Dassault and HAL finalise work share for MMRCA

Nearly two years after they began formal negotiations, French Aerospace major Dassault Aviation and Indian government Company Hindustan Aeronautics Lit (HAL) have finalised and sealed the work share agreement for manufacturing 108 Rafael fighter jets in India meant for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Sources familiar with the development in the mega Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal said under the agreement, HAL will undertake 70 per cent of the workload and the remaining 30 will be done by Dassault Aviation. 

The first lot of 18 Rafael combat jets would coming in 'fly away' condition from France. The rest will be manufactured in India.

The final contract is still far from being signed though. For one, there is no money available with the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) to pay for the initial payment in the contract during the current financial year that ends in April. And two, the current government is in its last days before general elections are held starting mid-April. The final contract will therefore be done under the next government IF every thing else remains the same.

Dassault Aviation had emerged as the winner in the competition in 2012.

The contract, considered one of the biggest in recent times, is pegged anywhere between 12 to 15 billion dollars.

Dassault have had reservations over HAL's capacity to absorb complex technology and therefore wanted to rope in other private sector units for manufacture of the jets in India. The Ministry of Defence had however told Dassault that HAL will remain the lead player. 

Sources involved in the negotiations say that the deal requires careful understanding on both sides of commercial factors, logistics, and the ability of HAL's staff and equipment to assemble the Rafale.

An official shared this example. The radar on the Rafale jet is to be manufactured by Bharat-Electronics Ltd (BEL) at its facility in Bangalore. The Radome (the protruding snub nose on the aircraft) is, however, manufactured by HAL at its Hyderabad facility. Dassault wants clarity on how the two units will coordinate their activities.

Now, HAL has apparently agreed to put up a new facility close to the one that BEL has in Bangalore. 

Dassault officials are in fact simultaneously and together negotiating with all divisions of HAL located in various cities. So for example, officials of  HAL's Aeronautical Research and Development Complex, Engine division, accessories unit spread over locations like Lucknow, Nashik, Bangalore and Hyderabad  are constantly talking to Dassault officials to arrive at a mutually satisfactory result.

There are many such intricacies involved. However sources are hopeful that in another six months most of the wrinkles will be ironed out. Interestingly, French and Indian government officials are simultaneously working on an Inter-Government Agreement that will provide a sovereign guarantee that Dassault will continue to supply, service and maintain Rafael over the next 40 years. This provision, included in the Request for Proposal (RFP) is an important element in the Indian Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), designed to ensure manufacturers don't renege on their commitment no matter what the circumstances.

Doing the honourable thing

Adm DK Joshi has resigned on Wednesday evening as India's navy chief, taking responsibility for a series of mishaps and errors of judgement by captains of various ships over the past seven months. He has done the honourable thing as a true military leader should do but very few have had the moral courage to actual go through with.

Cynics have suggested that relations between him and the Defence Ministry had plummeted to a new low as he was seen to be underplaying the bunch of accidents much to the annoyance of the ministry mandarins and therefore Adm Joshi had no choice to quit.Although, as many would point out the fault should lie with the commanders on ground, the Flag-Officers Commanding-in-Chief, the navy's two operational commands on the western and eastern seaboards. Like a true leader, Adm Joshi however took the blame upon himself.

Wednesday morning's accident on the submarine INS Sindhuratna off the coast of Mumbai in which two officers are listed as 'unaccounted' for till the time of writing this one hour short of midnight on Wednesday, came as a last straw and Adm Joshi decided to take the moral responsibility as any military leader worth his salt would do!

What came as a surprise however was the immediate acceptance of the resignation by Defence Minister AK Antony. It was as if the Defence Minister was more than happy that someone was stepping up and taking it on the chin so that he would be spared of any blame coming right to the top in the defence ministry! Many questions need to be asked of the minister and the civil servants working under him for not holding the hand of the armed forces and meeting their requirements in time. 

It is no secret that India's submarine arm has seen its strength getting depleted rapidly but despite a comprehensive and viable submarine accretion plan being presented to the government in 1999--15 years ago--no new acquisition or accretion has happened thanks to government apathy and disinterest. Yes, the navy has made mistakes. Yes, maintenance has been a bit of problem. Yes, young officers have made errors of judgement. But for all their sins of commission and omission, each and everyone in the uniform has paid the price by either getting sacked or removed and barred from any further promotion.

In contrast, has anything happened to the DPSUs and their non-performing assets? Has any Joint Secretary (Navy) been taken to task for not speeding up acquisitions or meeting deadlines for timely delivery of platforms? Has a defence secretary ever come under scrutiny for delays and dilatory tactics? Has Mr Antony, who only wants to preserve his 'lily white reputation' of probity and integrity, ever admitted that his risk-aversion has led to India's defence modernisation being at least a decade behind schedule?

