br.

This monster 'PBOR' is frequently visible on signboards at places like CSD canteen, MH, ECHS and other similar places. This further reflects discriminatory attitude towards our soldiers. My heart sank when I saw a 'PBOR' board in a Unit run CSD Canteen in Delhi Canteen. The same must be the story of so many other canteens that I have not visited. It is shocking to see such rampant humiliation and that it has penetrated so deep into the system. What is even more disturbing is that no one chooses to react! Well that, sirs, has to stop and stop it must. One way or another. Boil the water long enough and the pressure cooker blasts. We all know that and its not a very pleasant thing to happen.

It is painful that instead of utilizing their brains to safeguard the nation's boundaries and safeguard the interests of their subordinates, some officers at senior posts utilize their time and energy creating a rift between the brave soldiers of this nation.

I will like to quote here the lines of a remarkable naval officer, "As I pen down my experiences of the Sixth Pay Commission, I will try to mask my contempt for those in the highest echelons for conniving with the powers in Delhi quite obviously for personal benefit." And this clearly shows how power is misused by some.

Therefore in the interest of the nation, on behalf of the JCOs, NCOs and ORs of all arms, I once again request all ESM organizations to take up the above mentioned objections with the concerned authorities and urge them to completely and comprehensively abolish the term “PBOR” from the dictionary of the forces. I thank you all in advance for this service to the nation.
JAI HIND JAI BHARAT
Warm regards,
Kameshwar Pandey
Sub/Maj Hony Lt (Veteran)
Governing Body Member
Indian ESM Movement

एक शब्द है कि 'कलियुग का प्रतिनिधित्व करता है PBOR '

आदरणीय दिग्गजों,
PBOR: हां! एक अज्ञात, अभी तक, ऐसा नहीं अज्ञात मूल के साथ एक संक्षिप्त नाम. संक्षिप्त यहाँ से अटारी यह मतलब है:
अधिकारी रैंक से नीचे कार्मिक (DoD यूएस)- Personnel Below Officer Rank (US DoD)
अधिकारों के मरीजों विधेयक Patients Bill of Rights
निर्देशयोग्य ब्राउन आउट रीसेट (हार्डवेयर) Programmable Brown Out Reset (hardware)

PBOR अधिकारी रैंक से नीचे व्यक्तिगत के लिए खड़ा है. एक परिचित करा कि `भारतीय सैन्य बिरादरी में कलियुग का प्रतिनिधित्व करता है. एक शब्द है जो गर्व की कुछ बुद्धिमान विनाशकारी दिमाग के लिए मामला है. और जबकि अधिकांश सैनिकों को भी schemers के इन क्षुद्र योजनाओं समझ अनुभवहीन हैं, हम में से कुछ करते हैं.

एक विभाजन बनाया जा रहा है, और उद्देश्य पर अधिकारियों और जेसीओ, एन सी ओ और अन्य रैंकों के बीच. यदि हम अपने सैन्य इतिहास में आजादी से पहले भी और यह दोनों सेवारत और सेवानिवृत्त सैनिकों के रूप में अधिकारियों, जे सी ओ एन सी ओ और अन्य रैंकों को भेजा गया है के बाद, देखो. अचानक एक नया शब्द गढ़ा है. एक राक्षस पैदा हुआ है. नहीं, एक व्यक्ति, बस एक छोटे से संक्षिप्त नाम - PBOR.

मैं स्पष्ट रूप से, जे सी ओ एन सी ओ और अखिल भारतीय दिग्गजों मिलने पर सभी हथियारों IESM 30 सितम्बर 2009 को आयोजित द्वारा आयोजित के समकक्ष रैंक के अवमूल्यन के संबंध में अग्रभूमि करने के लिए इस बिंदु लाने के लिए याद है. हम तथ्य यह है कि जे सी ओ भारत के राष्ट्रपति द्वारा कमीशन हैं और यह एक द्वितीय श्रेणी के राजपत्रित पद है कि सब जानते हैं. PBOR - यह अब एक शब्द के इस दैत्य द्वारा प्रतिस्थापित किया गया है. मैं अतीत में यह सवाल पूछा है और मैं फिर से पूछ रहा हूँ, जहाँ इस शब्द से आया? कैसे यह है कि सेना प्रमुखों है तो आसानी से इसे स्वीकार कर लिया? एक ही बिंदु भी सार्जेंट द्वारा किया गया है कि पहले उठाया. प्रभजोत सिंह (सेवानिवृत्त) पीआईएस, राष्ट्रपति, भारतीय पूर्व सेवाएं लीग, पंजाब और चंडीगढ़ और अन्य ईएसएम भी. लेकिन कोई किसी के द्वारा जमीन पर की गई कार्रवाई की गई है.

आज सैनिक स्तर पर बलों को नवागंतुकों अधिक साक्षर और पहले से जानते हैं. इस वृद्धि की जागरूकता और हर किसी को जानकारी की उपलब्धता का परिणाम है. सौभाग्य से, "बॉस हमेशा सही 'के नारे अब पुरानी हो चुकी है. आज सही सही है और गलत गलत है, और आश्चर्यजनक रूप से कई के लिए, यह अच्छी तरह से हमारे सैनिकों से पहचाना जा सकता है. इस बार फिर उजागर करने का वैसे, मैं विनम्रतापूर्वक जागृत करने के लिए हमारी थलसेनाध्यक्ष, अन्य सेवा प्रमुखों और शीर्ष अधिकारियों के बाकी अनुरोध इन तत्वों को और इस तरह के क्षुद्र रणनीति का उपयोग करने के लिए, जे सी ओ एन सी ओ और अन्य रैंक अवमूल्यन करना छोड़ दिया. इन तत्वों के लिए आदेश में सेना में सम्मान और अनुशासन बनाए रखने के लिए बंद कर दिया जाना चाहिए. शिक्षित दिमाग, नहीं करने के लिए मजबूर हो जाते हैं मजबूर विद्रोही चाहिए.

