The government has downgraded the status of military officers compared to their civilian counterparts, a new defence ministry letter.

A civilian principal director, who was equivalent to a brigadier, has been equated to a two-star general, a director-ranked officer to a brigadier and a joint director to a colonel, triggering widespread resentment in military circles.

Until now, a colonel was equivalent to a director and a lieutenant colonel to a joint director.

The letter, dated October 18, talks about rank “equivalence” between defence officers and “armed forces headquarters civil service officers”. It says issues regarding rank equation were examined in detail.

“By this equation, a captain is equivalent to a civilian Group B section officer. This isn’t mischief, but mischief-plus by bureaucrats,” said an army officer on condition of anonymity.

The letter, signed by a joint secretary, says the government has referred to administrative orders issued by the army, navy and air force during 2003-08. Several serving officers HT spoke to said the orders mentioned in the letter were only for internal cadre management.

“They have deliberately misinterpreted the orders. It’s an attempt to reverse clearly established protocols established by successive pay panel reports and court rulings,” said another officer, who did not wish to be named. He said the diktat was also against the spirit of recommendations made by a GoM headed by Pranab Mukherjee after the 6th Pay Commission report.

Good Morning India........
Desperate babu's and the saffron brigade playing with fire. God please forgive these ignoramuses for they do not know what they do. They do not understand on what the Army  soldier runs on. Not on money or I'll gotten wealth but on Izzat (Self Respect and Pride in himself that he is the cream of cream)  and Izzat alone. I hope for the future welfare and well being of this Nation a Modern day Chanakya be born. 

“History does not repeat itself,” it is famously said, “but fools repeat history.” Philosopher-poet George Santayana put it slightly differently when he wrote— “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

CHANAKYA SAID 500 YEARS PLUS AGO:

“Pataliputra reposes each night in peaceful comfort, O King, secure in the belief that the distant borders of Magadha are inviolate and the interiors are safe and secure, thanks only to the Mauryan Army standing vigil with naked swords and eyes peeled for action, day and night, in weather fair and foul, all eight praharas (round the clock), quite unmindful of personal discomfort and hardship, all through the year, year after year.

“While the citizenry of the State contributes to see that the State prospers and flourishes, the soldier guarantees it 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.”

MR MODI PLEASE LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY MR MODI:

Then Kautilya, known also as Chanakya gave his king this blunt warning: “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 King!”

Mr Modi now things have gone way beyond what Chanakya had said. Way Way beyond. Now your blundering babus and the saffron Brigade blunderasses have stamped on the head of the soldier which is nothing but his izzat. The Army Mr. PM can do without money can face all hardships, will lay down their lives for you Mr. Modi, yet they are also capable for laying down their lives for their own IZZAT what ever the consequences.

You Mr. Modi are nearing the day, when you would have lost all moral sanction to be the PM.

For the saffron brigade has already forgotton what their very own loved and admired Lord krishna, and the Gita said 

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥४-७॥

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥४-८॥

The verse in Roman script—
Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata
Abhythanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham

Paritranaya sadhunang vinashay cha dushkritam
Dharmasangsthapanarthay sambhabami yuge yuge

The meaning of these two slokas is:

Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bharata,
And there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself come forth ;

For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers,
For the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age.

Whenever virtue subsides and immorality prevails, then I body Myself forth. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of Dharma, I come into being, in every age." Whenever the world goes down, the Lord comes to help it forward; and so He does from time to time and place to place.

Life is short, but the soul is immortal and eternal, and one thing being certain, death, let us therefore take up a great ideal and give up our whole life to it. Let this be our determination, and may He, the Lord, who "comes again and again for the salvation of His own people", to quote from our scriptures — may the great Krishna bless us and lead us all to the fulfilment of our aims.

If a country has no regards for its young students, does not hesitate to kill their hopes, their wishes and their future, plus does injustice and practices favoritism for a student from a country Pakistan our sworn enemies, a country Pakistan supporting terrorists killing our people, to promote the BJP's religious agenda for votes, then it is the beginning of the end of INDIA its golden age is a far cry. An open letter to all concerned in the Government of India.

The Hindutva Card, The Government of India and the Judiciary.

Thank you Madam Sushma Swaraj. Now I, an old veteran, have lost complete faith in the BJP and the Indian Government which all of us clapped on to power and so also I have lost faith in the Indian Judicial System. This losing of FAITH started with veterans like me, being beaten up at Jantar Mantar by ordinary policemen, then the OROP fiasco, 7 CPC and this loss of FAITH is complete with your behavior with respect to my granddaughter an NRI and many other NRI's like her from different countries. I as a serving Army Officer, has borne a whole lot of injustices from the Government of India, which continued after my retirement and hanging up my uniform. However I cannot sit quietly and see generation three of my progeny being hounded by the present Government, due to the ill educated, corrupt, self serving politicians who care 2 hoots for the people of India and its students who reside within India's boundaries and abroad.