No Sir, the babus may be the ultimate decision makers on what to acquire or not (remember according to allocation of Business Rules and transaction, it is the defence secretary, and not the three service chiefs who are responsible for the defence of India!), but the fall guy in case of delays and errors has to be someone from the forces!

As the story of Adm Joshi's resignation came in, I made some half a dozen random calls to serving and retired officers to gauge their reactions; I also received a dozen odd calls from serving officers in different ranks, mostly from the navy--understandably so--angrily seeking answers to the sudden development. To most it was a bolt from blue; some were cynical but across the board everyone was angry with the unfairness of it all."The Chief has done the honourable thing a military leader is expected to do and we are happy about it. but what about others up the chain?"They were dismayed that there would be no accountability sought from the political executive and the bureaucracy for a sustained neglect of India's armed forces.

As I stood in front of the camera tonight on prime time, all these thoughts swirled in my mind. Given the limited time available on TV, I tried to articulate as many as possible but as tomorrow comes, many more questions will be and should be raised. For tonight it is sufficient to say:

                                                               Salute Adm Joshi!

One Rank One Pension not enough to quell anger and frustartion among faujis

If the Congress-led UPA government had thought it would be able to woo the large fraternity of faujis with the One Rank One Pension sop, announced in the interim budget by Finance minister P. Chidambaram, it is perhaps mistaken because a great deal of resentment still  prevails among serving officers of the three armed forces over a glaring disparity that the government has failed to remove since 2008.

The disparity concerns status and pay scales of senior military officers in comparison to officers of organisations like the BSF, CRPF, ITBP, Defence Accounts, Ordnance Factory Board and civilians in the Military Engineering Service and General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF). All these organisations are clubbed under a cetegory called 'Organised Group A Services.' All of them work closely with the military on a day-to-day basis, building critical bordfer infrastructure, launching joint operations and maintaining accounts, to name just a few.

Till 2008, there was no problem in day-to-day functioning between the military and officers of these services.

Since 2008 however, a dissonance has set in. That year, the 6th Pay Commission allowed Organised Group A ervices Officers with 19 years of service to be treated equivalent to joint secretary level officers of the IAS. This ruling gave the Organised Group AServices Officers a head start over much senior military officers since the government determines seniorty by grade pay. The new ruling allowed these officers to get a grade pay of Rs 12,000 in 19 years. In the military the grade pay of Rs 12,000 is granted to major generals, who pick up the two-star rank after 29 years of service--a huge gap of a decade!

This has created huge functional problem of command and control in joint cadre or multi-cadre environment where military officers have to work with the officers of the Organised Group A Services. For instance, a Brigadier (with 27-28 years of service) working with engineers from MES or GREF in Kashmir, north-east or Rajasthan is considered junior to officers in these orgainsation who may have done just 20 years of service since their grade pay is higher than the brigadier!

The civilians, now as much conscious of their rank and status as their military counterparts have been refusing to obey orders from military officers senior to them in number of years of service but considered junior because of the lower grade pay.

All representations by the armed forces to the government since 2008--when the 6th Pay Commission was implemented--has fallen on deaf ears. Despite a united stand taken by by the three service chiefs and despite the Prime Minister setting up a high-powered committee of secretaries, this issue remains unresolved.

And what is the logic of not granting what is called in technical terms, non-functional ugrade or NFU? Because the government of India says Defence Officers are NOT part of Organised Group A Service.

So what are they: They are simply  ‘Commissioned Officers’.

Senior officers in the military point out that they lose out on two counts: One, they don't get higher grade pay until much later and two, they are now deemed junior to much younger (in service) officers.

On the contrary, granting NFU to defence services will remove the disparity and widespread resentment.

Why should Defence Officers get NFU?

Because of the following reasons :

None of the Org Gp A service faces as much stagnation as the Armed Forces officers because of its pyramidal structure. Almost 97 per cent of military officers retire at the levels below Joint Secretary / Maj Gen. 

Traditionally, since independence, there has been a broad parity between the Class 1 / Gp A offrs of Civil Services and the Defence Services officers which has been acknowledged by different Pay Commissions in their reports. 

In such a case,the differential behaviour of the 6th Pay Commission not only disturbs the financial parity, it pushes down the military in status. In fact, now Sub Inspectors of CRPF/BSF/ITBP too have have an edge over militry officers since they too will retire with the salary of Addl Secretary /Lt Gen, if they get promoted as Asstt Comdt / DSP in 8 yrs. All this has added to the frustartion and increased disgruntlement leading to demoralisation among military officers. 

