What India Can Learn from American Veterans’ Fight For Pension

Aviral Virk

Updated: August 14, 2015, 12:42 pm

More than 15,000 American World War I veterans camped in tents like these for several months before President Hoover ordered their evacuation. (Photo: American Treasures of the Library of Congress)

There is a fundamental problem in the way we Indians treat our soldiers. It’s systemic, it’s endemic and it needs to end. The indifference that successive governments have displayed towards our soldiers is, perhaps, a reflection of our own disinterest. Two American Presidents learnt this the hard way.

In 1924, the American Senate sought to bring justice to World War I veterans. It allowed for “Adjusted Universal Compensation” to young men who survived the 18 month long campaign against Germany. The aim was to compensate conscripted soldiers for the wages they had lost while fighting overseas. 

The demand for these back wages arose due to the fact that the country had industrialised rapidly to meet the demands of war. An American who was picked to work at an arms factory was paid roughly 10 times more than a soldier who had fought in trenches alongside the French.

The Bonus Army marchers used whatever waste material they could to build tents which were organised according to states. They were jobless and penniless but, it is said, the music never stopped. (Photo: American Treasures of the Library of Congress)

Fight Today, Pension After 20 Years

Soldiers who were welcomed home as heroes demanded parity. The new legislation promised its victorious World War I veterans $1.25 for each day served abroad and $1 for each day served at home. But there was a catch - the bonus would be disbursed after 20 years in 1945, but the promise of a bonus with compound interest made it sound like a decent pension scheme. 

By 1932, America had descended deep into The Great Depression. 25% of the working class lost their jobs. Many among them were WW I war veterans. Understandably, they wanted to encash their bonds immediately. As expected, the cash-strapped government headed by President Hoover did not see WW I veterans as its immediate priority.

The Bonus Army reached Capitol Hill on the first day of Congress in the summer of 1932 and held vigil till the last day of the session. (Photo: American Treasures of the Library of Congress)

The Bonus Army

Those priorities lasted till a band of 15,000 started marching towards Capitol Hill. The media called them the ‘Bonus Army’. Washington prepared for the possibility of civil unrest. Machine guns and tanks were kept on standby. War heroes from eight years ago, they were now treated as a national security threat. 

When the Senate rejected the Bonus Bill with an overwhelming majority, an angry and disappointed Bonus Army stayed remarkably calm but refused to leave the Capitol Hill limits. President Hoover had no clue how to get the army of 15,000 to leave his front lawn! 

Fight Turns Bloody

Evacuation orders were eventually signed and two soldiers were shot dead by cops. The next day the US Army was called in. Cavalry men, infantry men, tanks and armoured vehicles rolled into the area. Smoke bombs and tear gas shells disbursed the marchers. By nightfall, the Bonus Army’s encampment was razed to the ground. 

The US Army action on war veterans is right up there on the list of the gravest mistakes ever made by an American President. 

In 1936, President Roosevelt vetoed the Bonus Bill but this time the Senate overruled the President. 4 million soldiers were paid their money in full. 

It took four long years for public sentiment to sway in favour of those who fought against the Germans for the democratic ideals America claimed it stood for.

March 6, 2008: President Bush welcomes Cpl Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving American World War I veteran into the White House. He told the 107 year old, “One way for me to honour the service of those who wore the uniform in the past and those who wear it today, is to herald you sir and to thank you for your patriotism and your love for America” (Photo: Eric Draper, White House)

What Can India Learn From America’s WW I Veterans?

The first signs of change was when the US Army was called in to attack their own. Despite being unarmed, homeless and penniless, the Bonus Army was not easily crushed. They lived in camps near Capitol Hill for all of the American public to see and sympathise with.

The second major shift can perhaps be credited to Earnest Hemingway who wrote about how “the government practically killed” several hundred war veterans by leaving them to fend for themselves when a hurricane hit the coast in 1935.

In India, our soldiers have been fighting for the last 33 years. Successive governments have failed to honour those who served India during war and peace.

