Divine Nature Prakriti is Supreme Mother (Rig Veda)

In divine Nature Prakrti, there is not only non-violence of the strong but also violence of the right and virtue against, Pollution, Evil and Wrong.

Revive Vedas and conquer the conquerors through Vedic knowledge without fighting any War. Each follower of Sanatan Dharma needs to become Paramjot- carriers of divine Vedic light- knowledge.


Divine Nature Prakriti - the Supreme Mother

Dear Spiritual brothers and sisters,

In the Vedas, the Nature is described as  Prakirti and it is the manifestation of God and as such âSheâ is the divine Nature. Bhagavad-Gita says âIt is the supreme Lord who has assigned the task of creation of the universe to Prakriti and She performs this divine role under the supervision of the Supreme Reality (B.G 9-10)

It is mentioned in Vedas that Prakriti is that living power through which all the material things are begotten. Vedasrefer to it as Mahatava (the great subtle element or primordial matter of three gunas) that can create other five mahabhuta and a large number of 720 gross elements (bhutas).


Rig-Veda 3-55-14 describes Nature as
 

Mother Prakrti and Yajur Veda 18-30 describes Earth as adorable immortal benign Mother. Earth in the Vedas is Prithavi devi and it is widespread, very kind and gracious mother. She is soft as wool and is like a milch cow which does not kick (R.V.5-44-11, 2-44-11, 10-5-7 and 10-18- 10). Prakriti has invisible and subtle form and her gross form is the visible universe. Both visible gross Universe and invisible subtle Nature Prakrti are Thy Grandeur.


From the subtle divine Nature emerge atoms, sub atomic particles, waves, wavicles and these combine to form gross matter of five Mahabhuta and 720 Bhuta (elements).  Incidentally so far scientists have discovered less than 150 elements. Prakriti is  Daivi (divine), Aditi (infinite) and Devki (mother of 33 devas/devis âformless  Beings of Light). A few of these 33 formless devas/devis are Indra, Agni, Varun, Prithvi, Usha, Surya, Savitar and others.


There are no miracles and factoids in the  divine Nature. However, Prakrti functions as non-violent but tend to show its  wrath and even violence when under the vehement effect of tamasic gunas when we  create pollution of all kinds in Prakriti, universe and atmosphere and even in  society. This wrath and non-violence is more to bring ultimate peace and  serenity everywhere. It is therefore; in Prakrti, there is not only  non-violence of the strong but also violence of the right and virtue against
evil and wrong.

Also there is a prayer in Y.V.30-7 to 9, "O, God cast  aside the vile man who pollutes rivers, waters, air and society." Vile men  in the Vedas are bribe takers and givers, adulterates, exploiters, avarnas who  do not follow divine professions and violate cosmic laws of social and moral  order. Vile men are ever keen to make money out of the miseries of human  beings.


A few hymns in the Vedas particularly R.V  1-121- 1, Y.V 25-10, A.V 4-2-7 link creation  of Prakrti with Hiranya Garbha-cosmic  Golden Egg where Lord manifested in His splendour as the sole Lord of creation.  The cosmic word OM (Shabad Brahma) when created enormous cosmic energy,  it formed a cosmic golden Egg as Hiranya Garbha. This was the first stage of  energy getting converted into some kind of mass. Thus the eternal truth of  relationship of energy and mass and vice versa emerged. From the Creation till  date sum total of energy remains constant.


To help the human beings to perform their  duties, Prakrti in her divine role creates the Earth (Prithvi) as karma bhoomi for all of   us. This karma bhoomi is the milch cow, which moves very fast on its subtle axis (never   gets rusted) but does not kick. We only exist so long as we perform our allotted  duties otherwise, not to be occupied is the same thing as not to exist.   Bhagavad-Gita amongst many other sins mentions âidlenessâ as sin.

Through Prakrti He provides His stern and  permanent laws (Rta), gives lessons of non-violence of the strong,  transparency, truthfulness and vividness. Our Supreme Mother has conveyed  the message though Vedas âcreate social organization in the world based on Rta  (eternal laws) and Satya (truth and transparency) so that we look at each other  with friendly eyes (Y.V 36-18) and do not fight and deface the fair divine  Nature- your supreme Mother (R.V 5-4-10 and R.V 11-31-1). O Rudra Deva (being  of light) âMay we transplant ourselves with this  knowledge in our children and become immortal through them.â   For detailed description of Prakrti and  many other subjects like Vedic concept of Knowledge, Mosaic Ideal Society, Maya  (cosmic delusion), soul, spirit and manifested soul etc, kindly see Glimpses of  Vedic Metaphysics available for on-line reading at Website  http://www.sabhlokcity.com/metaphysics/ The book can also be accessed through google.com, yahoo.com, lulu.com and  search for the book or just Vedic Metaphysics. 

Kindly render divine social  service and forward this message to other seekers of Vedic knowledge..

With kind regards,

Prem Sabhlok

P.S   Kindly feel free to improve this Vedic  Message strictly based on Veda mantra/riks/hymns.

[Tri Service Veterans]

Assets of graft accused can be seized before conviction

Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN |

Referring to its earlier verdicts, the SC said immoral acquisition of wealth destroys the energy of the people... Read More

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the government can bring special laws to control corruption, which it said was eating away the fundamental core of elective democracy and Constitutional governance.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant upheld laws passed by Bihar and Odisha assemblies authorising the probe agencies to confiscate ill-gotten properties, including houses of corrupt public officials, even before their conviction in graft cases. The law was framed to deal with cases involving those occupying high public or political office.

READ ALSO: Arrested IAS officer owned 8 flats and FDs worth crores

The bench held that there were no infirmities in the law and turned down a bunch of petitions filed by those whose properties had been confiscated. "In a way, corruption becomes national economic terror. This social calamity warrants a different control, and hence, the legislature comes up with special legislation with stringent provisions," it said. The accused pleaded that they could not be treated as a 'special class' for alleged involvement in corruption cases and should be treated like other accused.