जेसीओ हमेशा सेना की पीठ की हड्डी है बुलाया गया है. हालांकि हाल के घटनाक्रम के सुझाव है कि वे एक बोझ, एक महत्वहीन, अनावश्यक सेना के हिस्सा हैं. यदि यह मामला है, यह सबसे अच्छा होना करने के लिए बस इन बजाय उन्हें अपमानजनक है और इस तरह की ताकतों को कमजोर रैंकों को समाप्त करता हूं. हाल ही में, कुछ अन्य अप्रत्यक्ष अपमानजनक कार्रवाई मनाया गया है. ऐसा ही एक उदाहरण देना बैंड 3 से मानद रैंक का है जूनियर कमीशन अफसर बैंड करने के लिए स्थान है. यह ज्ञात है कि मानद पद महज एक नियमित वरिष्ठता के आधार पर पदोन्नति नहीं है, लेकिन एक अतिरिक्त साधारण पूरे सैन्य कैरियर के दौरान एक अनुकरणीय प्रदर्शन के आधार पर पदोन्नति है. यह भारत के राष्ट्रपति द्वारा दो प्रतिष्ठित राष्ट्रीय दिन पर ही दी जाती है 15 अगस्त और 26 जनवरी को हर साल यानी और "आयोग के अध्यक्ष" कहा जाता है. IESM अध्यक्ष और कुछ अन्य ईएसएम संगठन है कि थलसेनाध्यक्ष और QMG Br और इस क्रम के साथ इस मुद्दे को गंभीरता से उठाया के लिए धन्यवाद रद्द किया गया. हम सब CAOS जो इस स्थिति के गंभीर रुख अपनाया है और रद्द QMG Br द्वारा जारी आदेश के आभारी हैं.

इस राक्षस 'PBOR' अक्सर कैंटीन सीएसडी, महाराष्ट्र, ई सी एच एस और अन्य समान स्थानों जैसी जगहों पर साइनबोर्ड पर दिख रहा है. यह आगे हमारे सैनिकों के प्रति भेदभावपूर्ण रवैये को दर्शाता है. मेरा दिल डूब गया, जब मैं एक यूनिट दिल्ली कैंटीन में चला सीएसडी कैंटीन में एक 'PBOR' बोर्ड को देखा. वही तो कई अन्य कैंटीन की कहानी है कि मैं दौरा नहीं किया है किया जाना चाहिए. यह इस तरह के बड़े पैमाने पर अपमान देखना चौंकाने वाला है और यह इतना व्यवस्था में गहरी पैठ बना दिया है कि. और भी अधिक परेशान बात यह है कि कोई भी प्रतिक्रिया चुनता है! अच्छा है कि, sirs, बंद करो और इसे रोकना होगा है. एक ही रास्ता या कोई अन्य. पानी काफी लंबे समय और प्रेशर कुकर बम विस्फोटों उबाल लें. हम सभी जानते हैं कि और इसके बहुत सुखद नहीं बात एक होने के लिए.

यह दुखद है कि उनके लिए देश की सीमाओं की रक्षा और उनके मातहत के हितों की रक्षा दिमाग का उपयोग करने के बजाय, वरिष्ठ पदों पर कुछ अधिकारियों ने अपने समय और ऊर्जा इस देश के बहादुर सैनिकों के बीच दरार पैदा करने का उपयोग.

मैं यहाँ एक उल्लेखनीय नौसेना अधिकारी की तर्ज बोली की तरह, "मैं होगा के रूप में छठे वेतन आयोग के अपने अनुभवों को नीचे कलम, मैं दिल्ली में शक्तियों के साथ काफी के लिए स्पष्ट रूप से सांठगांठ के लिए नकाब को सर्वोच्च echelons में लोगों के लिए मेरी अवमानना की कोशिश करेंगे व्यक्तिगत लाभ. " और यह स्पष्ट रूप से दिखाता है कि कैसे सत्ता है कुछ लोगों द्वारा दुरुपयोग किया.

राष्ट्र की, जे सी ओ एन सी ओ और सभी हथियारों के अन्य रैंकों की ओर से, हित में इसलिए, मैं एक बार फिर सब ईएसएम संगठनों ने लेने के लिए संबंधित अधिकारियों के साथ उपरोक्त आपत्ति है और उन्हें पूरी तरह से आग्रह करता हूं और व्यापक अवधि समाप्त अनुरोध " PBOR "से सेना का शब्दकोश. मैं अग्रिम में राष्ट्र के लिए इस सेवा के लिए आप सभी को धन्यवाद.
जय हिंद जय भारत
गर्म का संबंध है,
कामेश्वर पांडेय
उप / मेजर मानद लेफ्टिनेंट (दिग्गज)
शरीर सदस्य शासी
भारतीय ईएसएम आंदोलन

Navdeep's Blog

Saturday, January 22, 2011
Is litigation a matter of worry ?
The following appeared on Page 40 of the ‘Salute’ magazine, January 2011.

(Copyright : Salute to the Indian Soldier)

Litigation and Armed Forces : A matter of worry ?

Navdeep Singh


Increase in litigation in the forces, is it worrisome? Is it that the system is being unfair to its personnel?

No, not at all. That a greater number of serving and retired personnel are resorting to legal recourse resulting in judicial intervention is a sign of a healthy democracy where the right to Constitutional remedies is guaranteed to every citizen.

Quantitatively the litigation was bound to increase with the inception of country-wide Benches of the Armed Forces Tribunal. A surge in the number of cases was expected because of several reasons, first being that the feeling itself of the availability of an exclusive body to deal with grievances of present and former service-members was encouragement enough for those to take legal recourse who felt that they had been treated unfairly. Secondly, there was an inherent reluctance, and rightly so, of taking some of the seemingly trivial matters such as minor disputes in pay, allowances and grants, to High Courts, a thing of the past now since the Tribunal now not only has the expertise but also the power to go into the minutiae of such aspects. And thirdly, there was an innate phobia, though unfounded, with respect to the complexity and formality of procedure followed in High Courts which no longer remains true since the procedures followed in Tribunals are much more ‘user-friendly’ if I could use the phrase.