JAIPUR: Union minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, who is known for her active role on social media, helped a teenage Pakistani girl get admission into Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Medical College (SMS), a government college here on Wednesday. Without appearing for NEET. A Pakistani National, a foreigner residing in India for the last 2 years, she was given admission to a Medical College by Madam Sushma Swaraj, without appearing for or passing NEET exam, bending backwards and calling her my child, with complete disregard to the Supreme Court of India's directions. So now, in this case, nobody quoted and harped on the Supreme court ruling upholding MCI. Mera Bharat Mahan.

My granddaughter along with many other NRI students also foreign residents like her, were admitted in the 15 Percent NRI quota in the Kasturba Medical College Manipal, a private Medical College, were thrown out unceremoniously from the middle of a human anatomy dissection class, for not having appeared for NEET and thus their admission stood cancelled. She and the others were given 2 days to vacate her hostel room and leave the college premises. Reason a 3 judge bench of The Supreme Court dismissed out of hand University of Manipal's appeal for the students and our (students parents combined) appeal. NRI students who actually reside abroad and have different education systems in their countries of residence, were not required to appear for any entrance Exams, their admissions were made on a merit list prepared from the Equivalent certificate issued by the ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN UNIVERSITIES New Delhi. 

Our contention that MCI gave clarification that all NRI's and actual Foreigner students are included in their ruling and are required to give NEET was given on 04 Aug 2016 well after the last  NEET exam was conducted on 24 July 2016. So also it is not possible for such students to fly down to India and give NEET which is not related to the system of examinations followed in different countries. 

Therefore it was prayed before The Supreme Court bench that the students whose admission process started in December  2015 should be allowed to continue their classes, as the college had already started. However the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal out of hand without even giving a hearing. Now my granddaughter has come to my house on her way back to her parents, having lost a full academic year, thanks to this murderous behavior of MCI, the government of India and the Supreme Court.

Here is the case of a Pakistani foreigner student and Sushma Swaraj playing the Hindutva Card, which is proving the nemesis of the BJP. God save this country.

"I thank Sushma Swaraj jee for making my dream come true," said 18-year-old Mashal Maheshwari, who joined SMS college on September 22. Maheshwari's family had moved to Jaipur from Pakistan's Sindh province two years ago on a religious visa due to rising atrocities on Hindu minorities. Dr US Agrawal, controller and principal of SMS medical college confirmed her admission but did not reveal the category under which she secured a seat. (Obviously he will not as their is no such category for admission of a foreigner in a Government Medical College and that too her not having appeared for NEET).

The meritorious student, who secured 91% in her Class XII CBSE exams, could not appear in the common entrance exam for medical NEET, due to her nationality. She had tweeted to the Union minister on May 29, 2016, and got a prompt reply.

Quote Sushma Swaraj
"Mashal, don't be disappointed my child. I will personally take up your case for admission in a medical college." Swaraj had said in her tweet. Later the minister's office asked Maheshwari to submit the documents required for admission.

I reproduce here my mails to Sushma Swaraj on behalf of my grand daughter and the cold shoulder I received. I also reproduce the mail which I have sent to the Chief Justice of India for which I received no response. Please do go through these. It may help my readers in their future dealings with this sorry country.

Mail No 1

My First Mail to Sushma Swaraj

1. My granddaughter has secured admission to the MBBS course conducted by Manipal University at their Medical College in Manipal for Academic year 2016-2017. My daughter is an NRI and my granddaughter has studied abroad in the American system of education and has topped in her school by her APS grading in XII grade, she has excelled in her SAT's too. The Indian Equivalent of her grading has been obtained from the ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN UNIVERSITIES AIU House, 16 Comrade Indrajit Gupta Marg, New Delhi –2 (EVALUATION DIVISION).

2. Her fees have been paid and her classes have already begun from 12 September. Now the university has informed my daughter who is abroad, that my granddaughter's admission (so also all NRI students without NEET) is liable to cancellation due to the new August 4 directive of MCI that NEET is mandatory for all medical admissions inclusive of NRI and Foreign Nationality students. Interestingly the last NEET was held on 24 July 2016. Earlier NRI students were not required to appear for any entrance Exams, their admissions were made on merit list prepared from the Equivalent certificate issued by the ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN UNIVERSITIES.

3. I feel that grave injustice has been done to my granddaughter by the MCI (Medical Council of India), and she stands to lose this Academic year for no fault of hers. It is my request that MCI may please be made to hold this directive in abeyance for present batch of NRI students and may be considered from next year if at all. Following is for consideration in this respect:

The amendment to the effect that NEET is mandatory for NRI students too, was made and published on 04 August 2016, by that time NEET Exams were over and my granddaughter had already secured admission for MBBS in Manipal University, the admission process for which had started in late 2015. Had she known earlier AND IN TIME, she would have given the NEET Exam or, accepted admission offered, either in Singapore, the US or Malaysia which was much easier as cost of education is same out there as in India. SHE CHOSE INDIA AS MEDICAL EDUCATION IS THE BEST AS COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

 4. Students who actually reside abroad, like my granddaughter, undergo different exam patterns like American AP or the Advanced Placement System, SAT's, Senior Cambridge, IB etc. The ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN UNIVERSITIES, issues an equivalent certificate for use by NRI students to obtain admissions in various fields of Higher Education, in NRI quotas by merit.