" ...in the context of the present Orissa Act, it is associated with high public office or with political office that are occupied by people who control the essential dynamics of power — which can be a useful weapon to amass wealth adopting illegal means. In such a situation, the argument that they were being put in a different class and should be tried in a separate special court solely because of the alleged offence, if nothing else, is a self-defeating one," the bench said.

"We are unable to accept the submission of the learned counsel for the appellants that the words high public or political office not being defined creates a dent in the provision. The said words, we are absolutely certain, convey a category of public servants which is well understood and there is no room for arbitrariness," it said.

Referring to its earlier verdicts, the SC said immoral acquisition of wealth destroys the energy of the people believing in honesty, and history records with agony of how they suffered. It said there should be zero tolerance towards any kind of corruption.

"A democratic republic polity hopes and aspires to be governed by a government which is run by the elected representatives who do not have any involvement in serious criminal offences or offences relating to corruption, casteism, societal problems affecting the sovereignty of the nation and many other offences," the bench said.

It said corruption should not be judged by degree as corruption causes disorder, destroys societal will to progress and paralyses the economic health of a country.

Excellent ..Fix them nicely

 

Shared by Col Ranbir Lamba (One Man Army)

[Tri Services Veterans]

Punjab goes bust, puts widow home and jails on 'girvi'

Rohan Dua, TNN | Dec 9, 2015, 03.52AM IST

Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal during Sadbhawna Rally in Jalandhar. (PTI Photo)

 

CHANDIGARH: The last place from where you expect a state government to raise funds is jails and a widow home. But that is precisely what the Punjab government has done in the past two months to tide over its severe financial crisis. 

 

The Gandhi Vanita Ashram for widows in Jalandhar in and the state jails at Bathinda, Amritsar and Goindwal are just some of the dozen official real estate that the state government has mortgaged to raise a massive Rs 2,100 crore loan to fill up its depleted coffers. 

 

The widow home has heritage value as Mahatma Gandhi had once stayed here during his visits to Punjab. It was built in 1947 after Independence to support widows among Partition refugees. 

Documents that TOI has from Punjab's urban development department and chief minister's office (CMO) reveal that the government has mortgaged the properties between 2013 and 2015 to support its subsidies and state schemes.

 

The Akali Dal-BJP government is facing a debt of Rs 1.25 lakh crore and has found it tough to pay even salaries to its staff.

TOI has acquired all mortgage deeds signed between Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) that has chief minister Parkash Singh Badal as chairman and five nationalised banks. From lands meant for multiplexes to old district courts, jails and residential complexes each in Amritsar, Bathinda and Muktsar, there is nearly every type of establishment that has been mortgaged. 

 

At the top of the list stands Gandhi Vanita Ashram site that houses 120 widows and a small school that educates 250 girls. As many as 67 families live within the ashram. The staff and women are yet to be rehabilitated to the new complex which is being built. 

 

According to the deed signed on December 31, 2013, the ashram's offices, entire 80-feet wide road and pavement and parking area have been mortgaged for Rs 250 crore. "The old building is already in a dilapidated condition," said an inmate who works as a tailor and feels very uncertain about her future. 

 

The documents also show that 3.73 acres reserved for a multiplex by Amritsar Improvement Trust has been mortgaged for a Rs 100 crore loan from Andhra Bank at an interest rate of 10.25% annually. The money is to be repaid before March 2018. 

 

Another Rs 400 crore have been raised against 11.28 acres on which Amritsar's old mental hospital stands. While the 350-bed hospital has already been shifted to a new site, the doctors insist that the government should have simply extended the building instead of raising loans against the unused land. One doctor told TOI that they desperately need more bed to manage the rush. 

 

Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, who holds the housing and urban development portfolio was not available for comment. PUDA officials meanwhile dub the mortgaging as routine. The burgeoning interest on the loans has not deterred them. "It is an economic model by which we can get money and use it for the right purposes. We are trying to find ways to settle the fund crunch. We are paying back interest and not stopping the instalments to banks," said Manvesh Sidhu, chief administrator, PUDA. 

 

Besides, three residential sites, each in Jagraon, Mansa and Patiala, with nearly 3,000 residential and 400 commercial plots yet to be sold to public, have been mortgaged for Rs 750 crore loan with Canara Bank. 

 

In Jalandhar, the government has also mortgaged two more state offices including an old building that until few years ago housed the deputy commissioner and senior superintendent of police.

 

Col Ranbir Lamba  (One Man Army)

[Tri Services Veterans]

Excellent article by an IAS officer on "INDIAN ARMY"

We need a permanent solution to this tussle over emoluments so that the armed forces need only confront the enemies of the nation, says T.R.Ramaswami IAS.

In the continuing debate on pay scales for the armed forces, there has to be a serious and transparent effort to ensure that the country is not faced with an unnecessary civil-military confrontation.That effort will have to come from the netas, who are the real and true bosses of the armed forces and not the civil bureaucracy. A solution may lie in what follows. This country requires the best armed forces, the best police and the best civil service. In fact that is what the British ensured.. By best one means that a person chooses which service he wants as per his desires/capabilities and not based on the vast differential in prospects in the various services.

How much differential is there?

Take Maharashtra, one of the most parsimonious with police ranks thus still retaining some merit -

The 1981 IPS batch have become 3-star generals, the 1987 are 2-star and the 1994 1-star.

In the army the corresponding years are 1972, 1975, 1979. ie a differential of 10-15 years. While the differential is more with the IAS, the variance with the IPS is all the more glaring because both are uniformed services and the grades are "visible" on the shoulders.