But there is a flip side. And that brings me to the qualitative aspect. The coming into force of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act should not mean that the internal grievances redressal mechanism is further weakened or that everything is put on the AFT by harbouring an attitude that if a person does not get justice, he shall get it from the Tribunal. In fact the in-house system should be so strong that only a minority of grievances reach litigation stage. In certain arenas some of the cases are such which should never have reached litigation stage. Disability pension is one such area where proper application of procedures and regulations by medical boards, record offices and CDA would help in minimising disputes on the subject since the Tribunals in this matter are in fact doing what should have been the duty of the ibid authorities. Also pensionary litigation in the defence services is the highest in the country compared to all other central government organisations and most of it is avoidable. Primary reason being that the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare under the Personnel Ministry on the civil side is one of the most proactive and welfare oriented departments of the Government while just the contrary can be said about the Pension wing of the Ministry of Defence. While the former takes democratic decisions by taking into account a well established consultative process with bodies of pensioners, the latter is a one-man show with a single officer imposing his whims on millions of defence pensioners and their families in a highly undemocratic fashion. While the former places every single letter issued by it on the official website the same day, the latter does not believe in even letting pensioners know of their entitlements with affected people perpetually groping in the dark. Senior officers of the Ministry of Defence and the Services Headquarters unfortunately do not have the expertise of gauging what is right and what is wrong, what is beneficial and what is detrimental. What to talk of poor pensioners, in matters of pension, the defence ministry is now notoriously (in)famous for even misleading Courts by quoting outdated and non-existent rules and regulations, a tendency that has now been deprecated on record by Courts umpteen number of times.

Tersely put, it is not the quantity of cases reaching judicial fora that is worrisome, but the quality. What needs to be curbed is the plethora of forced litigation thrust upon poor veterans simply because that accountant in Allahabad failed to touch the calculator for months together or the clerk in the Records Office refused to open the rule book and comprehend simple rudimentary English.
Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh at 5:18 AM 7 comments
Labels: AFT, Disability Pension, law, Misc, Pension
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
This is again related to the last two posts
The erroneous tables have now been deleted from the list of 6th CPC circulars available on the official PCDA(P) website. The old (direct) link to Circular No 449 reflected in the blog-post dated 14th Jan 2011 would still work but is not listed in the official list of circulars anymore.

Also it is clarified that the Annexure stating the minimum pension for PBOR in the MoD letter dated 15th Nov 2010, which is also enclosed with the ibid Circular No 449, is of no practical use since the same only reflects the minimum possible pension admissible to PBOR of different ranks. The actual pension of PBOR (much higher) is now determined by the Govt letter issued in March 2010 promulgated in pursuance of the report of the Committee of Secretaries.

Navdeep's Blog

Monday, January 31, 2011
Revised switch-over option to 6th CPC scales
As reported on the blog in August 2010, due to confusion created by introduction of new concepts such as pay bands and grade pay, many central govt employees were in a fix and as a result had exercised options which did not ultimately prove to be beneficial. The Central Govt had therefore relaxed the rules for civilian employees and the option which was initially to be provided within a period of 3 months could now be revised and changed till 31st of December, 2010, and a similar dispensation for defence personnel was also expected.


The government has now, as a one time measure, granted the option to defence personnel too and the same is to be exercised by 31 March 2011. This stipulation is also being flashed on the official website of PCDA(O). Officers desirous of revising the option may get in touch with PCDA(O).


It is also requested that detailed queries on the subject may not kindly be directed to me and all doubts may be directed to the office of PCDA(O) or the AG's Branch. Thanks.

IESM CORE GROUP MEETING AT 1030H TO 1530H ON SATURDAY 5 MARCH 2011 AT AVCC NOIDA

IESM CORE GROUP MEETING AT 1030H TO 1530H ON SATURDAY 5 MARCH 2011 AT AVCC NOIDA

Dear members of the core group IESM

IESM core group meeting pan India is planned to be held at 1030h on 5 Mar 2011 Saturday at AVCC Sector - 37 Noida. All the members are requested to attend the meeting .

Members are requested to forward their points to be included in agenda points. Agenda points for the meeting will be issued later.

It is proposed to reimburse the travel fare for travel of all the members of core group arriving for the meeting. Members can choose the most convenient mode of travel to reach the venue but the reimbursement will be restricted to actual fare or AC 2 tier whichever is less. Please do bring the receipts of your travel expenses.

All members, who are attending, are requested to kindly bring the photocopy of their tickets/receipts or send the photocopy of the ticket in advance so that the expenses can be reimbursed during the meeting. This is an audit requirement and we would not be able reimburse the cost without proper photocopy of the ticket/receipt.

All members are requested to make their own arrangements for stay at Delhi/Noida. However in case some members have some difficulty in arranging their stay, IESM will extend all the possible help. Please do communicate in case you need any assistance from us. We will try our best to find accommodation but it is not guaranteed.

Kindly confirm your participation for us to make the meeting more meaningful.


Regards

Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01204313951
Mobile 09810541222

Hav Lachhiman Gurung,Victoria Cross

From: VK Sharma
Sent: Tue, 25 January, 2011 7:58:19 PM
Subject: Hav Lachhiman Gurung,Victoria Cross



Dear Sir,

I wish to inform all concerned through' Report My Signal', the sad demise of Hav Lachhiman Gurung,Victoria Cross(VC) of 4/8 Gorkha Rifles.
Hav Lachhiman Gurung, VC died at 0710hr on 12 Dec 10 at at the age of 93 Years, due to PNEUMONIA,in United Kingdom.He is survived by his second wife Smt Man Maya Gurung,one daughter Smt Kanya Devi and three sons Col(Retd) ShivDutt Gurung,Shri Krishna bahadur Gurung and Shri Resham Lal Gurung.