Maybe, the Indian government’s indifference reflects our own?

Indian armed forces in grip of pay disparity issue #OROP

http://dailymailnews.com/dmsp0204/06-0812.htm

Open a debate on OROP, Mr Modi. Don’t isolate the veterans

Before things implode then, can we have a frank talk?

POLITICS

 |  3-minute read |   15-09-2015

JUGAL R PUROHIT

 @jrpur

Respected Sir,

Since I cover issues pertaining to security and conflict, I’ve also had the opportunity to report on One Rank One Pension (OROP).

On September 5, I was present in Room 129 D of the South Block where defence minister Manohar Parrikar made the announcement on OROP. Many of my colleagues incorrectly referred to this event as a press conference. I am sure you’d appreciate that when no questions or clarifications are allowed, the event becomes an announcement.

Why was such a stance adopted for such an occasion, I still ponder.

This brings me to the heart of the issue I’d like to raise.

Unlike matters of operations, acquisitions or investigations where details are best withheld till a suitable time is arrived at, OROP is an issue where maximum transparency could and should be demonstrated.

But this has hardly been observed.

Be it when multiple well-wishers of your government were talking to the protesting veterans (seven names were made public) for a solution or when the defence minister, flanked by the service chiefs, defence secretary and his junior minister, simply walked out after reading a prepared statement. So many queries arose seeing this. Yet, doubts were met with not one clarification. In fact, even among several serving defence personnel the feeling is that the "way OROP was handled" could’ve been much better.

Doubts also persist because the order for implementation of OROP – the original aim of the protest – has still not materialised. The issue of "voluntary retirement" which found a way into the announcement by Parrikar led to immense anger, notwithstanding your words later. All this has ensured that whenever your government issues the order, it will be read it with a doubt in mind and a magnifying glass in hand.

I am sure you did not desire such a bitter state.

Mr Modi, when it was announced that the government will revise thepensions of our veterans once in five years and not one, as they demanded, was it not important that your government told us why? I could, in fact, ask the same for the slew of anomalies which have emerged where you felt no explanation was necessary.

May I also add that seeking clarifications isn’t the same as rejecting arguments.

Is the problem in granting them OROP, the way they have been asking for, a financial one or an administrative one or a political one? I must say you’ve allowed doubts to creep in. Former army chief Gen NC Vij, whom I met on the evening of September 5 said it, “If there was an issue with the finances or anything else, I would expect our government to be open to the veterans and talk. They are patriots, not unreasonable agitators.”

I distinctly recall your words before you took over as the prime minister. You said, “Politicians should learn to say ‘no’ and bureaucrats should learn to say ‘yes’.” Was it your turn to say "no" or your bureaucrats who should’ve said "yes"?

Allow me to put on record a belief that many hold, not without merit. For those joining the government post 2004, pensions have become contributory in nature which means the government has less liability. This includes officers from services like Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and even those from Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). In comparison, government is continuing the old pension scheme only for the army, navy and air force. Is that not showing respect and granting a special place? I think it is. Is the economy free of all the encumbrances for you to give in to whatever it asked for? No, it isn’t.

While the general perception, thanks to your superb oratory and the might of the government propaganda, is that the entire OROP issue is settled, the veterans are still protesting. They just held a massive rally on Saturday to buttress their point. On asking they point to what they believe are major anomalies.

Your government has taken an important step. Your government has a former army chief and a celebrated colonel as ministers and yet this dichotomy!

Before things implode then, can we have a frank talk?

