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Manmohan to chair meeting on armed forces pay package
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will chair a high-level meeting in New Delhi today to take a final decision on increasing salaries and perks for armed forces personnel, an official said.
- IANS
- Published: 23:59 August 12, 2008
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will chair a high-level meeting in New Delhi today to take a final decision on increasing salaries and perks for armed forces personnel, an official said.
"The meeting will finalise a notification on this and the prime minister will later announce it during his address to the nation on Independence Day [August 15]," the official said.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Cabinet Secretary K. Chandrashekhar are expected to attend the meeting.
Joint memorandum
Resentment has been brewing in the armed forces ever since the Sixth Pay Commission submitted its report on May 24, with what was initially seen as a 40 per cent hike in salaries being whittled down to 20 per cent after taxes.
The armed forces submitted a joint memorandum on this to Antony, who promised them a fair deal. The three service chiefs also met the minister on a number of occasions to press for improvements in the pay commission's recommendations.
The service chiefs are unhappy with the commission's recommendations on several counts, sources say.
Firstly, they feel that their demand for parity with civilian employees has not been addressed. They are also not happy with the military service pay that has been recommended in a bid to reduce this disparity, the sources said.
The service chiefs believe that after taking into account taxes and other deductions, the wage hike in real terms would amount to only 20 per cent.
Also, personnel below officer rank have received a raw deal, they said.
Resentment has been brewing in the armed forces ever since the Sixth Pay Commission submitted its report on May 24.
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