Also See: 

http://nitinagokhale.blogspot.com/2014/01/letting-soldier-down-reality-of-india.html?m=1

http://nitinagokhale.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-soldiers-have-right-to-be-angry.html?m=1

India’s Rising Regional Military Engagement

(http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/indias-rising-regional-military-engagement/)

Sometime in the latter half of 2013, the top brass of the Indian military had a short but effective brainstorming session with other stakeholders in the national security architecture. The participants were drawn from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) which functions directly under National Security Adviser (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon, senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Research and Analysis Wing or RAW, India’s external intelligence agency and of course the Ministry of Defence. The main agenda: how to further India’s interests in the immediate and strategic neighborhood through effective use of India’s military.

For the past decade, India has been receiving increasing requests for joint exercises and training slots from what are described as “Friendly Foreign Countries” in the bureaucratic parlance of South Block, the colonial style building that houses both the defense ministry and the external affairs ministry. Considering these requests, a review was called for. At the end of the high-level meeting, a six-point formula for stepping up the nation’s military diplomacy was finalized.

Specifically, the officials decided to: leverage the military element of national power towards the furtherance of the national interest; contribute to the national security environment by developing a shared confidence amongst the armed forces; strengthen defense relations to promote India’s influence in the region; establish a presence commensurate with India’s strategic interests and the comfort level of the host nation; assist friendly foreign countries in developing defense capabilities consistent with India’s security needs; exploit India’s presence in UN Missions to further the national interest.

Many of the elements in the policy are part of India’s ongoing engagement with its friends and neighbors, but the fact that a reiteration was considered necessary signifies renewed interest in making full use of Indian military’s standing across the world.

One of the first decisions flowing out of the new thinking was to post defense attachés in the Central Asian Republics. Accordingly, three new attachés have been placed in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in the past three months. These three countries are of particular immediate interest because of their proximity to Afghanistan, currently in the middle of an uncertain transition. By posting defense attachés, India wants to make sure it remains engaged with the military leadership there as it has done for years with Tajikistan, another country that borders Afghanistan. In fact, after initial difficulties, India has helped Tajikistan build an air base at Ayni, besides intermittently basing some of its own Russian-sourced helicopters there. A 60-bed, state-of-the-art hospital built by India is manned by military doctors and paramedics at Ayni, and is seen as a major Indian contribution in Tajikistan. The new Indian defense attachés are expected to offer similar, if smaller projects to the other Central Asian Republics.

But it’s not just about placing military officers in friendly countries. New Delhi also plans various joint exercises that keep strategic interests in mind. In 2012-13, India was perhaps the only country to have conducted joint drills with all P-5 countries—the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. While many of the exercises—like the Yudh Abhyas series with the U.S. and Exercise Ajey Warrior with the U.K.—are part of a long-term engagement, India is increasingly focused on offering its expertise to its immediate neighbors too. In keeping with that policy, Indian forces have conducted joint drills, maneuvers and exercises with Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as with Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Living in the shadow of an increasingly assertive China, most ASEAN and East Asian nations want New Delhi to be a counterweight to Beijing. Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and, particularly, Vietnam and Myanmar, have time and again asked New Delhi to help them both in terms of military training and weapons supply.

On a four-day visit to India last July, Myanmar’s navy chief, Vice Admiral Thura Thet Swe held wide-ranging consultations with top officials from the Indian Ministry of Defence. Apart from increasing the number of training slots of Burmese officers in Indian military training establishments, India has agreed to build at least four Offshore Patrol Vehicles (OPV) in Indian Shipyards to be used by Myanmar’s navy.

The Indian Navy, far larger than its Vietnamese counterpart, has been supplying critical spares to Hanoi for its Russian origin ships and missile boats. However, New Delhi is now more open about supporting Hanoi. Last year it offered a $100-million credit line to Vietnam to purchase military equipment. The money will be used to purchase four patrol boats.
Then there is the renewed closeness between India and Japan. When Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to India in the last week of January there was more than usual interest around the world because Abe has not hidden his intention of stitching together a broader alliance in Asia, not necessarily directed at China but certainly designed to balance its rapid rise. Not surprisingly, one key element of the joint Indo-Japan statement was preserving maritime freedom and respect for international laws in Asia. New Delhi and Tokyo reiterated their commitment “to the freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce and peaceful settlement of disputes based on the principles of international law.” In the context of the rising tension between China and Japan over the disputed island and Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea, the reiteration is important.

For the first time the two countries have decided to step up their defense cooperation. Japan is at an advanced stage of talks with India to sell the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious aircraft. If that goes ahead, this will be the first Japanese defense export since World War II. New Delhi has also invited Tokyo to participate in the annual Exercise Malabar held between the U.S. and the Indian navies. Last time Japan—along with Australia and Singapore—joined the maritime man oeuvre in 2007, Beijing protested vehemently. Seven years down the line, China is unlikely to react as vociferously, at least judging by the measured response emanating from Beijing to this new India-Japan tango.  It is certain, though, that New Delhi’s new thrust to push military cooperation more vigorously as part of its diplomatic outreach will be watched keenly around Asia.