First some general aspects. Only the armed forces are a real profession, ie where you rise to the top only by joining at the bottom. We have had professors of economics become Finance Secretaries or even Governors of RBI. We have any number of MBBSs,engineers, MBAs, in the police force though what their qualifications lend to their jobs is a moot point. You can join at any level in the civil service, except Cabinet Secretary. A civil servant can move from Animal Husbandry to Civil Aviation to Fertilisers to Steel to yes, unfortunately, even to Defence. But the army never asks for Brigade Commanders or a Commandant of the Army War College or even Director General Military Intelligence, even from RAW or IB. Army officers can and have moved into organizations like IB and RAW but it is never the other way round. MBBS and Law graduates are only in the Medical or JAG Corps and do nothing beyond their narrow areas. Every Army Chief - in any army - has risen from being a commander of a platoon to company to battalion to brigade to division to corps to army.In fact the professionalism is so intense that no non-armoured corps officer ever commands an armoured formation , first and possibly only exception in world military history is General K. Sunderji.Perhaps it is this outstanding professionalism that irks the civil services.

Next, one must note the rigidity and steep pyramid of the army's rank structure. In the civil services any post is fungible with any grade based on political expediency and the desires of the service. For example I know of one case where one department downgraded one post in another state and up-graded one in Mumbai just to enable someone continue in Mumbai after promotion!

You can't fool around like this in the armed forces. A very good Brigadier cannot be made a Major-General and continue as brigade commander. There has to be a clear vacancy for a Major General and even then there may be others better than him. Further the top five ranks in the army comprise only 10% of the officer strength. Contrast this with the civil services where entire batches become Joint Secretaries.

Even the meaning of the word "merit" is vastly different in the army and the civil services. Some years back an officer of the Maharashtra cadre claimed that he should be the Chief Secretary as he was first in the merit list.Which merit list? At the time of entry more than 35 years before! The fact is that this is how merit is decided in the IAS and IPS. Every time a batch gets promoted the inter-se merit is still retained as at the time of entry. In other words if you are first in a batch at the time of entry, then as long as you get promoted, you continue to remain first! This is like someone in the army claiming that he should become chief because he got the Sword of Honour at the IMA. Even a Param Vir Chakra does not count for promotion, assuming that you are still alive. In the armed forces, merit is a continuous process - each time a batch is promoted the merit list is redrawn according to your performance in all the previous assignments with additional weightage given not only to the last one but also to your suitability for the next one.Thus if you are a Brigade Commander and found fit to become a Major General, you may not get a division because others have been found better to head a division. That effectively puts an end to your promotion to Lt. General.The compensation package must therefore address all the above issues. In each service, anyone must get the same total compensation by the time he reaches the 'mode rank' of his service. "Mode" is a statistical term it is the value where the maximum number of variables fall.

In the IAS normally everyone reaches Director and in the IPS it is DIG. In the army, given the aforementioned rank and grade rigidities and pyramidical structure, the mode rank cannot exceed Colonel. Thus a Colonel's gross career earnings (not salary scales alone) must be at par with that of a Director. But remember that a Colonel retires at 54, but every babu from peon to Secretary at 60 regardless of performance.Further, it takes 18-20 years to become a Colonel whereas in that time an IAS officer reaches the next higher grade of Joint Secretary, which is considered equal to a Major General.These aspects and others - like postings in non-family stations - must be addressed while fixing the overall pay scales of Colonel and below. Thereafter a Brigadier will be made equal to a Joint Secretary, a Major-General to an Additional Secretary and a Lt. General to a Secretary. The Army Commanders deserve a new rank -Colonel General - and should be above a Secretary but below Cabinet Secretary. The equalization takes place at the level of Cabinet Secretary and Army Chief.

If this is financially a problem I have another solution. Without increasing the armed forces' scales, reduce the scales of the IAS and IPS till they too have 20% shortage.

Done?

Even India 's corruption index will go down.

If the above is accepted in principle, there is a good case to review the number of posts above Colonel. Senior ranks in the armed forces have become devalued with more and more posts being created.But the same pruning exercise is necessary in the IAS and more so inthe IPS, where Directors General in some states are re-writing police manuals eg one is doing Volume I and another Volume II!

Further the civil services have such facilities as "compulsory wait" ie basically a picnic at taxpayers cost. And if you are not promoted or posted where you don't want to go they seem able to take off on leave with much ease. In the army you will be court-martialled. Also find out how many are on study leave. The country cannot afford this.

Let not someone say that the IAS and IPS exams are tougher and hence the quality of the officers better. An exam at the age of 24 has to be tougher than one at the age of 16. The taxpaying citizen is not interested in your essay/note writing capabilities or whether you know Cleopatra's grandfather.

As a citizen I always see the army being called to hold the pants of the civil services and the police and never the other way round. That's enough proof as to who is really more capable. Also recall the insensitive statements made by the IG Meerut in the Aarushi case and the Home Secretary after the blasts. Further, when the IAS and IPS hopefuls are sleeping, eating and studying, their school mates, who have joined the army, stand vigil on the borders to make it possible for them to do so. Remember that the armed forces can only fight for above the table pay. They can never compete with the civil services and definitely not with the police for the under the table variety.

Finally, there is one supreme national necessity. The political class, not the bureaucracy

Shared by Ram Gulrajani
[ Tri Services Veterans]

Implications Of VII CPC Recommendations As Illustrated With Example Of Pensions Of Lt Col

(Author: CoronaEight)

As mentioned in the previous blog-post, the grey areas regarding pension fixation for older retirees, as recommended by VII CPC, are best taken stock of in reference to actual examples.

Having touched on the vagueness surrounding pensions, as recommended for retirees in rank of Major, perhaps it is time to take a look at the other category of hapless armed forces retirees, the veteran Lt Cols.

