The Hindu : Front Page : More perks for Army men

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Friday, Aug 03, 2007
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More perks for Army men

Sandeep Dikshit

GoM to look into extension of similar perks to paramilitary forces

NEW DELHI: In order to reduce stress in the armed forces personnel, the Union Cabinet on Thursday liberalised the leave travel facility and increased the emoluments for those serving in extremely high-altitude areas.

However, the extension of similar perks to paramilitary forces and making service terms more attractive for the Army’s promotee officers (regiment commissioned officers) have been referred to a Group of Ministers (GoM).

Both the liberalised leave travel facility and higher allowances for serving in perennially snow-bound high-altitude areas such as Kargil and Drass and along the China border in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh were promised by Defence Minister A.K. Antony when he interacted with jawans in January.

The total outgo was nothing compared to the relief to the jawans, said official sources. They also pointed out that the Minister had energetically pursued these issues and convinced his Cabinet colleagues of the need to provide immediate relief instead of referring them to the Sixth Pay Commission, which has been the trend for service-related issues from other Ministries. Mr. Antony had argued that these were stress-alleviating measures and should not be linked to the Pay Commission.

55 suicides

This year alone 55 Army personnel have committed suicide and six died at the hands of their colleagues. Last year, the suicide rate in the Army was over 10 a month. Steps taken so far to reduce stress include instructing officers to improve their man management skills and interact more with men under their command, starting yoga classes, posting more psychologists for early detection of signs of stress and requesting State Governments to heed requests for assisting jawans in civil issues at their homes.

About 5,000 soldiers will benefit from a new classification for high-altitude areas under which they will get 80 per cent of the Siachen allowance. At present there are three allowance categories for serving in high-altitude areas — Rs. 1,060 per month for officers serving between 9,000 ft. and 15,000 ft; Rs. 1,600 for officers at posts located at heights of over 15,000 ft. and the Siachen allowance of Rs. 7,000.

Now, officers posted at posts between 14,000 ft. and 19,000 ft. will get Rs. 5,600 a month and other ranks will get Rs.3,734. This is 80 per cent of the Siachen allowance for officers and men, which remains unchanged and will be examined by the Pay Commission.

No distance restrictions

The colonial legacy of 1,400 km of free travel once a year has been scrapped and there will be no distance restrictions for all service personnel travelling to a station of their choice.

Presently, soldiers purchase tickets for journeys beyond this distance limit. In addition, personnel serving in high-altitude areas, field and counter-terrorism theatres will get two free railway travel warrants instead of one at present.

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