Without any doubt,he was a brave soldier of the 4/8 Gorkha Rifles.Till 12 Dec 10,he was one of the seven surviving VC receipents.

Late Hav,then Rifleman,Lachhiman Gurung was awarded the VC for his dauntless courage against the Japanese Forces in Burma. Then Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung was manning the forward most of his platoon at Taungdaw in Burma(now Myammar). His saga of courage is long to be included in the Report My Signal.

The VC awarded to him is a proud possession of his illustrious Bn ,4/8 Gorkha Rifles,motivating all ranks to emulate his brave example.

With regards

Most Sincerely Yours

Brig VK Sharma,VSM

V-Care V-Share - Army Officer's Benevolent Fund-Platinum Grant at 75 yrs age

Retired army officers, who have completed 75 years of age, are entitled to a grant of Rs 50,000.00 from the Army Officers Benevolent Fund.

Kindly share this information among the retired Army Officers in your city. (In case of demise of an officer, during service or later before completing 75 years, this amount is payable to the next of kin immediately after the demise of the officer. It is also applicable to officers settled abroad.)

No formal application is required for claiming the platinum grant. However the retired officers are required to intimate their postal addresses and Bank Account Numbers as and when they enter their 75th year at following address for updating the records :-

Director Accounts
Ceremonial & Welfare Directorate
Adjutant General's Branch
Army Headquarters
South Block, Room No 279
DHQ PO New Delhi - 110011

Lt Col Col Pensions

From: ambreesh aggarwal
Date: Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 06:48
Subject: RE: Lt Col Col Pensions
To: raviwarsha@gmail.com



It would be the best thing to do. Last year I had mooted the same idea through a presentation and had circulated a draft letter for people to send to the government en-masse, so as to firstly overwhelm the government and nudge it to act. And if it didn't, to anyway set the clock running for action in the AFT after six months.


State thereafter was not very encouraging, people did not whole heartedly participate, some were skeptical, some sent the letter but did not keep me in picture, some got the letter modified through other advocates and I was informed (during admission arguments of my case) that people already approached AFT (obviously with alterations in the contents thereby compromising on the thrust of the case) and lost the case.


However, in my view nothing is lost still. Admission of my own case by the AFT principal Bench vindicates the validity of the stand.


Those who are approaching me I am filing for them in the AFT principal Bench, individually as well as in groups. My charges are absolutely affordable and are nominal per head even when a small group is involved.


However, what one has to foresee and be prepared for is the charges of the senior counsels which the people / group will have to eventually engage because government is going to fight it tooth and nail with battery of government senior counsels fiercely arguing it out in the AFT (and in the Supreme Court later). This is where, i.e. to sustain the future funding and to spread the financial burden out, one would need a group / association with sufficient number, to front-end the mission either as a normal motion or as a class action.


An existing legal entity (any association of ex-service officers) can very much do so, but it has to so decide. [I remember some Lt General claiming to be President of some association, calling me up last year immediately after i mooted the idea, to question why Lt Cols / Cols should get more than what they have already got; he was worried that the differential between them and `senior' ranks might get narrowed down]. So, if support from the existing ex-service organisations doesn't come, a separate association may be formed by the affected people (pre-2006 retirees of mainly the Lt Col/ Col and eq. ranks having less than 33 years of qualifying service) to bring a class action.


I end by fully endorsing your views and by offering my services till the Apex court, to you individually / if you come as part of small group / If an association comes for class action.



A K Aggarwal
Advocate-on-Record
Supreme Court of India

By Brig CS Kamboj....on 6 PC

"REPORT MY SIGNAL"
Dear Friends,
Jai Hind.

I am sure some of you can reach the serving Chiefs, Vice Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs and some of the Former Chiefs.

For the sake of larger interest of all the Veterans, please do have the moral courage and do send a copy of the email below to them.

Please do tell them that so far Veterans were vaguely blaming the Former Chiefs and serving Chiefs for the constantly deteriorating status of the Armed Forces and constantly loosing on the financial entitlements – the email below clarifies the situation completely and no doubts are left in our mind.

I had received similar emails giving stories of 4th and 5th CPC, but those were stories received through third persons and thus not circulated.
I feel those stories also must have been true, in particular, I am told that the Rank Pay case was knowingly ruined by one of the Pay Cells of the three services for personal benefits.


Vande Matram
In service of Indian Military Veterans
Chander Kamboj.

Some Bare Facts ...6 PC by Rear Adm Alan O'Leary (Retd)

From: Stanley OLeary
To:
Sent: Tue, 25 January, 2011 2:57:08 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: PRODUCE AT HOME -BE SECURE

Dear Sir,
It's some time since I communicated with you. But I am glad that I am able to do so now. Incidentally I retired form the Navy on 31 July 2010 in the rank of Rear Adm. I stay in Bangalore and am still settling some family issues before I pen down my experiences of the Sixth Pay Commission. I will try to mask my contempt for those in the highest echelons for conniving with the powers in Delhi quite obviously for personal benefit.
I was baffled how suddenly when we were winning through, due to the hard work of the Pay Cells, that suddenly the established system was bypassed and the Army started calling the cards from the DG PS Office. Grade Pay that was my first priority where Cdr's who should have been getting Rs 8700 was watered down to two lines and the fourth priority, in a missive signed by the then CNS, Admiral Sureesh Mehta. Since, I as Chairman PARC, should have been consulted, before this letter was signed, I did what I believed was honourable and asked to be replaced, which did happen.

