Ex-servicemen feel that the shahadat of one of our JCO for OROP will awaken our Politicians and Bureaucrats to learn how to respect Defence Forces and boost their Morale.
All political Parties should unite and force Govt. to immediately meet their demands without strings.
Brig. K.G. Behl (Retd.), Patron, Dehradun Ex-Services League, stated in a press release that on one side the Govt. gives very high praises to the defence forces but in the same vein do not provide them what they deserve in status as well as pay and allowances to boost their morale.
The trouble is that Politicians make some promises but when they go to bureaucrats they project a different picture and turn down what the politicians promised under one or the other excuse. That shows that the politicians and bureaucrats are not playing the same tune and are not like hand and glove. The politicians want to give an upper hand to the defence forces whereas it appears the bureaucrats want to keep upper hand for them.
Actually in the Ministry of Defence civil and defence officers should work like hand and glove as they do in American system. More defence officers should be posted in the ministry of defence to bring this equality. The civilian officers posted in the ministry of defence should be made to do a defence orientation course in army before they join there.
There was a demand that certain personnel who were earlier below certain ranks in civil, have been put above them during 6th CPC which needs to be set right. In OROP efforts are being made to change the very definition of it if revision is to be made after five years instead of every year. For a long time this point was being stressed by keeping fasts at Jantar Mantar but was not being realized till this suicide sparked this issue. It was brought to the notice of 7TH CPC as well. But it appears that instead of removing that disparity a further differences in equality between civil and Defence is being created. Our jawans are being treated as unskilled persons whereas those are highly skilled in arms and ammunitions. Same is the case with the JCOs who get extra qualifications during service. All this needs to be looked into seriously and rectified if they wish to bring them at par with others in civil. Actually the Defence Forces are always given an edge over others as a mark of respect.
World over the Defence Forces are given an edge over others in civil in every field. Even where the people of the same rank assemble defence personnel are treated as seniors. Govt. should take action to give Defence personnel an upper hand over others. If the Govt. really wishes to respect defence forces they should boost their morale in this way by agreeing to all their demands whether those are of OROP, 7th CPC or disability. All Political Parties who believe that proper justice is not being done to Defence Forces must join hands and force Govt. to first give Defence Pesonnel what is their due and raise their stature so that they may realize their interests are being looked after and they can lay their lives for the country and do not sacrifice their lives as has been done in this case.