Asking them to fly down from their Countries of residence to appear for NEET exam, when their pattern of education is entirely different from that of India, appears to be rather inconsistent and irrational thinking.

5. Applying this criteria of successfully passing NEET for admission to MBBS degree courses on 04 August 2016, to NRI students and declaring it applicable for current Academic year, after all NEET exams I and II are over for current academic year by 24 July 2016, is unfair to say in the last. I am tempted to use severe  un-parliamentary language at this point. Though I understand that this decision of MCI was to curtail corruption by Indian Medical Colleges to sell seats in the Black Market under the guise of Management Quota at practically 4 times the cost of NRI seats. 

5. Granted it is a noble cause, this application of NEET for NRI's will play into the hands of Medical Colleges as more number of seats would be available to be sold under Management Quota, earlier falling under 15 % NRI reservation, as more NRI seats will be unsubscribed for. As a matter of fact, a large number of Private Medical Colleges have already advertised more Management seats in National newspapers, with gleeful anticipation of earning some more tainted money. In Pune the Market Rate for an MBBS seat offered to me under Management Quota is Rs.4 crore as against the fees of 1.6 crores for NRI students. So instead of "Acche din", "Bure din" are in store for NRI students and their parents and Acche din for Private Medical Colleges.

6. Following is my request for the consideration of the authorities who can supersede/override this directive of the MCI:

(a). This draconian directive from the MCI may please be held in abeyance for current Academic Year, such that students who are attending First year MBBS classes (which started on 12 Sept) are not thrown out and lose 1 academic year for no fault of theirs but the stupidity of the decision makers of MCI, who if at all should have done this in probably July 2015 a year before the commencement of this academic year, certainly not after NEET exams were over and MBBS admissions already done with. This would have given adequate time for the NRI students for preparation for NEET exam or apply elsewhere.

(b). The applicability of NEET for NRI students should be reconsidered for future applicability and rejected in toto for the reasons I have quoted in para 4 above.

Thanks and Regards.

Mail Number 2

Dear Madam Sushma Swaraj,

Please refer to trailing mail. Thank you for your inaction in not resolving the issue in time. The unthinkable has happened. A 3 judge SC bench has refused to hear a case against the MCI and my granddaughter, along with many other NRI's has been evicted from First Year MBBS, Manipal University. I reproduce the Mail I have sent to the Hon CJI for your information. I hope better sense prevails and you in consultation with Hon PM issue an ordinance in favor of actual NRI students so their Academic year is saved. Otherwise this country is headed for trouble if it does not want talent to return.

Thanks and Regards,

The one terse reply I received from her office, no "don't be disappointed my child" stuff, just some babudom reply, super motherly treatment for a Pakistani an enemy country and step motherly treatment for our own Indian students.

Mail received from the Ministry of External Affairs.

URGENT

No.OI-12014/02/2016-OIA.II.D

Government of India

Ministry of External Affairs

(Overseas Indian Affairs-II Division)

Akbar Bhawan, Chanakyapuri New Delhi, 28 Sept., 2016

Subject: Representations from overseas Indians about problems relating to NEET.

A copy each of three representations received from the following overseas Indians relating to NEET is enclosed:-

a)   Mail dated 12.09.2016 received from Ms. Camellia Chaudhuri.

b)  Mail dated 23.09.2016 from Shri Santosh Vemula, USA.

c)   Mail dated 23.09.2016 from Col. (Retd.) Ajay Ukidve, Pune.

2.        Ministry of Health & FW is requested to consider the requests made therein and send a reply to each of the petitioners under intimation to this Ministry.

(V. K. Bhatia)

Consultant (OIA-II)

Tel: 011-24197941

Email: consultant.ds(3),mea.gov.in

Encl: As above

To

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

(Shri Amit Biswas, Under Secretary)

526-A, Nirman Bhavan

Maulana Azad Road

NewDelhi-110 011

Email: amit.biswas69('a)nic.in

Copy with enclosures forwarded to Secretary, Medical Council of India, Pocket-14, Sector-8, Dwarka Phase-I, New Delhi-110077.

Copy for information to Petitioners by e-mail: camellia.chaudhuri2412@gmail.com,vemulasantosh@gmail.com, and ajayukidve@gmail.com.