It may be best to reproduce in enirety the recommendations of the pay commission regarding fixation of pensions as follows :

"10.2.87 The Commission recommends the following with regard to fixation of pension for past defence forces personnel retirees:

i. All the Defence Forces who retired prior to 01.01.2016 (expected date of implementation of the Seventh CPC recommendations) shall first be fixed in the Pay Matrix being recommended by this Commission, on the basis of the Pay Band and Grade Pay at which they retired, at the minimum of the corresponding level in the matrix. This amount shall be raised to arrive at the notional pay of the retiree by adding the number of increments he/she had earned in that level while in service, at the rate of three percent. Military Service Pay shall be added to the amount which is arrived at after notionally fitting him in the Seventh CPC matrix. Fifty percent of the total amount so arrived at shall be the revised pension.

ii. The second calculation to be carried out is as follows. The pension, as had been fixed at the time of implementation of the VI CPC recommendations, shall be multiplied by 2.57 to arrive at an alternate value for the revised pension.

iii. Pensioners shall be entitled to the higher of the two.

It is recognised that the fixation of the pension as per the above formulation (i) above may take a little time since the records of each pensioner will have to be checked to ascertain the number of increments earned in the retiring level. It is, therefore, recommended that in the first instance the pension, may be fixed in terms of formulation (ii) above, till final fixation of the pension under the Seventh CPC matrix is undertaken."

Let us ask some questions straight away:

• Why has VII CPC not addressed the issue of OROP in that brief paragraph?

• How has VII CPC spelt out the manner in which "equal service" for the same rank will be catered for in that matrix referred to in recommendations?

• Why are the two illustrations given in the CPC recommendations, following that para, only of those who retired in the VI CPC regime? What about retirees who retired in the V or IV or III CPC regimes? In those days, they did not have "pay-bands" or "grade pay" refereed to in VII CPC recommendations.

The answer to all these questions is, of course, that the blogger does not have the faintest idea.

Though the title of this blog post has a specific reference to retirees in the rank of Lt Col, some of the doubts raised are general in nature and serve to point to a lack of answers in the recommendations.

To start with, where the para of recommendations states, "All the Defence Forces who retired prior to 01.01.2016...", is it just possible it intends to mean "All personnel of defence forces who retired between 01 Jan 2006 and 31 Dec 2015 in the regime of VI CPC"?

That could make some sense because in the context of armed forces, the number of increments for the same years of service, pay-bands, grade pay are the same for respective ranks for both VI and VII CPCs as reflected in the matrix. The matrix is, more or less, consistent if one considers retirees who retired and will retire between 01 Jan 2006 and 31 Dec 2015.

Example:

Let us take the case of a Lt Col with, say 21 years of service, who retired on PMR on 30 Nov 2015. For the sake of simplicity, we can assume this Lt Col was promoted to the, now time-bound, rank of Lt Col on 01 July 2007 at a service of 13 years. That means he had 8 increments to his credit based on which, in the VII CPC matrix, his notional pay parity, in level 12A, would be 143500/- and his post VII CPC pension, inclusive of MSP would amount to 79500/-

Now consider the case of a Lt Col, also with 21 years of service who retired in the regime of V CPC on 31 October 2003 before, what some would term the infamous, date of implementation of phase-I recommendations of AVS Committee, viz 16 Dec 2004. Assuming, this second Lt Col had picked up his rank at a service of 18 years in July 2000, he would have "earned" three increments in the pay-scale applicable to his pay-scale at the time. This second Lt Col would then be placed in level 12 A of VII CPC matrix at the notional pay parity point of 123800/- which corresponds to a VII CPC pension (inclusive of MSP) amounting to 69650/-.

We see here the possibility of two pre 01 Jan 2016 veterans in the rank of Lt Col, with the same service of 21 years, being placed at two different pension levels post 01 Jan 2016 at pensions of 79500/- and 69650/-. Clearly, the recommendations and the matrix do not reveal the full story.

Increments Or 2.57X:

Another inference that can be drawn from the recommendations is that the pension arrived at as per para 10.2.87 sub-para (ii), i.e. by using a multiple of 2.57, yields a post 01 Jan 2016 pension of 26265 x 2.57 = 67501.05 for retirees in the rank of Lt Col. In the matrix, it corresponds to some point in between 1 and 2 increments which have pension values of 66100/- and 67850/- respectively in level 12 A. So, at first sight it appears any Lt Col veteran with more than one increment would need to have his pension fixed based on increments rather than the one arrived at with the multiple of 2.57.

OROP And The Matrix:

The scenario gets murkier if we bring in the element of OROP. Some behind the scenes tinkering seems to be presently underway for preparing tables of OROP pensions to be effective from 01 July 2014.

The powers that be alone know what they intend to unleash by way of what they would then term as OROP, but in specific reference to the VII CPC matrix, would the 2.57X multiplier be used on pension of 26265/-, fixed by VI CPC, for Lt Cols or the OROP pensions, presumably based on years of service in the rank, expected to be thrown into the public domain shortly?

One of the aims of this blog-post is to underline the rather over-simplistic approach to illustrations in VII CPC recommendations referred to above. Some issues definitely arise when we shift to even a very simple example based on V CPC regime retirees as discussed in the preceding paragraphs.

It is also seen that the recommendations could raise lots of other questions in the context of OROP.

As an example, would the pensions of VI CPC retirees be first fixed as based on the 7 CPC matrix and pensions of V CPC and earlier regime Lt Col retirees then adjusted under OROP, based on equal service, with the pensions of VI CPC Lt Col retirees?

In the above example, the retiree under V CPC regime would then have his pension fixed at 79500/- and not 69650/-, as based on years of service and not increments earned for parity with a VI CPC retiree, the latter having his pension fixed on basis of increments as per the VII CPC matrix.

An Alternative:

This was suggested previously elsewhere. One other approach could be to review the term "increments earned" used in the above-mentioned para of VII CPC recommendations. 

The increments required to be considered would be those required to attain the actual years of service put in by a retiree when considered in the specific level of the matrix.