#Modi government, #One Rank One Pension, #OROP

After OROP, another demand taking shape within armed forces

After OROP, another demand taking shape within armed forces

September 15, 2015 11:10 IST

Military officers deeply resent the fact that the IAS and IFS keep getting promoted, regardless of merit and performance. They will now demand further pay and promotion parity with civilians, says Ajai Shukla

The government will pay out at least Rs 18,000-22,000 crore for OROP settlement, but still leave most ex-servicemen grumbling. The still unresolved, One Rank, One Pension agitation has exacerbated the lack of trust between the military, on the one hand, and politicians and bureaucrats, on the other. In a double defeat for the government, it will pay out at least Rs 18,000-22,000 crore for a settlement, but still leave most ex-servicemen grumbling. That is because the government has misunderstood the nature of the OROP agitation: it is less a demand for money than an expression of outrage at being discriminated against vis-à-vis the cordially disliked Indian Administrative Service. Many veterans have told me they would accept the status quo on pensions, provided OROP benefits are also withdrawn from the IAS and the Indian Foreign Service.

But the tiger has tasted blood, given the strong media and public support during the OROP agitation. Already another (morally and logically justifiable) demand is taking shape with armed forces discussion groups buzzing with another long-standing grievance bearing the clumsy moniker of "non-functional upgradation". NFU, which the government has denied the military, was granted to numerous Group A central services like the Defence Research & Development Service, Border Roads Organisation, Indian Ordnance Factory Service, et al. It is only a matter of time before the NFU demand is raised more strongly.

In simple terms, NFU means that when an IAS officer from a particular batch (a batch includes everyone who joins service the same year) is promoted to a certain rank (say deputy secretary), all her batchmates from Group A central services automatically start drawing the pay scale of deputy secretary two years after her promotion. This continues all the way up the line. The term NFU implies that, even as those officials continue to discharge their earlier functions, they are upgraded to the higher pay grade of their IAS batchmate. Effectively this means that every central services officer makes it to top pay grades, albeit with a two-year time lag behind the IAS.

You might wonder why the IAS, which safeguards its own interests well by virtue of making the rules, has not awarded itself NFU cover. That is because it does not need it; every IAS officer anyway reaches the government's highest grade of pay, called the "apex scale", which brings in a salary of Rs 80,000 a month. Even when an IAS officer fails to get empanelled for promotion by the Centre, she continues getting time-scale promotions in her state cadre. When she reaches the rank of "additional chief secretary" in the state cadre, which all of them automatically do, she enters the apex scale. The Indian Foreign Service benefits from a similar system.

Military officers deeply resent the fact that the IAS and IFS keep getting promoted, regardless of merit and performance. Furthermore, the IAS wrangled an order after the 6th Pay Commission that officials drawing salaries in the apex scale would be automatically entitled to OROP. This means that, as successive pay commissions revise the apex scale, as the 7th Pay Commission is currently doing, their pensions would rise in sync. However, 99 per cent of military officers do not make it to the apex scale. For them, each pay commission would separately determine smaller pension raises.

The double benefit to the IAS and IFS -- i.e., apex scale salaries for all, and OROP for all -- is doubly infuriating to the military, whose exceptionally steep promotion pyramid allows only a minuscule percentage of officers to reach the apex scale. Of a hundred army, navy or air force officers in a batch, only 30 to 40 are selected for promotion to colonel (or equivalent rank in the navy and air force), 10 to 12 of those go on to become brigadiers, four to five become major generals and just one or two make lieutenant general, where apex scales apply. While the military deems this rank hierarchy essential, officers believe they must be covered by NFU, so that those who lose out on promotion do not simultaneously lose out on salaries and pension.

There are significant and obvious disadvantages in being excluded from NFU. A major general posted to army headquarters as an additional director general draws a significantly lower salary than a civilian director serving directly under him. If the major general were to retire in his present rank, his pension would be Rs 5,000 lower than his civilian subordinate, even were the latter to retire on the same date with less service than the general. Every Group A central service officer is assured of retiring in at least the "higher administrative grade" pay scale, equivalent to the pay grade of a lieutenant general. In comparison, just one per cent of army officers reach that pay grade.

Yet the defence ministry has flatly turned down NFU for the armed forces, after the military demanded it in 2009-10. The detailed and convincing case mentioned a range of employment-related hardships the military faced, including: legally binding curbs on their fundamental rights, strict disciplinary codes, long separation from families, truncated careers, stringent promotion criteria, continuous hazards and threats to life. Furthermore, the grant of NFU to the IPS but not to the military disturbed the principle of parity between the two that the 3rd, 4th and 5th Pay Commissions had established.