 My mail to the Chief Justice of India

Attn: Honorable Chief Justice of India,

I am a retired Army veteran from India. My grand daughter is from Nairobi Kenya where my daughter resides as an NRI. She is a topper in AP's so also she has won many awards from her American school like Sir Isaac Newton trophy in Science, as well as an 88,000 USD scholarship from Seton Hall University in the US, requesting her to join their University. Plus she had secured admission to many Medical Colleges. In spite of all this my daughter chose to send my granddaughter to India after listening to Hon PM Modiji. So also another NRI from the US who received an award from President Obama for intellectual and academic brilliance from Pennsylvania. Now all NRI's without NEET booted out because of the callousness or should I say inhumanness of the 3 your honors dismissing their case. What I understood was that law is interpreted in a human way and not with the dots and dashes in the Act.

She was admitted to the MBBS course at Manipal University, Kasturba Medical College in July 2016 much before the NEET 2 was conducted and she was attending classes till she was unceremoniously thrown out this morning by Manipal University for not having done NEET, because of your esteemed bench of 3 Justices refused to hear her case, allowing MCI to run riot. MCI stipulated NEET as a requirement for Foreign / NRI Students with retrospective effect. They also mentioned that SC also did not give any relief to these REAL NRI / Foreign students. 

Living overseas, neither does my daughter or my granddaughter know what this NEET is all about ! My granddaughter is in tears, heartbroken and depressed, having now lost the opportunity of joining elsewhere. She now says "what a disgusting country India is, no sense of fair play", I don't think she will ever come to India again unless justice is delivered. How can you do this to a 19 year old ?  It is just not about my granddaughter, there are hundreds of young Foreign and real NRI students from all over the world - all in the same situation. If that was the AIM of MCI to keep foreign talent out and help Private Universities to make wealth, then the SC has amazingly pushed that idea much against Modijis wishes.

I am more than sure, our system will not do this if the children of high level Indian officials, the Babus etc and  Ministers are in the same situation. Though my daughter and her family lives abroad, their hearts are with our Motherland India. We talk a lot about Brain-drain, Make in India ..etc. But when someone like me, a retired Army Officer a bit long in the tooth. looks at India, my  heart bleeds because of the actions of our officials in India. I have experienced the worst mind you. The Supreme Court of India, the last bastion of fair play and justice, also closed its eyes when these innocent children approached you for your help, and your brethren, for whatever reason even refused to hear their pleadings. Mera Bharat Mahan indeed. Remember, there is a GOD in heaven and he is looking at all of us, our deeds and our actions.

There is a saying and I need not remind you who wears  the ultimate crown of justice and fair play in India  - 'The guilty may escape from the eyes of law, but an innocent person should not be punished'. 

Now look at these young, innocent tender hearts. They are heartbroken, being literally evicted from their careers for no fault of theirs but some hidden agenda which they nor me do not understand. It is just not my granddaughter, the hearts of so many, young tender hearts are bleeding now. They are returning back to their respective countries. Some of them may never recover from this shock in their lifetime, nor will they ever come to India again. Some students said "we spit on this bloody country and its bloody awful system". Who is responsible for this? The system in India without doubt, plus, I do not hesitate to say that the SC too is also responsible for this disaster which is going to affect generations of Indian students living abroad, to the detriment for the future of this country.

I am not praying to GOD for my granddaughter now. I am praying to GOD for India, the country which I and my brethren in the forces shed their blood for, and what it has been reduced to now. A banana Republic.

I hope "Satyamev Jayate" still holds.

Thanks and Regards

I hope my readers re tweet this and condemn this action against young and brilliant  aspiring Doctor students, who have lost an academic year and are undergoing severe trauma for something for which they are neither to blame nor are responsible for.

India is Great,  a country which pampers, throws out all the regulations as well as rulings of the Supreme Court of India, for the student of an enemy country, but throws to the dogs their own, by applying every conceivable comma and full stop in the regulations.. Mera Bharat Mahan.....BJP Mahan...

Modi Government Short Changing Armed Forces, this Country Will Pay A Heavy Price.

It is time the citizens of this country woke up and sorted out the politicians, who they have elected to undo this mess. Or their next wake up call on some tomorrow morning will be under the debris of their flattened houses, flattened by enemy bombs, or their relatives and friends burnt to cinder in front of them by tactical nuclear devices of the enemy who knows? The reason? The defence forces did not retaliate effectively. Who would like to die for these crass injustices heaped upon them by this ungrateful country, its government and its citizens? Who beat up 85 year old veterans shamelessly, and make them fight for their just dues like a trade union?

Accountability from the Armed Forces is being demanded by our political masters and bureaucracy – but are those who are demanding accountability have ever been accountable to people – having betrayed their trust in innumerable instances?

I would like to quote what Chanakya or Kautilya told Chandragupta Maurya hundreds of years ago.

“The Mauryan soldier does not enrich the Royal treasuries nor fills the Royal granaries. He does not carry out trade and commerce nor produce scholars, litterateurs, artistes, artisans, sculptors, architects, craftsmen, doctors and administrators. He does not build roads and ramparts nor dig wells and reservoirs. He does not do any of this directly.

