ASHES TO ASHES,
DUST TO DUST :
THE FINAL BURIAL OF THE INDIAN DEFENCE FORCES

No.1-4/2015-E.III(A)

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Expenditure

New Delhi, dated the 27th January, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Constitution of Empowered Committee of Secretaries for processing the Report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission

It has been decided with the approval of the Cabinet to set up an Empowered Committee of Secretaries to process the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.

The Committee will have the following members :

1.	Cabinet Secretary	Chairman
2.	Finance Secretary/Secretary (Expenditure)	Member
3.	Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training	Member
4.	Secretary, Department of Pension & PW	Member
5.	Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs	Member
6.	Secretary, Ministry of Defence	Member
7.	Secretary, Department of Revenue	Member
8.	Secretary, Department of Post	Member
9.	Secretary, Department of Health	Member
10.	Secretary, Department of Science & Technology	Member
11.	Chairman, Railway Board	Member
12.	Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General	Member
13.	Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat	Member (What is he doing here?)

2. The Committee may co-opt any other Secretary, whenever 

     found necessary.

3. The Empowered Committee will function as a Screening 

     Committee to screen the recommendations of the 

     Commission after taking into account the views of the 

     concerned stakeholders, viz, the Ministries/Departments, 

     Staff Associations and the JCM, so as to firm up the final 

     conclusions for approval of the Cabinet. (Where do the 
     forces fit in to this?)

4. The Implementation Cell created in the Department of 

     Expenditure shall function as Secretariat for the        

     Empowered Committee of Secretaries.

5. The final recommendations of the Empowered Committee of 

     Secretaries will be submitted for approval of the Cabinet.

sd/-

(Annie George Mathew)

Joint Secretary to the Government of India

That the Indian Soldiers, both serving and retired, forming one of the best, if not THE very best, fighting force in the World, are being given a raw deal, shortchanged and deliberately debased, time and again, is now a well established fact, acknowledged the World over. And yet -

Look at the above composition of the 'Empowered Committee'! Chairman Railway Board finds a place, but there is no place for the Service Chiefs. The interests of the Soldiers will be represented by the very people who have robbed them of every vestige of honour and dignity and shamelessly usurped every bit of their welfare.

Every Defence institution is being destroyed systematically. Though, over all of the past decades since independence, the status of all ranks, have been lowered with constant regularity, of late, with each passing day, the process of denegration of the soldiers' status, welfare and consequently their morale, seem to have gathered momentum, exponentially.

Sample some of the events, highlighted by one of the eminent soldiers of my days in uniform :

http://www.thecitizen.in/NewsDetail.aspx?Id=6705&%E2%80%9CSIRS,/I/AM/DISILLUSIONED/AND/DEVASTATED%E2%80%9D

Repeated solemn promises by no less than the PM candidate in 2013-'14, was, after the elections, called a 'Chunavi Jumla'! His subsequent promises, as the incumbent PM, too were so much of hot air. Every soldier, whether in uniform or a veteran, feels cheated and demoralised.

Poor Chankya with his imortal words, would be turning in his grave, if he was a Christian or a Muslim. As the twice born Brahmin that he is, without doubt, his soul is immensely anguished.

I have quoted Chankya before, (And I am
doing so again), what he said in a letter to the all time greatest King of a unified Indian sub-continent, (Except Tamilnadu), even before turning 45 :

    "While the citizenry of the State contributes to see that the 

         State prospers and flourishes, 
         the soldier guarantees the Country continues to EXIST as 
         a State! 

         To this man, O Rajadhiraja, you owe a debt: please, 

         therefore, see to it on your own, that the soldier 

         continuously gets his dues in every form and respect, be 

         they his needs or his wants, for he is not likely to ask for 

         them himself.

         The day the soldier has to demand his 

      dues, will be a sad day for Magadha for 

      then, on that day, you will have                       lost all moral sanction to be the King!”

The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces. Has he not read Chankya's writings or of the glorious Maurian King who imbibed his teacher's values to build his vast empire? If he has, which I suppose is true, why is he a silent spectator to the depredations that are destined to ruin this magnificent country called Bharat?

The honourless bunch of selfish suckers and hangers-on at the top,  are busy pleasing the powers that be, for their own welfare and comfort. They continue to cling on to the unasked for slew of largesse they keep receiving from the Govt of the day, with unfailing regularity. 

Do we have to remind the three Srvice Chiefs of the basic teaching  on morality of a leader of soldiers:

  "The safety, honour and welfare of your country 

      come first, 

      always and every time.

      The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command
      come next,

    always and every time.

    Your own ease, comfort and safety 

      come last, 

      always and every time.

The Soldiers have always kept the 'safety, honour and welfare of their Country FIRST, always and every time, but -

who will see to the Soldiers' honour, welfare and confort ?