The government must take immediate steps to restore the parity in
the pay scales of officers of the rank of Lieutenant Colonels and
equivalent with their civilian and Coast Guard counterparts who have
been awarded more emoluments by the Sixth Pay Commission, says Indian
Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major. Major has made
the plea in a letter to Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chairman of the Chiefs
of Staff Committee and the Indian Navy chief, urging him to intervene
before the government implements the recommendations made by the pay
commission.

“The finance ministry is introducing yet another anomaly by lowering
the extant of parities of officers of the armed forces, of the Lt. Col.
(and equivalent), by retaining them in pay band-3, while raising
similarly placed civilian and paramilitary officers to pay band-4,”
Major wrote in the letter sent Monday. A copy of the letter was made
available to IANS.

“It is reliably learnt that civilian and paramilitary officers in

the extant pay scales S-24 (Rs.14,300-400-18,300) and S-25
(Rs.15,100-400-18,300) will be placed in pay band-4, whereas the same
is being denied to the armed forces officers (Lt. Col. and equivalent)
who were already in S-25,” Major said.

The IAF chief has pointed that because of this the civilian officers

who were in the lower pay bracket (S-24) and were hitherto drawing
lesser pay than Lieutenant Colonels and officers of equivalent ranks
would now draw a higher basic salary.At present, the India Army, the Indian Navy and IAF have 11,187,3,528 and 4,216 officers, respectively, of the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel and equivalent.

“This is not just affecting a Lt. Col. Because of this the pay of

Coast Guard’s commandant with 23 years of experience will be equivalent
to a Rear Admiral with 30 years of experience,” a senior army official
said.

The cabinet Aug 14 cleared the revised recommendations of the pay
commission, granting huge hikes to five million government employees,
with special attention paid to military and paramilitary personnel.According to the government, the revision translates into a 20 percent hike over the 40 percent across-the-board increase the pay commission had recommended.

The government promised at least three promotions for defencepersonnel and civilian employees under the modified assured careerprogression (ACP) scheme.

Civilians will be assured of promotions after 10, 20 and 30 years of
service. Junior and non-commissioned officers and personnel below
officer rank (PBOR) will be eligible for this after 8, 16 and 24 years
of work.

The Military Service Pay recommended by the pay commission has been doubled to Rs.2,000 for PBORs and retained at Rs.6,000 for officers upto the rank of brigadiers.

Middle level officers - colonels, brigadiers and equivalent - are now placed in the highest pay band of PB-4. Lieutenant generals overlooked for promotion as army commanders due to lack of residual service will get the grade of an army commander.

The report of the Sixth Pay Commission, headed by Justice (retd)B.N. Srikrishna, was submitted to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram March 24.It led to protests from both civilian and defence personnel,following which the government appointed a committee under Cabinet Secretary K. Chandrashekhar to study the various demands for financial corrections.

The three service chiefs also made a joint representation to Defence Minister A.K. Antony.

Source : PIB,India

The Indian Air Force would be participating in a multinational Air Exercise, ‘Ex - Red Flag 08’ at the invitation of United States Air Force (USAF), scheduled to be held at Nellis Air Force Base in the US from 09-23 Aug 08.

The IAF would be participating in the exercise with eight SU-30 MK-I aircraft, two IL-78 air to air refuellers and one IL-76 transport aircraft. The contingent would comprise 156 personnel below officers rank and 91 officers (inclusive of 10 members of ‘Garud’ IAF Special Force team). The contingent is being led by Gp Capt D Chaudhury and Exercise Coordinator would be Gp Capt Ajay Rathore.

Exercise Red Flag is a multinational air exercise that is held thrice a year at Nellis Air Force base, USA. The IAF would be participating in the Exercise alongside South Korean Air Force with F-15K and the French Air Force with their latest Rafale aircraft, apart from the USAF. Red Flag was originally conceived in 1975 by USAF with an advanced aerial combat training format - the purpose being to ensure that pilots are trained well enough to survive in air combat and win air battles. The exercise holds tremendous learning opportunity for all the participating Air Forces.

Prior to the main Exercise Red Flag 08 at Nellis, the IAF’s contingent would be working up at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho, US from 17 Jul 08 till 07 Aug 08. At Mountain Home, the IAF contingent would be flying with the F-16s & F-15s of USAF. The purpose of the work up phase is to streamline the procedures and have a clear understanding of the new flying environment.

The IAF contingent with its aircraft are scheduled to depart from Pune on 07 Jul 08 and transit via Doha (Qatar), Chorlu (Turkey), Mont de Marsan (France) and Lages (Portugal) before reaching land main USA and Mountain Home airbase on 17 Jul 08.