“The soldier only and merely ensures that the tax, tribute and revenue collectors travel forth and return safely; that the farmer tills, harvests, stores and markets his produce unafraid of pillage; that the trader, merchant and financier function and travel across the length and breadth of the realm unmolested; that the savant, sculptor, maestro and mentor create works of art, literature, philosophy and astrology in quietitude; that the architect designs and builds his Vaastus without tension; that the tutor and the priest teach and preach in peace; that the rishis meditate in wordless silence; that the doctor invents cures and medicines undisturbed; that the mason and bricklayer work unhindered; that the mother and the wife go about their chores and bring up children in harmony and tranquility; that the cattle graze freely without being lifted or stolen.

“Pataliputra reposes each night in peaceful comfort, O King, secure in the belief that the distant borders of Magadha are inviolate and the interiors are safe and secure, thanks only to the Mauryan Army standing vigil with naked swords and eyes peeled for action, day and night, in weather fair and foul, all eight praharas (round the clock), quite unmindful of personal discomfort and hardship, all through the year, year after year.

“While the citizenry of the State contributes to see that the State prospers and flourishes, the soldier guarantees it 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.”

Then Kautilya, known also as Chanakya gave his king this blunt warning: “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 King!”

I reproduce here an article by Brig Arun Bajpai.

IDN TAKE: Modi Government Short Changing Armed Forces, Country Will Pay Heavy Price
by Brigadier Arun Bajpai (Retd)

It is not money but the status vis- a –vis other central government services that is most important to the armed forces. At the time of Independence Armed forces were above all services with the then commander -in-Chief General Cariappa standing second in the hierarchy. Nehru-Krishna Menon duo interfered with this hierarchy ,abolished the post of Commander –in –Chief and armed forces came down 33rd in the precedence, with nobody to hear their grievances .Result was 1962 debacle in Indo-China war. Once again the angst in the Armed Forces which basically commenced from fifth pay commission is now a roaring anger thanks to the Seventh pay commission misplaced action of granting higher status to IPS officers and even Para military forces as against Armed forces. It is a dangerous situation and if not corrected country will pay heavy price.

There is absolutely no doubt that IAS and IPS people because of their proximity to political power politicians and each having their own associations have over successive pay commissions given themselves sweeter and sweeter deals and left the military out in the cold. This point further gets reinforced because while the IAS and IPS have their representatives in the Pay commissions Military has never been represented when with more than 13 lakh defence personnel they constitute the biggest chunk. With associations banned, Indian politicians having no knowledge of matters military and the IAS & IPS Babus out to exploit them, Armed forces have nowhere to go.

The three services chiefs have very limited say and even they are picked up based on how pliant they are to the ruling dispension. In developed country democracies they have an autonomous body of retired veterans and prominent civil persons in the country to look after the interests of the armed forces but not so in India. In India they work under Ram Barossa. The status comes in because in India it is decided by the pay and perks drawn when one compares civilian Babu and military.

There are 46 anomalies which are coming down from the Fifth Pay Commission .Any number of official clarifications have been asked by the Armed Forces, veterans have gone to courts for the same but our Neta-Babu Combination has not given a satisfactory answer till date. Why? Is it not their responsibility to convince the Armed forces that these anomalies are justified or not justified? If NO has to be said by the Government then that also should be said in clear terms. What is even more surprising is that all cases of military which have gone to courts military has won. In other words is this the order of the day in India that for every right of theirs the Veterans must rush to courts and involve themselves in long drawn litigation? God help this country if its politicians fail to understand that morale of the armed forces is going to their boots that also at the time when threat perception to India is highest.

Both China and Pakistan have joined hands, Kashmir is on turmoil and Pakistan is hell bent on proxy war. At this time when morale of the armed forces should be highest it is at its lowest. Veterans are forced to agitate with rallies at Jantar-Mantar but nobody in the power is paying any heed. Hope Modi Government understands that it is not weapons but man behind the weapons who fights the war and if he is demoralised and disgruntled then Prime Minster Modi should not talk of POK and Baluchistan from the ramparts of Red Fort. Our netas must understand that our enemies know more about us then we ourselves.

Seventh pay commission led by a retired Supreme court judge Mr Mathur who reportedly harboured a grudge against armed forces because Armed Forces refused to provide him with a bungalow in cantonment post retirement, have added 36 more anomalies in addition to the 46 coming down from Fifth Pay commission making total anomalies as 82, a staggering number.

This is happening when today a soldier is well educated, minimum education qualification of entry is 10th class pass and knows his rights. He looks up to his superior officers for solution but there is nobody in political class to hear this superior officer as a result even the discipline in armed forces is becoming a casualty. Take the latest anomaly of seventh pay commission.
A DIG of the Para Military force whose basic job is to be posted on international border as these forces are raised to guard the international border, while Army guards all disputed borders of China and Pakistan, gets Rs 73000 as allowance even if he is posted in Meghalaya capital Shillong, but an Army Brigadier gets nothing whether posted in Ladakh or anywhere else.. Why? Either allow this facility to both or none. Similarly the Non Functional Upgrade (NFU) and three increments have been given to police and IAS cadre but Armed forces nothing why? All this has enhanced the status of even police by the seventh pay commission over Army so what will happen when there is joint command where till now the Army was supreme? Will a police officer with no knowledge of matters military command Army? This is ridiculous.