In the example of the Lt Col, considering that level 12A of the matrix starts at a service of 13 years, all previous Lt Col retirees with 21 years of service would need to have post 01 Jan 2016 pensions fixed at increment stage of 8 as 13+8=21.

The increment stage would need to apply to all past Lt Col retirees with 21 years of service for fixing their pensions and not the increments actually earned by them in the pay-scale of Lt Col. Those increments could have been as low as just 1 in the case of a Lt Col who had picked up the Lt Col rank at service of, say, 20 years in the regime of IV or V CPC and then taken PMR at 21 years of service.

A table could bring out the probable relationship between the increments earned component of the VII CPC Matrix vis-a-vis the number of years of service that these increments currently correspond to :

Notional VII CPC Pension Points For Lt Col With Corresponding Years Of Current Service
Increments Earned In Context Of VII CPC Matrix	Pay In Level 12A Applicable to Lt Col As Defined In VII CPC Matrix	MSP	Pension Inclusive Of MSP	Corresponding Current No. Of Years Of Service In Level 12A Applicable To Lt Col With Starting Point At 0 Increment For Level 12A Of Lt Col Being 13 Years Of Service
1	116700	15500	66100	14
2	120200	15500	67850	15
3	123800	15500	69650	16
4	127500	15500	71500	17
5	131300	15500	73400	18
6	135200	15500	75350	19
7	139300	15500	77400	20
8	143500	15500	79500	21
9	147800	15500	81650	22
10	152200	15500	83850	23
11	156800	15500	86150	24
12	161500	15500	88500	25
13	166300	15500	90900	26
14	171300	15500	93400	27
15	176400	15500	95950	28
16	181700	15500	98600	29
17	187200	15500	101350	30
18	192800	15500	104150	31

There will be additional complications when examples of retirees who retired in VI CPC regime but picked up their Lt Col ranks post AVS-I in V CPC regime.

For the time being, the issue of Lt Cols who had retired with 26 years of service in V CPC regime prior to implementation of AVS-I has not even been touched on. That needs to be dealt with separately.
Author: CoronaEight
Saturday, 5 December 2015
http://cuttingedge2.blogspot.in/2015/12/implications-of-vii-cpc-recommendations.html

Shared by Col Sandeep Pandit

[Tri Services Veterans]

OROP : Letter to President of India, PM and Heads of Political Parties

Honourable President of India,

Honourable Prime Minister, and

Heads of ​ political parties,
 

I write this letter to highlight a matter of critical importance to the future of India - namely the morale, service conditions and fighting fitness of our armed forces, which in turn directly concerns our national security. In view of the increase in a series of terror attacks around the world, India needs to be alert. I am addressing my concerns to heads of political parties, in addition to the Honourable Prime Minister and the Honourable President of India who holds the all important Constitutional responsibility as Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces.

I retired from the Indian Navy as Chief of Naval Staff in September 1993 after nearly 45 years in uniform. My experience in the service and in the theatre of battle, have directly influenced my decision to work in peace and public service related activities post retirement. In the year 2004, I was honoured by the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace in the region. My actions have always been dictated by my conscience, and for what I believe to be in the long term interests of our country and our people. It is in this spirit that I am addressing the senior leadership of the country today.

The immediate catalyst for this note is the vexed question of OROP – and the recent events surrounding the relay hunger fast at Jantar Mantar. I am well aware that there are varying views with regard to the definition and implications of OROP – both within Government and indeed among the community of veterans. The bottom line is that positions have become hardened and intractable, and have continued to simmer over a period of forty years. This is despite a directive from the honourable Supreme Court, two successive Parliaments and the Koshiyari Committee which clearly defined OROP and why it should be brought into force without delay.

While it is true that the current focus of discontent is the partial or non-implementation of the OROP, I believe that this is an opportunity to bring to your attention some other issues affecting civil-military relations within which one
needs to understand the current impasse on OROP.

Briefly stated, we need to examine the following concerns:

1. The steady and noticeable erosion of the Military vis-a-vis the civilian bureaucracy since Independence. Whether it is a perception or reality can only be determined when this is examined in some depth.

2. The need to establish cordial and harmonious working procedures to ensure co-operation and mutual consultation with regard to civil-military relations in the
country.

3. Building a consensus on the role and status of the Armed Forces of a Nation as distinct from that of the Police, and various other security forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

4. The critical need to ensure just, fair and adequate terms and conditions of service for the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces.

5. Political leadership to agree to a common strategy and position on the fundamental premise that civil control over military should not be equated or seen as civil service or bureaucratic control over the armed forces.

6. All the above points are inter-related and therefore need to be examined, viewed holistically and a way ahead crafted within a specific timeline - say by
1 April 2016.

The perception that it is officialdom which has intervened to destroy or vitiate the original spirit and intentions of OROP is now widely accepted. The fact that former service veterans have resorted to extreme measures such as we have seen over the past 150-plus days, is a powerful indicator of their frustration with the seeming unwillingness of the Government to discuss the issue across the table. This
unfortunate standoff would never have happened had successive governments taken care of the armed forces and their needs by being accessible for regular and direct  interaction and dialogue, and not only through the members of the civil service.

There has been no dearth of excellent and thoughtful articles and editorials both by veterans and civilian commentators, drawing attention to the serious risks of ignoring or worse, ridiculing, the issues being raised in a peaceful manner by
the veterans.

Seldom have we seen in our recent history the spectacle of so many former service chiefs from all three services writing letters to the President and the Prime Minister urging them to take action on this important matter . The Hindu newspaper in an opinion piece dated November 16, 2015, has talked
about the need to “take charge of OROP” – and I quote:

“The military has a core function in a democracy, and ensuring its apolitical nature is critical to the future of a maturing nation. Indeed, strained ties with the larger military community could have unintended fallouts in the long term. The widespread protests could contribute to disaffection against the government, going far beyond the cantonments.”