The defence ministry peremptorily rejected this demand in a one-page note on July 15, 2010. This said the military's service conditions were different from those of civilians (hardly news to the military, which had citing harsher working conditions in their demand). The ministry argued that the services already got "military service pay" as compensation for difficult working conditions. Finally, stating the obvious again, the ministry declared that NFU was for organised Group A services, which the military was not. A right-to-information petition later revealed that no civil servant higher than a joint secretary had considered this demand, which three service chiefs had vetted and cleared.

As with OROP, the system seems not to be correcting itself until it is pushed to the wall. The 7th Pay Commission is unlikely to extend NFU to the armed forces, since members are protesting that it makes poor economic sense. The army, navy and air force know that is true but will not countenance everybody getting the benefit except for the one that deserves it most, by virtue of having by far the highest percentage of superseded personnel.

The big political question is: what form will the demand for NFU take? OROP was a pension issue, so pensioners did the heavy lifting at Jantar Mantar, the protest site in New Delhi. But how will serving officers demand NFU?

If the central government is frustrated by these complex and interlinked demands, it must blame the deplorable creating of exceptions for the IAS. Avay Shukla, a former IAS officer who blogs on Hill Post, noted during the OROP agitation: "The government consists of scores of departments... There are intricate linkages between them: the whole structure is like a huge spider web in which all the strands are inter-connected, and disturbing just one cobweb destabilises the entire structure."

With the structure already disturbed, can the government restore the status quo ante? Finding a new equilibrium that balances so many actors seems well nigh impossible.

This is taking battle to the real enemy. We need such detailed disclosures

[15/09 17:34] Subhash Sharma: I am sure you will like the change of tactics.

Have the #OROP protests politicised the Indian Army?

Have the OROP protests politicised the Indian Army?

 Col Danvir Singh

The announcement of grant of OROP was d one at a press conference by the defence minister of India on Sep 05, 2015. A long pending demand of the military personnel appeared to have been met. It stirred up another controversy around VRS.

Later though, Narendra Modi the Prime Minister rested all doubts on VRS later at Faridabad rally a day later. This however did not appear to have satisfied the veterans protesting at Jantar Mantar. They have since continued to express their dissent.

What has happened recently on the street at Jantar Mantar for the past 80-plus days is unprecedented. The narrative changed on the August 14. Bishimber, an 82-year-old veteran who had fought the men in Khakis during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars was manhandled by his own country's men in Khakis, "the Delhi police".

The citizens of India have not yet fathomed the magnitude and the scale of the tectonic shift that has taken place at the core. This silent shift that has taken place far beneath the surface appears unseen. The vibrations are not felt thus far.

It touched the nerve of lakhs of tomorrow's Ex-servicemen who still don the Olive Green uniform in service of India. The pain of the push and the shove suffered by Bishimber was felt by all and sundry within the armed forces.

Till that day a vast uniformed majority questioned the unmilitary like conduct by their predecessors. This incident shook that off forcing many to rethink. Today lakhs and lakhs of rupees are pouring in from none other than the servicemen themselves in support of the cause. The ears and eyes of the government ideally should have picked up the sentiment correctly.

A senior officer serving in a strike formation informed me how these protests have become the centre of all discussions within the army. He said generally the feeling across is "now or never".

They feel the protests should continue till such time the government conceded towards accepting 'One Rank One Pension' and stop thumping its chest over the granted 'One Rank Five Pensions'. This common argument resonates all across the cantonments and gives immense strength to those sitting at Jantar Mantar.

A presently serving General who happens to be the General Officer Commanding of a formation said, "The trust between the Govt and the Defence Forces has been eroded to a large extent. The Defence Forces will in their manner and means demand their rightful place, may be in a more forceful manner in times to come".