Feeling is creeping in Armed Forces that an ungrateful nation and its politicians are least bothered about them while they are taking the real bullets in protecting the country. Our ruling politicians must understand that India is proud that its armed forces are apolitical and are subordinate to the political masters. However armed forces are not subordinate to bureaucracy and subordinate does not mean disadvantaged or subservient. Why the ruling Indian political class making this institution of armed forces get a feeling that they are being discriminated against and short changed? One feels that all this is happening because our politicians have no military background or knowledge and the Babus advising the politicians are exploiting this weakness of politicians by short changing the armed forces. It is time Modi Government wakes up and takes immediate corrective action . It must come out with immediate answers to these 82 anomalies and Prime Minster Modi himself should take on this task. Say YES or NO in clear terms, armed forces will not mind it. Failing this India is heading towards dire straits.

Brig Arun Bajpai (Retd) is a distinguished Defense and Strategic Analyst. Views express are his own.

TO CATCH A THIEF

The immediate "provocation" to amend the "Prevention of Corruption Act" prompted by the corrupt politicians in power and the IAS babu combine, appears to be the plight of a retired coal secretary to the government of India, Harish Gupta IAS, under whose watch a large number or irregularities in coal mine allocations took place during the last UPA regime. Gupta finds himself as accused in coal scam cases in various courts. There is a widespread swell of support from the bureaucracy that he should not be "victimized". The fact is Gupta is known to be an impeccably honest officer (Sic). The issue now is whether his plight is sufficient justification in amending the PC Act, and watering down its potential to combat corruption.

So it is actually more sinister, that politicians in power are now trying to dilute an act which has the potential of bringing to justice, these accused IAS babus, for criminal activities of omission or commission. This is in fact paving the way, to make these Babus more malleable to corrupt activities by corrupt politicians in government. In short assuring them you do what we are telling you, sign on the files and look the other way, and we will ensure you remain safe to enjoy your pension at home and not behind bars.

Knowing these politicians these activities will be amply rewarded. So also these babus are mostly graded as of "above average intelligence", so they will milk the cow too as it moves for milking from the pasture. The politicians will not even be aware that some of the milch cows are yielding a bit less milk. Off course it is not that all babus are corrupt and will indulge in this, but there is a HUGE chance that many honest ones will look the other way, making it easier for their political bosses. Instead of diluting this act, it should be further strengthened and given more teeth. This will ensure that the babus are deterred from abetting corrupt activities of those in power. Spectrum scam, coal scam, this scam, that scam running into thousands of crores of taxpayers money going on right from Cha Cha Nehrus time. Politicians and those in power, IPS, IAS bureaucrats getting filthy rich, while the poor not having a square meal a day. This Prevention of Corruption Act should not be diluted but made more exemplary, if for nothing else than just the distant prospect for these not so gentleman, of sitting in jail after retirement, rather than enjoying their swimming pools and farm houses and country golf clubs in the twilight years of their lives.

"So, it's all a question of money. That the loyalties of some Army Officers seem to be pegged around what Pay & Allowances we get in return. Why serve in The Army, open a shop friend."

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/In-search-of-propriety/where-is-the-incentive-for-the-armed-forces-to-remain-motivated/

"Areas of concern of a soldier like any other citizen of the country include education and marriage of his children, healthcare, and financial well being after his retirement. This is especially so because his capacities to earn for the family diminishes at a much younger age while his commitments are at its peak. He believes that the nation will take care of him and his family if ever he gets wounded and disabled while on duty and his family will be cared for and respected if he had to make the supreme sacrifice. Above all he expects the nation to recognize his sacrifices and respect him.

Are we as a nation doing enough to motivate our Armed Forces?"

Response of civilians and similar statements from my civilian friends during get togethers or over a cup of tea at Deepali Cafe :

"So, it's all a question of money. That the loyalties of some Army Officers seem to be pegged around what Pay & Allowances we get in return. Why serve in The Army, open a shop friend."

Wow! "Why serve in Fauz open a shop", a typical Gora Sahab expression! Sir, I think times have changed and we can't remain the pickwickian, Gora Commanding Officers like my father used to be, typical British Army vintage, . He would whack his regimental cane on his immaculately starched Olive Green cotton drill trousers and rumble Bacche Natha Singh kaise ho, sab thik thak hai? (Son Natha Singh how are things? all well?). Sepoy Natha Singh used to reply "Je saab ji, sab Vadiya hai" (Yes Sir all is well).