“The OROP agitation is not a mere episode involving some disgruntled retirees; it has already found significant resonance among the serving ranks as well. That is
worrisome. The protests may be dispersed, but the fact is that its effects are felt across the country”

Let us not forget that today’s serving jawan and officer is tomorrow’s veteran.

There have also been systematic efforts by vested interests to constantly sow seeds of suspicion regarding the intentions and loyalty of the armed forces in the minds of the political leadership going back to the early days of post-independence India.

Regardless of the military takeovers in our neighbouring countries, it is to the credit of the Indian Armed Forces there has been no ambiguity regarding the supremacy of political power over the military. This has been one of the strengths of Indian democracy.

India aspires to be at the high table in the comity of nations.

India is also among the small number of nuclear weapon states. It is therefore important that the Armed Forces are motivated and empowered to discharge their duties without fear or favour. By the same token it is the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure the dignity, honour and economic well being of the Armed Forces.

The current impasse over OROP needs to be resolved as quickly as possible so that stability and morale of the Armed Forces can be restored . Any attempt by any political party to treat this as trivia and to claim that the Armed forces are playing politics is not only mischievous but dangerous. The recommendations of countless commissions of enquiry need to be implemented along with OROP.

I am confident that the President , the Prime Minister and all heads of political parties will deliberate and handle this critical concern in the spirit of non-artisanship. Please let me repeat, that settling OROP to the full satisfaction of the services is not merely a question of pay and pension alone, but of the honour, dignity and status of the men and women in uniform . This will be in the long term interests of the nation.

With highest regards

L Ramdas
Former Chief of Naval Staff (1990-1993)

Shared by

Clarence G Manickam  [ Tri Services Veterans]

OROP : Lt Col Inderjit Singh's Struggle for OROP

Service Background

Lt Colonel Inderjit Singh was commissioned into 9 Grenadiers in 1956, served later in 4 Grenadiers. While there he passed his Staff College as one of the toppers and was posted as Brigade Major which is one of the most prestigious Staff appointments. He then commanded 14 Grenadiers. In 1971 he fought a very grim battle. After his Command he was posted to Army HQ where he for some time wrote Tactical Doctrines for the Army and then controlled the foreign training of the Army. He took pre mature retirement from the Army in 1978. 

First Memorandum

 In 1981 formed an organisation called the All India Ex-Services Welfare Association (AIEWA) and on February 22, 1982 presented their five basic demands to Indira Gandhi. The demands were - removal of disparities in pensions of old and new pensioners (It was given the name of OROP by the HLC of 1984), guaranteed employment up to the age of 58 years, 

pre 1964 pensioners widows to be given proper family pensions, restoration of commuted value of pension after the commuted period is over and vacation of lands and houses if occupied by tenants at the time of retirement

High Level Committee,

In Aug 1983, when we threatened 10000 medals return to President of India on 15 Aug 1983, Smt Indira Gandhi set up a High Level Committee (HLC). Lt Col Inderjit Singh was its special Invitee The HLC gave 68 recommendations. In 1984, the report was presented and after two days, Indira Gandhi was shot dead,

The Govt accepted 52 recommendations but the16 most important recommendations were rejected.

Indefinite Fast

On February 25, 1987, Lt Colonel Singh sat on indefinite fast with his five colleagues. On the fourth day of the fast, the government sent a letter increasing the pension from Rs 150 to Rs 375. On 7th day they sanctioned pension for pre 1964 widows of ex servicemen. On tenth day they restored the commuted pension after  15 years. Every time this favour was done it accompanied with a request to give up fast which was rejected.  

On the 16th day of the fast, he collapsed and passed out. He was admitted to Wellington hospital in Delhi. He was revived after four hours effort by Doctors. The fast was called off on the 17th day by the direct intervention of the PM Sh Rajiv Gandh. Meetings were fixed for him with the then Defence Minister  Sh VP Singh. By the time we got him to accept OROP he was removed as RM on account of Bofors. 

High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC)

Then came the PV Narasimha Rao Government under whom

a High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) was formed with five ministers, six MPs, three defence veterans including Lt Col Singh. and headed by Sh Sharad Pawar with Dr  Man Mohan Singh the FM as member.  "The committee was inclined to give OROP but could not do so because of the bad economic state in which we had to send our gold to UK to run the country. Despite that it gave very good award but bureaucrats ruined it completely.

Fifth Central Pay Commission

Lt Colonel Singh then prepared himself to tackle the Fifth Central Pay Commission which was soon due. A very strong representation was made to the PC. As a result PC accepted OROP. While implementing the bureaucrats short changed us by granting modified parity to Armed Forces and applied it for themselves too.

CPC Report Rejected

We rejected the CPC Report. He  again launched protest Rally on August 22 1997. The PM Sh IK Gujral called Lt Col Inderjit Singh for a meeting in which he promised to come back after examining it.  The rally continued for 107 days at Red Fort supported by 23 Chiefs, Vice Chiefs and Army commanders of all the three forces. On 03 Nov PM Mr Gujral deputed Defence Secretary with full mandate to accept three or four of our demands for approval by the Cabinet. Others could follow in the normal course. Meeting was held and following four demands accepted for Cabinet approval:-

a)  OROP

b) Removal of 33 years Conditionality for grant of 50 % pension.

c) New Disability rules to be made applicable to the Armed Frces

d) Two pensioners widow to get two pensions.

The Defence Secretary asked Lt Col Inderjit Singh to work out a paper which could be put up to Cabinet. The paper was prepared and given to him next day. This the bureaucrats did not put up to the Cabinet till the Govt fell.

Meeting With The PM

Then came BJP Govt. We tackled the RM to begin with. When that did not work we met Sh Atal Bihari Vajpayee with our seven demands. He accepted three of them, for four which included OROP he appointed RM's Committee. This Committee rejected all four demands and then RM conveyed this decision to us through a letter.