Secondly, while we talk about OROP, I see that one particular aspect has been completely ignored. A young Lt Cdr in my Naval team observed that the Sixth Pay Commission had created Pay promotions for the Group A Services up to the rank of Addl Secy. This has now been implemented. At that time I explained this to the CNS and the Air Chief in end July 2008. It was subsequently put up to the Defence Minister as the 15th Anomaly in July itself. We wanted to ensure that the Services were not left out of this largesse.
Suddenly all went quiet on that front and nothing more was heard. This non functional promotion means that in case an Officer in a particular Batch in the Cival Services is promoted over his batchmates, they would automatically move up and get a pay promotion on a non-functional basis, two years later. This means that our Officers too, not being lower than the organised Group A Services should also have been treated the same. Why was this glaring loophole covered up by the Armed Forces hierarchy? If this is also given to us, all Officers retiring from Service would automatically move up to the Addl Secy scale. I believe that we ourselves and by that I mean our hierarchy, do not want this. But is this fair?
Another aspect that I think I need to raise is that I have often heard some of our veterans stating that all IAS Officers are assured of promotions to the post of Joint Secy. I would like to clarify that this is not true. They now will all reach Secretary level without exception, unless they are implicated in some crime. Don't we at least have a case to strive for non functional promotions to the Addl Secy level like all other Group A services?
Lastly Sir, I must also say that you have hit the nail on the head, so far as some of our brethren in the Technical Services are concerned. Middlemen are not being discouraged and this is a sad reflection on our honour. Again we need to introspect ourselves.
Warm regards,
Rear Adm Alan O'Leary (Retd)

THANK YOU S.B.I

From: subhash kapoor [mailto:sckaps@yahoo.co.in]
Sent: 24 January 2011 20:11
To: mytimesmyvoice@timesgroup.com
Cc: MILITARY VETERANS GROUPS; CS Kamboj; proarmy@rediffmail.com; proarmy@gmail.com; pronavydelhi@gmail.com; pro_iaf2006@yahoo.co.in
Subject: THANK YOU S.B.I, THANK YOU, MR. EDITOR--A LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE TIMES OF INDIA NEW DELHI

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE TIMES OF INDIA NEW DELHI

To:

The Editor
The Times of India
New Delhi

Sir:

The type of advertisements from State Bank of India of late appearing in the print media with the message "PROUD TO BE INDIAN" have rarely been seen earlier in this country.

However, the latest in the series captioned "THEY STRONGLY BELIEVE IN SELF-SACRIFICE AND HONOUR. WE SALUTE THEM ... " in The Times of India today, and showing a soldier in action with an Army tank, Naval ship and Air Force aircraft in the background, is a class apart. Besides inspiring the citizens and sensitising them to the imperatives of national security and those who look after it cheerfully round the clock, such recognition of the services rendered by the military personnel is bound to boost their morale. Our grateful thanks to State Bank of India.

We are also obliged to you, Sir, for giving this beautiful advertisement on the front page of The Times of India.

Warm regards.


Sincerely,

Wing Commander SC Kapoor (retd)
E-145, Sector 21
Noida-201 301
Mob: 9810515424
COPY TO:
Headquarters, State Bank of India
Mumbai

MARCH AGAINST CORRUPTION by Col S Paranjape

From: SHARAD PARANJAPE [mailto:sharpara@gmail.com]
Sent: 24 January 2011 06:06
To: CS.Kamboj@yahoo.in
Subject: MARCH AGAINST CORRUPTION

Dear Chander:

When IAC had invited all of us to send suggestions for inclusion in the proposed Lok Pal Bill I had responded as below.

If my response appeals to RMS readers they may also write to organizers, DIRECTLY please without copies to Report My Signals.

"I have only one humble suggestion for the proposed Anti Corruption Bill or the Lokpal Bill. Can these bills have the same provisions as in the Anti Dowry or Anti-terrorism laws (TADA, PATA ETC), where a mere complaint or suspicion should be enough to arrest and proceed against the corrupt individual. It is true that some innocent people have suffered due to strong provisions in antidowry and anti-terrorism laws but dowry is no different from bribe or extortion. It is worth noting that dowry system or terrorism victimizes only a finite number of brides/individuals whereas the corruption victimizes the whole population of the country on account of loss of public revenue and inefficient/illegal actions of corrupt officials. Anti corruption bill should have even stronger provisions than anti dowry or anti terrorism laws."

Col SK Paranjape, Retd.


--
Sharad & Nandini Paranjape
372 Central Park West #19Y
New York NY 10025, U.S.A.
Phone: 212-316-6575

published in the People's Post magazine..OROP

Respected Sir/Madam,
The attached report -- published in the People's Post magazine -- is for your kind perusal.
With regards
Abhi (Shree Abhijit C Chandra, Chief Sub Editor UNI)

ARMY NEEDS A CHANGED PERSPECTIVE by Lt Gen V Oberoi

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110117/edit.htm#6




While no major modernisation has been effected since the 1980s, the army continues to be structured to fight wars of earlier eras. As the world’s third largest army observes Army Day, which marks the 62nd anniversary of General (later Field Marshal) K.M. Cariappa taking over as the first Indian army chief, the force faces multiple challenges. The army is in dire need of a major transformation into a lean, technology intensive and networked potent force to fight 21st century wars,

says former army vice chief, Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi


ARMY NEEDS A CHANGED PERSPECTIVE

Another Army Day was flagged on Saturday. The Army Day has always been a day of reflection on the achievements and shortcomings of the past year and the plans for the ensuing year. However, this year it is not just the start of one more year for the army but the commencement of a new decade. The army therefore must look at two decades, the previous and the one ahead.

The army always has achievements to cite every year. These are well known and are always a source of inspiration and satisfaction. But it is also important to mull over the areas of weaknesses so that these are removed and the army remains both a potent and relevant force.

The major areas of concern are both internal and external. The first category includes a comprehensive transformation plan; a makeover in manpower policies; greater interaction and empathy with veterans who need to be valued as adding to the strength of the army; and finally the need to get away from the status quo and defensive mentality, which hinders progress.