Natha Singh was too proud and never said a word that his family is upon bad times as his pay which he sends home is inadequate to meet daily needs, yet he would not think twice about laying down his life for his unit first then Country, rather than accepting surrender or defeat at the hands of the enemy. Same is the case with young Officers. Examples are galore. Lt Col Shanti Swarup Rana,

Lt. Navdeep Singh, Batra, Mahadik the list is endless.

It's now nearly 20 years since I retired from the Corps of Signals, Indian Army yet my wife and I still remember the hard days we faced and the financial difficulties we went through as we brought up our children. Luckily our 2 daughters shone themselves in Academics and reached the upper rung of their careers fast as well as to became good people in life. Same is the case with most of my brethren.

I still remember the Money lender on Main Street Mhow! Come the month end and there used to be a line outside his shop of Officers from the Military College Telecom Engineering, Infantry School and College of Combat all waving post dated cheques to make ends meet at the end of the month.

My wife 4 months pregnant with our first daughter wanted to have some pedhas, (a kind of sweetmeat made from milk) they cost Rs 15 a kilo then. I did not have money to buy them, as our take home pay was just Rs. 300 pm, after all the Officers Mess cuttings, house rent cuttings, tailor cuttings and so on. I had to console my wife I will get them on the first of next month. We did not have cooking gas in those days, she used to cook on paraffin stoves. Luckily for me I was posted to High Altitude area Leh and Northwards before my first child was born. Luckily because I knew it would have been difficult neigh impossible to look after a new born on such a meager salary while posted away from home. So she moved home for delivery. After the 3 rd pay commission things improved a bit. Yet by and large Indira Gandhi ensured degradation of the Armed Forces by Terminating OROP and reducing pension percentage. We thought that after we fought the India Pak war of 71 successfully, she would improve our situation dramatically viv a vis the Babus (IAS and the IPS), but no sir it was the other way round.

We never had money enough to stitch decent clothes, so nearly all of us got them tailored from Mhow shops, paying the bill in 2 year installments of Rs. 50 per month. This was exactly like the British Officers did pre Independence, at the Bombay Tailors, "Bacche khate mey daal dena" (son, put the bill on my account) as if Maj Simmons was doing a big favor to the tailor !!That was the state sir.

We can play possum about many things, but we cannot pretend about our fiscal state. Coming to pegging of loyalties, I think we mix up things. Motivation plays a very crucial role as far as loyalties go. Natha Singh never had exposure to how his civilian counterpart lived, as there was no TV or multimedia or internet. 

Yes with the advent of free rations becoming
authorized as a part of pay and Allowances of all
Ranks of the Defense Forces, around  1982 along with the Fourth Pay Commission pay improvements, things became a bit easier. Yet at the same time the demands on the Army kept getting multiplied. 

"Call the Army even if PM's yoga mats get blown away from Rajpath syndrome as we call it. The civilian governments are unable to handle a lot of things which actually fall outside the jurisdiction of the army, yet are done by the army! flood, earthquake, rescuing someone from borewell, or for building bridges also !!!!!The list is endless.

Today's youngsters are more savvy than of old. They know exactly what is happening in the world and are no longer like cart horses with side view obstructing blinders. 

The new generation Officers of the Indian Army are no longer willing to die for a country governed by criminal hoodlum Politicians with registered criminal cases against them a yard long. Corrupt babus most of the times, trying to stamp them down into the earth at every opportunity. Time to change sir and climb down a bit to ground realities of life.

A glaring example from the past.

Though the Government could not take away Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's rank, it did take away everything else and treated him shabbily indeed. He retired in January 1973. Field Marshals get full pay and allowances till death. Manekshaw never got even the pension of the rank he held nor a house or a car after retirement. It took the Government of India aka the IAS Babus, 36 years to decide his scale and entitlement.

Sam's larger-than-life image also earned him some enemies. For long, he was denied the benefits and status due to a Field Marshal. It was not until 2006-07 that President Abdul Kalam took the initiative and made sure the general got his full dues. Unfortunately the dues cheque was handed over to him as he lay dying on his hospital bed. That’s how it works, , the system Parrikar presides over today. 

To think that people have the guts and shamelessness to make statements like: "So, it's all a question of money. That the loyalties of Army Officers seem to be pegged around what Pay & Allowances we get in return. Why serve in The Army, open a shop friend." The Bastards. You will pay my friend and pay through all your orifices when the time comes.

Who said a Budweiser and Meditation don't go together :) :) ......

Musings for what they are worth over a bottle of Budweiser today, after the evening meditation session.

Dear God

I am afraid I do not have much to say in the way in which and the context with which other players have written and given feedback before me on this world stage. Therefore I beg your forgiveness right at the outset. That is if I seem not to have fulfilled some expectations, which you may have had from participants on this world stage, when you invited us to this wonderful Earth Program for us spiritual beings, to experience this human existence. 