Another officer, a Colonel doing a higher defence management course down south said, "These OROP protests and the ensuing debate has opened our eyes. How oblivious we were till yesterday. The fact of the matter is that we have been exploited by the political class and the babus because we were good soldiers who never questioned".

Interestingly, a friend of mine who is a country head of a multinational company raised a very pertinent doubt. He said is it not surprising as to why the government has not conceded to the fundamental demand of the veterans.

In-spite of the high pedestal the Indian Armed Forces stand on, they are finding getting public, media and the celebrity support so difficult. Why?

Whatever may be the reason for this lack of support, the fact remains that a civilian counterpart draws a pension three times that of a soldier. A civilian's pension gets equalised annually without any so-called administrative problems as highlighted by Arun Jaitley the finance minister, while justifying delay in announcing OROP.

Going by the Supreme Court ruling, the pension is a payment due for the services already rendered. OROP thus is a justified demand for this payment denied. While the civilians see it as a fight for extra money, the serving and the retired soldiers see it as a fight for honour and equality with their civilian brethren.

Narendra Modi at the Riwari rally in 2013 had probably reset the course of destiny. He rekindled the long-suppressed aspirations of the military personnel who had been demanding equality through the OROP.

And in doing so he had inadvertently underscored their relevance in the overall power play. Jantar Mantar is just one such manifestation.

Let the history judge, nevertheless it is high time to sit and analyse on the policy of suppression started by Nehru towards the armed forces personnel arising out of the fears of a military coup.

Better be late than never.

http://www.sify.com/news/have-the-orop-protests-politicised-the-indian-army-news-columns-pjoexqjhhgigd.html

#OROP - HOW LONG WE CHOOSE TO REMAIN AS BUNCH OF FOOLS?

HOW LONG WE CHOOSE TO REMAIN AS BUNCH OF FOOLS?

Dear Sir,

               My apprehension that all faujis have been paid less pension even after 24 Sep 2012 all along has been proved correct.

               You have two choices.

               Choice 1. Read this long mail of mine and understand how Govt of India has robbed you of your entitled pension w.e.f 24 Sep 2012 telling you they improved your pensions like nobody did so far.

               Choice 2.  Press DELETE button. Gulp your large whisky with soda. Choice is entirely yours.

               The judgments have to be read, re-read and re-re-read to understand subtle nuances. Since we abhor such careful study and drown our sorrows in two large whisky with soda, we remain what we are and where we are.

               When this wonderful judgment is there, where is the need for agitation for OROP? 

               We don’t read wonderful judgments delivered on our pay, promotions & pensions and do not challenge the Govt of India when injustice after injustice is heaped on us. We naïvely believe that our Mai Bap Sarkar will look after our interests and we should look after Nation’s interests. In the meantime, the bureaucrats improve their salaries and go laughing all the way to their banks.

               I am quoting three relevant paras of Judgment of hon'ble Supreme Court of famous Maj Gen SPS Vains Vs UOI delivered on 09 Sep 2008 (By Justice Markendaya Katju whom I admire a lot) & Justice Altmas Kabir) to make you understand hon’ble Supreme Court has mandated that all pre – 1996 Maj Gens irrespective of date of retirement have to be given the same pension as post – 1996 Maj Gens. Is it not OROP?

               If any one intelligent guy (after Maj AK Dhanapalan and RDOA who got us Rank pay arrears, all of us including myself have gone to sleep) would have gone to AFTs immediately in 2008 requesting similar benefit be given to Capts to Brigs quoting this judgment, he would have done all of us some good.

               After reading my longish mail you will realise there was no need for us to organise RHS and FUD at Jantar Mantar, Delhi.

               What we should have done is go to AFTs all over India and demanded that judgment of Maj Gen SPS Vains Vs UOI be applied to all ranks.

               Now our tiny organisation in Hyderabad known as Tri Services Ex-Servicemen Welfare Associaton (TSEWA) has decided to file a case in AFT Chennai as we come under its jurisdiction. We shall do so after seeing the judgment of hon’ble Supreme Court in a case filed by 52 Maj Gens or equivalents Vs Union of India and the judgment is likely to be delivered by 28 Sep 2015.