The external areas are modernisation, joint endeavours, reductions in internal security commitments, an assertive stand in core areas where no dilution should be acceptable, and halting and then reversing the trend of diluting the status of the army.

Transformation needs to be speeded up, as without it the army would continue to wallow in old and inefficient structures that are out of sync with the present and future battlefield environment and the rapidly changing methodologies of waging war. The army has not seen any major structural changes since the mid-80s and essentially it is still structured to fight wars of earlier eras. We need to change or upgrade our doctrines and concepts, restructure the field force, efficiently manage internal conflicts, upgrade human resources, streamline logistics, and modernise the training methodology. Our aim must be to transform the army into a lean, technology intensive, networked and joint entity.

Manpower policies are not merely promotion policies, but include recruitment and in-service management, especially grooming for higher ranks. For officers, recruitment and training policies are fairly comprehensive. However, we continue to be a generalist army, with no specialisation. There is no sectoral or geographical specialisation, no continuity in specific appointments like those in information technology that require long tenures, and little language proficiency.

Command appointments for officers are a must, resulting in shorter and shorter command tenures to accommodate everyone. The compulsion on commanders to "show" themselves in these truncated tenures, results in their riding roughshod on their commands! As regards promotion of officers, the seniority of passing out of training academies remains throughout one's service. This has resulted in many bright officers losing out. The need is for a reassessment of each officer's caliber at least at 10 years intervals and re-fixing seniority in accordance with the officers' changed abilities and performance.

In the case of jawans, there is a mismatch between imbibing technology and educational qualifications. In non-technical arms, which also handle the latest weapons and equipment, intake qualification continues to be class-X. In a transformation study carried out over 10 years ago, I had suggested upgrading the criteria to class-XII by 2002 and to graduation by 2005, but we continue to remain in a time warp! Secondly, though JCO'S are an essential link in the organisational structure, they all are promoted from the ranks. They are of higher ages, are comparatively less fit and have the same educational qualifications as the troops. Despite discussing the issue a number of times for recruiting at least a percentage directly as graduates, we have always baulked at doing so.

Today's active soldier is tomorrow's veteran. However, there seems to be a firewall between the two categories, with different norms of treatment, emoluments, medical arrangements and other related issues. This has resulted in the veterans getting disillusioned and the bureaucrats widening the gulf even more. It is the veterans who are role models for our youth as they interact with them more than the serving personnel; they ensure that the best and motivated manpower joins the army. This has not only eroded but a very large number of veterans now speak ill of the army. The army needs to re-focus on this important issue and do away with the artificial division that is increasingly disillusioning the veterans. The veterans must again start feeling that the army chief is their chief too! Although a Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare is in existence for the last six years, it has done virtually nothing for the veterans. How can it, when it is exclusively manned by the bureaucracy?

Coming to the last two areas of internal concern, status quo is no doubt a safe option, but no organisation can prosper if it loses its ability to change as the environment demands. As regards the defensive syndrome, no country has won by being on the defensive, which even in military teachings is a temporary phase.

The external areas of concern are much better known and need not be amplified. Modernisation has been a crying need for the last at least two decades. It is a great pity that neither does the army receive a sufficiently large budget, nor does the procurement wing of the Ministry of Defence and other ministries concerned, especially that of finance, see any urgency in modernising the army. Lack of modernisation has substantially reduced the fighting capability of the army and if this continues, the army is unlikely to be the deterrent force it ought to be.

War is a joint endeavour. The complexity of modern war is likely to increase in the future on account of increased and sophisticated technology; the nature of modern war; new threats and challenges; and the reality of nuclear weapons in our neighbourhood. Consequently, a joint force, which acts in an integrated manner, is not just desirable but imperative. Most professional militaries have adopted jointmanship but the Indian military is unfortunately an exception. While everyone endorses the need for jointmanship, it eventually turns out to be merely lip service. This must change. Appointing a CDS and an integrated ministry of defence would be the first steps. We would then be able to generate the necessary synergy, so essential for winning conflicts, battles and wars.
The involvement of the Army against insurgents has been extensive. Despite the ever-increasing central police forces that should be conducting such operations, there is no reduction in the commitments of the army. We have unfortunately reached a stage where the army, instead of being the last option, is often the first recourse! The heavy commitments of the army have undoubtedly been at the expense of its war-readiness, as well as the desired quality of life. Even In situations where the employment of troops becomes essential, they should be withdrawn at the earliest opportunity.

The apolitical stance of the army is correct, but should not translate into meekly accepting whatever orders the bureaucracy relays. Unfortunately, our political leaders are shy of dealing with the army directly, preferring to do so through the bureaucracy. This has resulted in a skewed arrangement whereby gradually the services chiefs appear to have lost their power of dissent even when they find any dispensation that reduces the status, power, emoluments or morale of their command. This needs to stop. It is nobody's case that the chiefs should be confrontationists, but when it comes to their authority being usurped by the bureaucracy, they must hold their ground and get the best for their men.

The military has been and will continue to be the most potent instrument that is used for the most difficult tasks, when every other instrument has failed or given up. This cannot be done by a meek military. We need to educate our political leaders the correct meaning of civil control and supremacy in a democracy.


