NEW DELHI: The Government has rejected the plea to have a retired defence officer in the Sixth Pay Commission. The move has dismayed officers at the headquarters of the three services here. They had put up a united front while putting forward their wage related proposals to the Government.

The Army, the air force and the navy not only banded together to seeking higher wages and allowances, they had also agreed on a common name — the former Director-General of Military Operations, Lt. Gen. A. S. Bahiya — for their representative in the Commission. However, the Union Finance Ministry and the Pay Commission were not convinced with the logic given by the armed forces.

The services argued that though they comprised 40 per cent of Central Government employees, the previous Pay Commission did not have a person with a defence background. As a result, that panel did not appreciate the unique service conditions and promotion structure. A Brigadier was given more pension than a Major-General and it scrapped the running pay board, which partially compensated for limited promotions.

The armed forces also said that a career in the armed forces had become unattractive. There were about 14,000 vacancies in the officers' cadre and an equal number in the technical cadre of the three services. Since 2001, over 100 officers of the rank of Brigadier and above had left the services for better careers elsewhere.

But the Government and the pay panel were unmoved by this reasoning. Even a request by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to review its earlier stand was turned down.

At the same time, the Pay Commission assured the armed forces of as many opportunities as they seek for putting forward their special problems. It said that if the Ministry of Defence nominated a former officer, he would be heard with the same gravitas as an official representative.

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