I mostly live in my mind and think and deliberate the how and why of our existence. In the same context I do research into the origins of our species with special emphasis on unexplained facts in prehistory, which have been discarded by scientists, as they do not fit into their well established theories of Genesis. So also I do fundamental research in anthropological genetics.

My attending this wonderful workshop of life, aka meditation, has enlightened me or I might say has liberated me, made me free in a different way. Therefore I share a few things which have occurred within me. These I would say are a collection of random, possibly abstract thoughts, as I sit to write a few lines, only a few because I am not yet fully aware of the metamorphosis which has occurred within me. Furthermore I find it very difficult to give you a feedback unless I brief you on what exactly I do, that itself is in the realms of the unbelievable.

I keep thinking about "Integrity, Authenticity, and Committed To Something Bigger Than Oneself as a Context That Uses ME"

Interestingly enough, so far, in my journey through life or consciousness, I realized that the reality created around me, contradicted the one sought by me, and this reality, which was sought by me, I saw would in turn conflict with Nature. My realization is that humanity is experiencing a paradox within a paradox. A paradox basically means a self-contradictory statement that is or may be true. I think your deliberations were a kind of a welcome to the evolution Awareness within me!

The present moment reveals to me four key areas of contradictory realities. The first is my awareness which creates my own reality, based on personal thoughts and desires. From here the picture gets bigger… The second contradictory reality is the one created within me, by a bond of code (morality) by virtue of ideology of family. In this reality, individual growth - by following my Heart or as I always explain it as my inner self, or my soul or a group of genes within me, which I call my strap on guidance system - is felt as a threat by my family members, also by people whom I interact frequently, because they see that their pattern of life is going to change, if this inner self awareness comes to play within them.

Then their is my cultural experience which is basically a collection of group habits or traditions, based on mythological awe and the wonder of self-realization, which we sometimes neigh almost always mistake for a value system. This is another contradictory reality.

We all come from dysfunctional families. Every case is different but the main factor is always elusive happiness and freedom. As a result of these dysfunctional families, a structured society was created that is also dysfunctional. This is the last contradictory reality. Now within this I function as a leader a self leader. Here I felt that I was (mind you was) falling short of Integrity and authenticity.

If the Universe is One Verse, then why is humanity limiting its true potential? The answer… is fear of the outcome.
Fear from what? Fear itself is man-made and ironically it profits man of nothing. Humanity is afraid to acknowledge that it is a part of the Transcendental Absolute. In other words, we are afraid to acknowledge that we are the Creators! 

The myth that God is a symbol and our creator is the most powerful fallacy humanity has to overcome in the evolution of Awareness. So, what's it like living as a Creator or God? To be like God, a person must be fearless, responsible and filled with infinite re-creative energy - Love. It's not about being good, but being nice to One Self and Others… In this, Eternity is every Breath I make. Every moment I live. Finally awareness is my being and possibly my being is not the experiences which I have had through that awareness.

1. Linguistic Abstractions (leader and leadership as “realms of possibility”). Actually if I try to see into leadership, ironically it only boils down to linguistic ability ha ha.

2. Phenomena (being a leader and exercising leadership as they are actually experienced, that is, as they are lived; or conversely the experience of being led). I sometimes get confused why do I have to be a follower and Leader at the same time.

3. Concepts (the temporal domain in which leader and leadership function). One thing I have realised that as a leader may be religious, may be spiritual or may be in Industry, I have to function in relation to concepts. Now problem to me is how do I test those concepts for accuracy?

4. Terms (leader and leadership as definitions). Finally I realize that Leader and Leadership are nothing but definitions.

I have experienced enlightenment bit by bit, sip by sip of Budweiser after my evening sitting in silences, of my 3 times daily 20 minute meditations. It has made many things immediately clear to me. It is clear to me that one's existence does not depend on anything except awareness. This brings complete relief and liberation. It is clear that life is awareness, and not what awareness experiences. So the body, mind, the physical universe as well as dream universes, feelings, knowledge, are all non-essential to being alive. Fear and guilt vanish because awareness is beyond harm and experience is not part of one's being. If you  really check out one undergoes experience because of one's internal awareness.

I now know that all experience comes from outside of oneself, that experience merely flows through awareness, and that I am not responsible for the helpless act of experiencing one's experience. I am free to see, to dream a world of the future. I am free to share the shape of the future with my colleagues, to work in the past to search for our creators who designed our genetic system. To learn from them, in the sense from the knowledge they left us, how the future of this world should be.

This part may occur as a contradiction of what I read about life but it is not. I am creating a future here with help from the experiences of those who created us, but finally could not save their own civilization on the planet Nibiru (the 10th planet in our solar system recently discovered by NASA at the edge of the Kuiper belt.). . 

This state of freedom solves every problem by eliminating it, and provides a completely unburdened peace and tranquility. I believe that soon this human species is likely to extinguish itself in its own ignorance and the blatant misuse of its five sense organs which probably were designed for some greater achievements.

Ajay