· Vijay Oberoi



Former Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS)
Former Director Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS)
RESIDENCE

Membership IESM..Pune

From: Ravindra Pathak [mailto:raviwarsha@gmail.com]
Sent: 12 January 2011 21:56
To: DELETED.
Subject: Membership

Dear Sir

I have registered the following online
S No Rank Name Amount
1Hav Kadam Rajendra V100
2Nk Latke Padurang G100
3Hav Yadav Govind B100
4Sep Kadam Vaman B100
5Nk Shinde Dattaram S100
6POME Pawaskar J I100
7CheERA Sdeshmukh S U200
8Sep Dhadawe Vithu100
9Sep Kadam Sambhaji100
10Hon Lt Shinde Shataram L200
11JWO Desai Jayawant S200
12Spr Shantaram100
13NK Salunke Govind G100
14Sep Palande Shriram100
15Nk Warekar Raghunath B100
16Nk Sawant Balkishan D100
17Hon LtShinde Nandkumar V200
18Nk Kamble Pradip A100
19L Nk Karmbekar Suresh S100
20Nb Sub Sawant Sanjay D200
21Hon Capt Patole Namdeo200
22Hav Patole Prakash E100
23LD Sakpal Dipak D100
24Nb Sub Salvi Gajanan S200
25MWO Joshi Sharad V200
26Hav Mahadik Anant Babu100
27Nk Sawant Madhukar S100
28Spr Bane R S100
29Hon Nb Sub Kadam Kashinath W200
30Nk Ghag Ramchandra B100
31Spr Birje Sadanand D500
32Nk Waghmare Vishnu S100
Tota l4500


... edited ...

Brgds

Ravi
Cdr Ravindra Waman Pathak
Member Governing Body and Pension Cell IESM

Rally at Ratnagiri by Cdr Pathak

Dear Sir

After a very long and sustained effort by Brig Luktuke, IESM was able to hold a Rally of Veterans at Ratnagiri. Incidentally this is the first ever rally of Veterans to be held in Ratnagiri.

Those who contributed in making the rally a grand success at local level in Ratnagiri were the following Veterans

Subhash N Sawant President Ratnagiri Dist Ex Servicemen Association
Shankar Milke Gen Secretary Ratnagiri Dist Ex Servicemen Association
Mohan Satav Treasurer Ratnagiri Dist Ex Servicemen Association
Praveen Pavaskar
D G Shelar
The IESM Pune team comprising the following left Pune at 0400 on 09 Jan to be present at the Cycle Rally at 0930.
1. Brig Sharad Luktuke
2. Dr Mrs Arundhati Sardesai
3. Cdr R W Pathak
4. Gr Capt S S Phatak
5. Lt Col Vinod Patil
On arrival at Ratnagiri the team was escorted to garland the Statue of Shivaji and then the entire team was taken in an open jeep in a procession with Motor cyclist riding ahead,to garland the Statue of Dr Ambedkar and to lay a wreath at the Shaheed Memorial. The wreath laid by IESM was only the third in the history of that Memorial.

Thereafter the team was taken to the hall where the meeting was scheduled.

At the meeting Brig Luktuke ,Cdr Pathak and Lt Col Patil spoke to the 350 veterans present. With IESM team the reps of the various Taluka level committees of the Ratnagiri District were on the dais.

Towards the end of the meeting Shri Bhasker Sheth Jadhav the District Guardian Minister and Min of state for Ex Servicemen Welfare also joined us on the dais. We had a short exchange of pleasantries with him. He quickly noticed the absence of any officer from the Sainik Welfare Office and instantly on phone pulled up the Director Rajya Sainik Board .This has been extensively reported in the print press.He has requested us to meet him at Mumbai to discuss issues regarding Veterans.

We were able enroll 32 members on the spot and it is promised by the District Association that they would go from Village to village and enroll at least 7000 of the 7500 Veterans in the district.
We have also got invitations to visit Guhagar and Khed and we shall be planning those trips soon.

Mr Mohan Satav who is actually from Baramati has promised to organize a similar rally at Indapur and Baramati and we shall soon work on that trip too.

I am also happy to inform you all that, Gr Capt Phatak during his personal visit to Belgaum is going to attend a Pension Sammelan at Belgaum being organized by Wg Cdr Mani.
To view photos and press cutting of the rally please click on the link below.
http://picasaweb.google.com/warsharavi/RatnagiriPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCMXhpI3zxN2jQA#

Besides the local Print media the Rally was also covered by IBN LOKMAT and ZEE Marathi all over Maharashtra

Brgds

R W Pathak
Cdr Ravindra Waman Pathak

Deposing before PAC Question mark over summons to Service Chiefs

IN an unusual development, the Army and Air Force chiefs along with the Navy vice chief (who represented the Navy chief since the latter is on a scheduled official visit overseas) deposed before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to present their views on a recent Comptroller and Auditor-General report. The report had severely criticised the Services over the functioning of their unit-run canteens, the lack of transparency in the accounting methods, and the issue of supply of dry rations to troops. The decision that the Service chiefs would depose before the parliamentary committee came after the PAC sought answers from the Ministry of Defence, which in turn wrote to the Service chiefs.

This marks a significant departure from the existing practice of only the defence secretary and other senior bureaucrats deposing before parliamentary committees. The armed forces have largely been kept insulated from parliamentary oversight committees since the country’s political executive and the defence ministry’s bureaucrats maintain complete civilian control and supremacy over the armed forces. But the question arises whether the Service chiefs have been nudged into deposing before the PAC more out of expediency and convenience of the bureaucrat-dominated defence ministry, or whether this is an isolated incident, or, still, whether this is a sign of change in which the Service chiefs will, while being held directly accountable, henceforth also be assigned greater authority and responsibility.

Unlike advanced democracies such as the United States and the United Kingdom where the Services form part of the decision making process and are thus institutionally required to testify before their respective senate and parliamentary committees, the Indian Service chiefs are treated as department heads with limited financial powers and severely curtailed decision making powers. Yesterday’s development has rekindled the debate on civil-military relations in the country and on the way the defence ministry is structured. If Service chiefs are to be held accountable to parliamentary committees, then they must also be assigned the requisite authority and powers. It is equally important that the defence ministry is re-structured in a way whereby officers of the armed forces are made part of the decision making process, made aware of the intricacies of civil government functioning, and consequently, be institutionally held accountable.

India Against corruption

Dear Brig. Kamboj Sir,

Jai Hind.

The proposed march of INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION will assemble at JANTAR MANTAR at 1pm sharp on the 30th January 2011.