Rally at Ram Lila Ground

Held another Rally at Ram Lila ground and called Sh Madan Lal Khurana,  Chairman of Standing Committee of the Parliament on Defence. Conveyed our disgust to him. He then promised to invite Lt Col Inderjit Singh to Parliament to understand the problem and help.

  

On April 21, 2003, Lt Colonel Singh made presentation in Parliament which resulted in a brilliant report of the Defence Committee. This was again rejected by bureaucrats.

Grant of OROP

 

In 2004, the Congress formed the government and the Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman called Lt Colonel Singh. A Group of Ministers under Pranab Mukherjee was appointed. He first promised to invite Col Singh before giving its award and then reneged from doing so. In this desperate situation we met Smt Sonia Gandhi for help. She ordered the RM to do the needful. On 25 Jan 2006 this Committee gave full parity with Fifth CPC rates to JCOs and Jawans. Which was OROP.

Sixth CPC Report

Then came Sixth CPC Report in 2009. We went to Sh AK Antony the RM  demanding maintenance of full parity with Sixth CPC rates. He confirmed vide his DO letter to Col Inderjit Singh that he has directed the MOD to give full parity to Armed Forces. Which is OROP. Then some of us burnt Sonia Gandhi's effigy and urged Veterans to support BJP during elections. The Govt then pulled back their hand.

Other Measures

 

Our efforts continued. On 14 Feb 2014 Sh Rahul Gandhi met Vaterans in Delhi. Col Inderjit Singh presented him the Memorandum. While doing so told him that he was privileged to present the same to his father Sh Rajiv Gandhi on 22 Feb 1982. He was pleased to know this and promised to solve the problem. On 17 Feb 2014 his Govt announced the grant of OROP in the Parliament.

Conclusion

The 34-year long fight for One Rank One Pension started by Colonel Inderjit Singh is still continuing with defence veterans out on streets of the national capital demanding their rights.

 

Cdr Ravindra Waman Pathak I.N. (Retd)       

Member Governing Body and Pension Cell

Indian Ex Servicemen Movement

1 Surashri,1146 Lakaki Road
Shivajinagar 

Pune 411016
raviwarsha@gmail.com
9822329340 

 

[Tri Services Veterans]

7CPC group X pay - Col Ranbir Lamba

7th Pay Commission Report on Group X Pay – 7th CPC has recommended X-Pay of Rs. 6200 to existing defence personnel who are in receipt of X-Pay and possessing qualification equivalent to Diploma approved by AICTE

 

Group ‘X’ pay for JCOs/ORs and equivalent has been sought to be enhanced by four times from the existing rate of ₹1,400 per month. In the context of change in nature of warfare the requirement of a higher technological threshold has been emphasized by the Services.

 

The Commission has taken due note of the emphasis being placed on skilled manpower with higher educational and technological thresholds.

 

While determining X pay for X group of JCOs/ORs the VI CPC considered the relativity of some of the grades of JCOs/ORs in Group X with diploma holders in engineering on the civil side. In case of civilians, posts requiring minimum qualification of diploma in engineering are placed in GP 4200 and in defence forces, some of the posts in X group whose minimum qualification held equivalent to diploma in engineering are placed in GP 2800.

 

The element of X group pay was therefore fixed at ₹1,400. The Commission has examined the existing educational and trainingrequirements of X pay personnel and has already noted the wide variation that exists in the three Services in this regard. It has therefore recommended that all X trades should mandatorily involve obtaining a qualification which is equivalent of a diploma in engineering (recognised by AICTE).

 

The approach adopted by the VI CPC in determining X pay is agreed with. At the same time the incentive structure needs to have a bearing with the qualifications.

 

Accordingly, this 7th Pay Commission has recommended the following

 

i.      X pay for JCOs/ORs in Group X at ₹6,200 per month for all X trades which involve obtaining a qualificationwhich is equivalent of a diploma recognised by AICTE. This amount is the difference in the minimum of the Pay level 6 (corresponding to Grade Pay of ₹4200 in VI CPC), and Pay level 5 (corresponding to Grade Pay of ₹2800 in VI CPC).

 

ii.      X pay for JCOs/ORs in Group X at ₹3,600 per month (standard fitment of 2.57 on the existing X pay of ₹1,400), for those currently in X pay, but not having a technicalqualification recognised by AICTE.

 

Col Ranbir Lamba
[Tri Services Veterans]

Health insurance for pensioners

Allowing the profit motive to exist in health-care system is the real travesty. A mockery of Article 21, read with Article 39(e), 41,43,48A of the constitution of India .

 

The marketing stratagy of every Private company is to initially provide quality Servic e/produc t at a cheaper cost to make beneficiaries addicted to it & then to go on goofing the cost & reducing the qulity, as they work for profits.

 

By its very nature, any for-profit business, will try to maximize its bottom line. If a company doesn’t focus effectively on making a profit, it will go out of business. But there are some kinds of services for which the for-profit model is clearly the wrong one. Take, for instance, policing. How well would it work if you had to rely on a group of competing local businesses to fight crime and provide public security? Surely such matters are not the place for competition and profit making. Enlightened societies recognize that public safety is a common good—a human justify—and that it doesn’t belong in the hands of protection rackets.

 

Health care should be treated the same way: as a common good, a human justify. The problem with for-profit medical insurance is that business imperatives are too often in direct conflict with those basic goods.

 

In developed european countries the profibilty of Health insurance is around 4% and with which it is difficult for them to sustain, that is why with the pressure of world Bank they have targetted the Indian Market.

 

Even in developed European countries, those who have coverage of health insurance are seeing their premiums rise, their benefits cut, and their relationship with their doctors interfered with by insurance company/TPA . There is often a long wait for approval or denial for those with pre-existing conditions.

