SERVICES & CAPF : WHY DRAW COMPARISONS ? Gp Capt AG Bewoor
- Group Capt A G Bewoor VM(G)
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
Editor's Note:
This short piece was triggered by the MVI article on this topic by Brig Pradeeep Sharma
Ref MVI link below:
These views of Gp Capt AG Bewoor are based on his personal experience of the past happenings in the country and the changes and transformations that have take place since Independence leading to the present state of affairs. More such views,including divergent ones , on this topic and linked issues , based on personal experiences would enable this debate to progress further and even lead to meaningful/ objective conclusions .
Editor, MVI
1. I am amazed at the persistent efforts by army officers to get all the benefits that Police Forces and Civil servants get. For decades even before 1947, the army officer looked down upon the Indian Police officers in the rank of DSP, SSP and so on. I know that the SSP at Agra and other IAF Stations used to be invited as Honorary Members of the IAF Mess. It made resolving civil problems very easy. Somewhere along the years it stopped because of 'khundak'. I wonder whether local Army Messes did the same? These Police Offrs of Grade 1 Group were from the same society that we army guys were from. Did not make it to IMA / NDA/ AFA so went to IPS. Many were disinclined to join Forces due to many reasons. We treated them as being lower level individuals.
2. We have been doing that with IAS officers also. The army man would be very close to and friendly with the ICS cadres, but not the IAS & IFS & Audit Accts, Govt Engineers and so on. We called the businessman a Boxwalla and refused to entertain him in our Messes. Then when corporate India flourished and their capacity to entertain and visit 5 star hotels became regular, our middle / senior level offrs sought them out for a visit & meal at the Taj / Oberoi etc.
Meetings would be arranged at these hotels and not in Messes. So many of us have seen it happen. Slowly the IPS offr, ostracised by the Armed Forces Cadres, got their Home Ministers at Centre & State to sanction their privileges. Elections are won at District / Tehsil levels, and who runs these places but the IAS and IPS cadres. When the Neta gets elected, he grants privileges to those who got him victory and will do so again. Can any Fauji give any boost to elect the MLA / MP, even the Corporator / Panchayat fellows will get nothing from Faujis. Remember how mercilessly the Netas transfer IPS & IAS offrs at district levels. We are so beautifully insulated from this indignity. Yet we want the privileges that the Civil servant gets without the accompanying inconveniences and ‘mushkalties’? Not a wise demand.
3. There are privileges that we Faujis get which are sacrosanct and will never ever permeate into the Civil services. If the Civil Services have got together and created NFU, I say create something quite different that is equal to NFU. Why seek exactly what they get? Which one of us have read the final proposal which got Govt approval for NFU? There will be factors in that staff paper which we can use for ourselves with different nomenclature and definition. When you make our Fauji NFU different from Civil NFU there are greater chances for it to get approved, because we are asking for something akin to NFU, but definitely not NFU. We faujis want only the immunities, favours, rights that civil servants get, but not the tribulations and frailties that go with them? Do not forget that for decades we treated them as lesser people, they will not forgive us for doing that. Are we going to forgive them for what they are doing to us now?
4. I cannot and must not comment about opl matters because I am unqualified to do so. That Command & Control between Police and Army as I read and hear is working well with routine frictions, just as there are within Army Units. If we want a compassionate civil servant who will show empathy towards the Fauji, then we have to also extend our empathy and compassion towards them, something we have held back. That we are superior, better endowed and smarter will not work any longer. The pre-1947 military man worked for the Central authority under C-in-C India & later the President, but policemen worked for State bosses. Therefore, the misconstrued deduction that the Fauji officer is superior to the Police and IAS. The Fauji got a Commission, the Policeman got an appointment, he was not a Commissioned Officer, so the deduction that the fauji is superior. Like our Arms Vrs Services, Flying Branch Vrs Ground Duties Branch. Executive Branch Vrs Lower deck officers in the Navy.
5. There must be some originality in our demand, like Rations. They are not Free Rations. They are Entitled & Authorised rations which were given to Other Ranks and are now also given to Officers. But for decades we called them Free Rations, we gave it that name, not the Policeman. Our wives and kids used that word Free, and it created associated heartburn across the nation. It is Free? Getting killed is no cause to get anything Free. Can the Police officers ever get Rations? He also gets killed. Can they get the financial support and sanctions that we get? Every Bn is authorised its own Mess with accompanying privileges. Can a Police Bn get anything near it? We have to stop trying to get what they have just because they have it. I recall a lady IAS offr who retd as Secretary to Govt saying on TV that she ran around for a full day and got Govt sanction for Rations to Officers. I would have told that lady, you and your buddies denied Rations to us for more than 10 years with files moving up and down, it was your duty and privilege to run around all day to get govt approval.
6. I am unsure whether NFU will be a good thing for us or not. The datum and basis must be that Faujis must get NFU because we need it for morale, efficiency, cohesiveness, battle efficiency and so on. We should not get NFU because the Civil servant has it. We must know when to stop seeking parity with those whose parity we should not seek in the first place. Moral courage means saying No to Temptation. It is known that the Tomato is a fruit, but we never add it to the Fruit Salad. Should we add NFU to our kitty of allowances? Being satisfied with what you have is much more important than getting more of what you want; because unhappiness is created by seeing the good situation of others, rather our own bad situation. The motto at DSSC says To War with Wisdom, the truth is that the Wise know when to stop.
Comments