Many nationally respected figure like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev, Dr. Kiron Bedi, Prashant Bhusan, Devendra Sharma etc will lead the march.

It will be great if our IESM members join it in smart outfit with their medals on the chest proudly displayed. I feel, this will give a huge boost to our causes as well as restore some pride after recent and persistent negative publicity. It will prove Armed forces is generally against corruption. The management can decide whether they can carry IESM flags or insignia.

Please feel free to contact the organiser on Mob no 09717460029 for further details regarding the march.

Vande Mataram.

With best wishes and warm regards,

Amit

Amit Bhadhuri
Former CISF Officer

IESM New Members -Tamilnadu

Dear Chairman,


The following Veterans have joined the IESM, during the months of Dec 10 & Jan 11.

Lt Col CG Manickam-Rs 1,000/- , Lt Col TJ Reddy 5,00/-, Cdr SR Prasad 5,00/-

A/ Cde MN Amruthalingam 5,00/-, Col R Natesan 5,00/-,Lt Col G Varadharajan 5,00/-

Col LVK Raj 1,000/- , Gp Capt TVN Swamy 5,00/- , NK V Sundara Moorthy 1,00/-.

Their particulars have been entered on line.

BCC Addressees only. Your Membership Cards will be sent by post. Thank you for your kind support & continued patronage.


Convener IESM Tamilnadu

Col (Retd) TN Raman
E5/230, AWHO Parameswaran Vihar,
67, Arcot Road, Saligramam,
Chennai 600093
Ph: 044-42013210
Mob: 0- 9840033326

Rank Pay Case- Government scuttling the Supreme Court orders

Dear Friends,

The rank pay case came up in the Supreme Court today.

The Govt Council put a plea that a lot of similar petions had been filed in various High Courts but all of them have not been transferred to the Supreme Court, as such further hearing should only be held after all such petitions are transferred.
The learned council for the Retired Defence Officers Association pleaded that the Supreme Court has already given its judgement in the case of Maj Dhanapalan case and there is no requirement for transfer of all cases, as the decision in this case will automatically be applicable to all such cases as well as similar placed officers.
The Honble Judge of the Supreme Court then adjourned our case to 24 Jan 2011.
Kindly inform all affected offrs.

With warm Regards,
Col Baldev Singh Dhillon (Retd)

RBI cracks the whip on erring banks who delay Pension Payments

My Dear Pensioners Friends,
Appended below is a letter written by RBI to all banks on Payment of Pension, use this if required, since certralised pension payment is normally delayed. MM

RBI ON PENSION PAYMENT- Interesting letter from RBI
The bank is paid Rs 60.00 per month to credit your pension every month- thus 60x12 = Rs 720.00 per year is the earning by the bank to pay you pension. I suppose arrears crediting must be over and above this. So no bank is doing you a favour. The circular below says they should pay you 2% interest if there is delay. Claim it !!
RBI clamps down on banks delaying pension payout
April 22, 2010 08:07 PM | Sucheta Dalal with Sanket Dhanorkar

Central bank wakes up to inordinate delays in payments faced by government pensioners; reprimands bankers and directs them to make good the dues immediately, along with penal interest

In what could be a major victory for government pensioners awaiting pension payments, the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has taken bankers to task for ‘inordinate delays’ in disbursing revised pension and arrears.

Taking a serious view of the matter, the RBI has issued a circular (dated 9 April 2010) to various banks with an exasperated tone, directing the concerned banks to ensure that all entitled pensioners are paid their revised pension or arrears within 15 days from receipt of the circular. Additionally, it has also advised the banks to make a penal interest payment of 2% for any delay beyond the due date.

The RBI was forced to take this tough stand after receiving several complaints from pensioners, especially State government pensioners, alleging inordinate delay in disbursing the revised pension and arrears. Under the 6th Pay Commission recommendations, RBI had advised pension-paying banks to put in place a suitable mechanism so that pensioners could get the benefits announced by the government in the succeeding month’s pension payment itself. The controlling offices or head offices of agency banks were also advised to closely monitor and supervise the timely and accurate disbursement of pension to the pensioners.

An RBI review of the pension payment systems in various agency banks revealed the true story behind the picture. The circular highlights RBI’s findings as follows:
“Even though Pension Relief Orders were issued by the respective State Governments, there is inordinate delay ranging from one month to 18 months at the Agency Bank level in disbursing the revised pension as also the pension arrears. The delay was more pronounced in the case of those State Govt pensioners residing outside their States drawing pension from Agency Bank branches. To be specific, non-State resident pensioners have not received adequate attention and timely receipt of the revised pension/arrears for months together.”

The circular goes on to highlight the discrepancies of banks in administering the pension payouts. “Our experience was that customer service on pension payment matters was not effective at the branch level where customers normally interface with the front office,” said the central bank’s communiqué.

The RBI also makes note of the lack of coordination between the branches and the Central Pension Processing Centres, as also the absence of transparency in the calculation of the revised pension or arrears.

In a tone that is vividly indignant, the RBI questions the concerned banks’ indiscretions. “Pension payment is an agency function entrusted to you for a commission @ Rs60 per transaction and an amount of Rs487 crore has been paid to Agency Banks on account of pension disbursements alone during the year 2008-09. Although this is a significant income generating activity, it appears that it is still not given the due importance that it deserves.”

In view of the above, the RBI has advised banks to undertake review of the system of attending to customer service and have a pension accounts guide at all branches to assist the pensioners in all their dealings with the bank. Additionally, RBI has demanded that suitable arrangements be made, to place on the bank website details about the pension calculations, and made available to the pensioners at periodic intervals with sufficient advertisements to that effect.

With the RBI finally wisening up to the reality and putting its foot down squarely on the Agency banks, they will have to take a deeper look at their archaic systems and make life easier for pensioners. As the RBI rightly puts it, “Pension is the lifeline of the pensioners and any delay in affording their legitimate dues will rob them of the dignity of life to which they are entitled to”.