 

At present ‘Heath Insurance’ in India too, is a loosing bussiness .Already the cashless treatment is under dispute.Insurance Companies are demanding higher premium corresponding to the cost of treatment & other services. In the coming days there is bound to be nexus between isurrance providers ,TPAs & The Hospitals, resulting in higher & higher premiums & inferior services.

 

In India the law is well settled, in the Apex court judgment in the case of Consumer Education & Research Center & others v/s UOI & others in writ petition (C) No.206 of 1986 {AIR 95 Vol. 82 Page922} Para 27 wherein the honorable S.C. ruled ”we therefore hold that justify to medical aid to protect the health & vigor of a worker while in service or post retirement is Fundamental justify under Article 21, read with Article 39(e), 41,43,48A and all the related articles and Fundamental human justifys to make the life of the workman meaningful and purposeful with dignity of person.” In another land mark Judgement, the Supreme court has made providers of medical facilities also a subject to the Consumer protection Act 1986 .In Indian Medical Association vs V.P. Shantha and others (1995(6) SSC.651 ) (Para114.6 of 5th CPC report) Recently also Delhi H.C in , W.P.(C) 889/2007 ,DOJ: 12.3.2010, Kishan Chand. Versus Govt. of N.C.T. & Others, has ruled “It is a settled legal position that a government employee, during his life time (read service life) or after his retirement is entitled to get medical reimbursement and no fetters can be placed on his justifys on the pretext that he has not opted to become a member of any scheme” . This means government must bear the complete financial burden of Health care to its present as well as past employees.

 

The proposed Health Insurance Scheme for the employees / Pensioners provide coverage of Rs 5lakhs to a family of six i.e Self ,Spouse, Two dependent Children plus upto two dependents parents.(all other dependent relatives are excluded) additional premium shall have to be paid for the inclusion of each of the other eligible dependent relatives.

 

There will be two scenarios!

 

Ist Scenario: The Scheme shall provide coverage for meeting all expenses relating to hospitalization of beneficiary members up to Rs. 5, 00,000/- per family per year in any of the Empanelled Hospital/Nursing Home/Day Care Unit subject to stated limits on cashless basis through smart cards. The benefit shall be available to each and every member of the family on floater basis i.e. the total reimbursement of Rs. 5.00 lakh can be availed by one individual or collectively by all members of the family. Suppose ; in the very first month of joining, God forbids, one of the family members gets an Heart attack.5lakhs coverage will go just in one stroke. Then what will happen to other members, if they happen to need major surgeries during the rest of the policy period? Reimbursement? will be much more difficult as it is today and will give rise to corruption/spate of Court cases! Pensioners share of premium will be to the tone of Rs 800/ to 1000/ per month may be more, w/o any safe guard against future increase, which will drill a deep hole in poor pensioner’s pocket. Picture the case of a family pensioner with minimum pension /a ‘D’ group pensioner. How a pensioner or a family pensioner with a meager Pension of Rs 3500 plus DR is going to afford, is any body’s guess.!

 

Second scenario: Insurance providers for their own survival will be interested in profits and more & more of it, this will result in premium rise, cut in quality & quantity of service, inordinate delays in approval, interference in Doctor-patient relation ship . Will induce corruption. The situation will be worst than the Govt. District Hospitals! That is why 5th CPC in their Para 114.12 of the report recommended that “CGHS facility should not only continue but to be expanded”

The way out :

 

1) Strengthen, expand & improve RELHS,CGHS & ECHS. To expand coverage area, Pool together the infrastructure of these Scheme, revise upwards CGHS rates to suit workability as per market conditions and out source emergency,specialize treatment and diagnostic investigations.

 

2) Preventive Health care. To control expenditure launch on war footing “preventive health care” programmes among present & past employees which will in the long run reduce healthcare cost. The resources of supper specialty hospitals which have been allotted low cost lands , assistance of Trade unions & Pensioners associations may be availed for this purpose.

 

3) Doctor at your door step : Hospital admission is the most inconvenient option for millions of elderly pensioners due to inaccessible convenient transport, non availability of attendant, preoccupation of other family members & management of domestic affairs. Some people can remember when doctors actually went to their patients’ homes. Unfortunately, those days seem to have gone the way of rotary phones and good old-fashioned typewriters .Due to lack of knowledge, information & non availability of a visiting Doctor, often elderly & their family members get falsely alarmed & rush to the nearby hospitals for emergency care. Once you are in. They make it a real emergency. Whether you need it or not they adopt the costliest process to inflate their bill. If you have complained of chest pain, these super spatiality Hospitals will insert one or two stunts inside your chest.

A Doctor on call at your door in lieu of a affordable registration fee per family per year plus per visit charges as per pre settled package rates & the cost of good quality generic medicines which the visiting doctor will carry & dispense if required, is the answer to the situation. It will bring down the incidence of hospitalization by at least 50% & will also save the friends & family from lot of inconvenience Modules for such programmes with some Govt. assistance can be developed & implemented

co jointly by the pensioners associations, NGOS & housing Societies.

 

4) In lieu of dispensation of medicines in OPD Increase FMA to Rs 1000/-Per month &link it to the inflation of medical items. To avoid misuse make stamping of RELHS/CGHS/ECHS card mandatory to show status of disbursement of FMA

 

This will avoid over crowding, reducing expenditure on local purchase & reducing pilferage of costly medicines, in lieu of dispensing medicines in OPD. This will reduce over crowding ,bring down expenditure on local purchase of medicine, pilferage costly medicines & pressure of workload on Doctors ,thus will be financially viable

 

(5) Constitute Hospital Advisory & Grievance redress committees at all levels with adequate representation of pensioners.

 

These measures will not only improve service to the beneficiaries but will also keep Govt expenditure within reasonable limits.

 

Er. SC Maheshwari

 

 

Shared by Col Ranbir Lamba

[Tri Services Veterans]