  

               Let me take Para 24 of the ibid judgment and explain to you (I am not a law graduate) how this judgment of Maj Gens is equally applicable to us with illustrations.

24. The said decision of the Central Government does not address the problem of a disparity having created within the same class so that two officers both retiring as Major Generals, one prior to 1.1.1996 and the other after 1.1.1996, would get two different amounts of pension. While the officers who retired prior to 1.1.1996 would now get the same pension as payable to a Brigadier on account of the stepping up of pension in keeping with the Fundamental Rules, the other set of Major Generals who retired after 1.1.1996 will get a higher amount of pension since they would be entitled to the benefit of the revision of pay scales after 1.1.1996.

25. In our view, it would be arbitrary to allow such a situation to continue since the same also offends the provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution.

               You need to relate the above para to our various ranks. Since Colonel is the rank in which all officers will retire after 16 Dec 2004, let us take their case. The above para of judgment says Maj Gens who retire prior to 5^thCPC and post 5^th CPC have to be given the same pension by refixing pay of pre – 1996 Maj Gens notionally and accordingly fix their pension so that at no stage a Brig post 1996 will get pension more than a Maj Gen.

               How do you do for Col?

               Here is the table of 6^th CPC. We have to prove to AFTs that present pension system where in a Colonel in spite of putting 14 years as Colonel (age of superannuation 54 – age at the time of commission 20 = 14 years) or lesser service is being given pension of Rs 27,795 which is equivalent to a post – 2006 Colonel who has put in less than one year service. We have to compare pay & pension of Lt Cols and prove that their pay hence pensions post 2006 is more than that of pre – 2006 Colonel.

               Pl read the above sentence second time.

               If we can do it, Sir, we have won the case. The courts go by principles. What principles apply to Maj Gens equally apply to all ranks right from Sep to Maj Gen.

Pay scale of Col in 5^th CPC : Rs 15100 – 450 – 17350 and Rank Pay of Rs 2000

SER NO	BASIC PAY IN 5TH CPC	PAY IN PAY BAND IN 6THCPC	GRADE PAY	MSP	TOTAL PAY	PENSION
1	15100	40890	8700	6000	55590	27795
2	15550	42120	8700	6000	56820	28410
3	16000	42120	8700	6000	56820	28410
4	16450	43390	8700	6000	58090	29045
5	16900	43390	8700	6000	58090	29045
6	17350(Top of Scale)	44700	8700	6000	59400	29700
7	17800 (Stagnation)	44700	8700	6000	59400	29700
8	18250	46050	8700	6000	60750	30375
9	18700	46050	8700	6000	60750	30375

              

               I will make another table for Lt Cols and show you how pre – 2006 Colonels have been taken for a ride by paying lower pensions and proclaim to the world that their pensions have been improved w.e.f. 24 Sep 2012.

Pay Scale of Lt Col in 5^th CPC: 13,500 – 400 – 17,100

SER NO	BASIC PAY IN 5TH CPC	PAY IN PAY BAND IN 6TH CPC	GRADE PAY	MSP	TOTAL PAY	PENSION
1	13500	38530	8000	6000	52530	26,265
2	13900	38530	8000	6000	52530	26265
3	14300	39690	8000	6000	53690	26845
4	14700	39690	8000	6000	53690	26845
5	15100	40890	8000	6000	54890	27445
6	15500	40890	8000	6000	54890	27445
7	15900	42120	8000	6000	56120	28,060 higher than pension of of pre – 2006 Colonel which is only Rs 27795
8	16300	42120	8000	6000	56120	28060
9	16700	43390	8000	6000	57390	28695
10	17100 (Top of scale)	43390	8000	6000	57390	28695
11	17500	44700	8000	6000	58700	29350
12	17900	44700	8000	6000	58700	29350
13	18300	46050	8000	6000	60050	30025

               If you see carefully pension of post – 2006 Lt Col (in Red colour in above table) is more than that of pre – 2006 Colonel (Rs 27,795) violating judgment of hon’ble Supreme Court.

