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Journalism of Courage
After the three service chiefs got together to point out anomalies in the Sixth Pay Commission8217;s recommendations to the Defence Ministry, a former army chief has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the forces are hurt and deserve a better deal.
In a rare gesture, General N C Vij, who also heads the National Disaster Management Authority NDMA and holds the status of a cabinet minister, has written an impassionate letter to the prime minister, pointing out the discrepancies and urged him to constitute a Group of Ministers GOM to look into the matter.
He says in the letter that he felt 8220;morally duty bound8221; to bring the fact to the notice of the prime minister in a 8220;personal capacity.8221;
He writes that even the Anomalies Commission set up to review the pay panel report would not solve the problems of the armed forces. 8220;This Committee, which does not even have representatives of the Armed Forces as their members, will never be able to achieve a deep understanding or be sensitive enough to their problems,8221; the General wrote, adding that the problems of the armed forces are on the account of 8220;core concepts8221; and not merely technicalities.
8220;The problems of the Services can be solved, only with the involvement of the leadership of the country. Therefore, a 8216;Group of Ministers8217; alone will be able to address these issues,8221; the letter says.
Bringing the dipping strength of officer in the army to the PM8217;s notice, Vij has written that most officers8217; academies are functioning below strength and the forces cannot sustain a continuation of poor intake of officers and the current wave of resignation requests.
8220;Already, the Indian Military Academy and OTA, Chennai, are reporting a drop in intake by over 70 per cent. In the case of the jawans, this recruitment trend will continue yet for a few more years, but their level of motivation will drop. The country cannot afford either of these situations,8221; the General says.