               How much then a pre – 2006 Colonel should get w.e.f. Jann 2006?

               For this go through para 31 of ibid judgment.

31. We, accordingly, dismiss the appeal and modify the order of the High Court by directing that the pay of all pensioners in the rank of Major General and its equivalent rank in the two other Wings of the Defence Services be notionally fixed at the rate given to similar officers of the same rank after the revision of pay scales with effect from 1.1.1996, and, thereafter, to compute their pensionary benefits on such basis with prospective effect from the date of filing of the writ petition and to pay them the difference within three months from date with interest at 10% per annum. The respondents will not be entitled to payment on account of increased pension from prior to the date of filing of the writ petition.

               What does the judgment say if you relate to our case ?

               Fix pay of pre – 2006 Colonel notionally at the rate given to similar officers (post – 2006 Colonels) after the revision of pay scales with effect from 1.1.2006.

               What does it mean?

               If you are a pre – 2006 Colonel whose basic pay in 5^th CPC is say Rs 16,900 then your notional pay as on 01 Jan 2006 is Rs 58,090 and your pension is therefore Rs 29,045 and not Rs 27795  what you are drawing now.

               Samaj Mein Aagaya Sirjee?

               Similarly see the table for Colonels. See your PPO and find out what was your basic pay at the time of your retirement, go horizontally and find your notional pay as on Jan 2006 and find your pension which should be more than Rs 27,795.

               Now you have two more choices.  

    

               Choice I. Form a group of all pre – 2006 Officers from the rank of Capt to Brig in the area of jurisdiction of your AFT. For AFT Mumbai you have to reside in the states of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. Find a good and reliable ESM Advocate who practices in your AFT and negotiate with him for his fees. More the number of litigants per head cost comes down. Analyse whether the same applies to JCOs and OR (Pl do not tell me to do it for you. I am very tired after so many ESM activities). Then number of litigants will be in thousands and your advocate can earn enough moolah for rest of his life. He will also ask for share of your arrears you are to get from Jan 2006 to 23 Sep 2012. Can you imagine how much money your advocate will earn?

                Choice 2.  Become a member of TSEWA. Get a temporary address either in Telangana or A.P or Tamilnadu. I am sure you have number of relatives in any of these states. We will include you in our list of litigants. We will negotiate with our advocate and get the lowest legal fees per head.

               I am quite confident that if a principle is for Maj Gens, then the same principle will be applied to Capts to Brigs pre – 2006.

               You have two more choices if you are in Northern India.

                Choice 1. Go and spend your time in Jantar Mantar, cheer those who are in RHS, put your hard earned money in donation boxes kept there, help IESM fill their coffers as much as Bill Gates has acquired his wealth.

               Choice 2. Move around and inform similarly placed officers from Capt to Brig. Get them together. Find a good Advocate and file a case in AFT Principal bench, New Delhi. If this judgment can get you OROP then what is this revision once in 5 years, Average of Maximum and Minimum and such a non-sense?

               Govt of India, Ministry of Def have already enhanced pensions of 52 Maj Gens i.e.OROP by a simple judgment of AFT Chandigarh.

               Will you not get it?

               Choice is entirely yours.

               My profound thanks to Cdr Chandrashekhar (Retd) of JAG Branch of Navy who opened my eyes. We foolishly observed Relay Hunger Strike in Hyderabad from 01 to 06 Sep 2015 instead of reading this wonderful judgment of hon’ble Supreme Court, discussed it threadbare like we did today and firmed up our plans.

               DHER HAIN LEKIN DHRUST  HAI.

               All staunch supporters of IESM will say AUR EK JAYACHAND SECUNDERABAD MEIN HAI

Regards,

Brig CS Vidyasagar (Retd)

9493191380