My tribute to the Siachen Warriors in the 30th year of Operation Meghdoot

1984 anti-Sikh riots: what a young army officer saw

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
- A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens 

In November 1984, I was barely 18 months into the profession and was in that heady phase when one enjoys one's work thoroughly. Those were--as Charles Dickens said--the best of times and the worst of times. India winning the Cricket World Cup in June 1983 brought immense joy to the country. But 1984 was something else.

 Operation Blue Star, Mrs Gandhi's assassination, anti-Sikh riots and Bhopal gas tragedy, one after the other in the space of less than 6 months, brought nothing but misery. As a young desk hand on a young newspaper (The Sentinel), I had the opportunity to handle these events closely. Looking back, I vaguely remember being horrified by the violence in Delhi as reported by news agencies. There was no private TV news, only Doordarshan, remember in those days.

In later years, I read books and articles about the horrors that the Sikhs faced in the immediate aftermath of Mrs Gandhi's assassination. But nothing prepared me for what my friend retired Colonel Bhupinder Malhi has described below. 

Bhupinder, was commissioned in 70 Armoured Regiment of the Indian Army. He left the Army some time in 2009-10.  Being based in Assam in those years, I had never come across an eyewitness account of those horrible days in November 1984. Bhupinder has been kind to allow me to share his thoughts which he penned down this morning.

That the Sikhs as a community have largely overcome the scars of those horrific days and no longer appear to be bitter, is testimony to their large heartedness, but reflects very poorly on the perpetrators of brutal and--dare I say--mindless violence.

Read on and feel ashamed for the society we lived in and who knows continue to live in.

At least I feel so.


 An eyewitness of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots

By Col (retd) Bhupinder Malhi
 

A young Bhupinder Malhi

We, a group of young Army Officers of Armoured Corps were on board Jhelum Express to attend Young Officers Course at Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACCS) at Ahmednagar and happen to witness anti Sikh riots from very close quarters.

I boarded AC 2 Tier of Jhelum Express at Ambala Cantt early morning on 01 Nov 1984 along with few other course mates of mine. By the time our train reached outer Delhi near Sabji Mandi area around 1000h we spotted that Delhi was burning. Lots of trucks were on fire and smoke could be seen rising from the buildings owned by Sikhs . When the train reached New Delhi Railway Station , we got down to enquire about the situation. We spotted many Sikhs lying injured on the platform and no one was willing to provide any first aid or help. We tried to help few of the injured but our train was immediately moved out of railway station. The train was forcibly stopped near Nizammudin Railway Station by an unruly mob. They started pulling out Sikhs from the train and there was a chaos all around. We all quickly put on our uniforms and got down to help the Sikhs. We managed to save a few but could not save majority of Sikhs as the mob was huge. We tried our best to douse the fire of many Sikhs who had been set on fire by putting cycle rubber tyres around them.

Some of us tried calling police using railway phone but there was no response. We also tried calling Army headquarters Duty Officer but could not reach them. We spotted a an injured Sikh who was thrown on the railway track and two of us rushed to help him but by the time we reached him, an approaching train overran him and we saw his body cut into pieces. We collected his body parts in a bed sheet and brought it to railway platform to be handed over to police .

The train moved a bit and was again stopped near Okhla slums . Another group of mob entered our AC 2 Tier compartment by breaking the window glass as there are no iron grills in AC compartment. The mob systematically started searching the compartment and started pulling out Sikhs out of the train. We tried to reason out with rioters and managed to save few fellow Sikhs. Unfortunately we could not save all. Capt Gill of 89 Armoured Regiment was stabbed at a distance of 1 ft from me in spite ofour best efforts we could not save him from the rioters. We requested rioters to spare his life as he was a soldier but the rioters argued that the person who killed Mrs Indira Gandhi was also a soldier.

We carried the dead body of Capt Gill along with us and handed over to Army authorities at Mathura Raliway station at night. Another Sikh officer named Sahota from GREF (General Reserve Engineer Force) was made to hide under the berth in our compartment . He was spotted by the mob and was killed there itself by hitting him with iron rods.

We were lucky to save my course mate Harinder (86 Armoured Regiment) who was being pulled out of the train but some of us held on to him and managed to free him from the clutches of death.

Another young officer from Artillery who was travelling with his newly wedded wife was saved by us by shaving his beard and shorning his hair.

We repeatedly requested railways authorities for help but no one was willing to oblige. On the contrary, one TTE was seen indicating to the mob about the location of Sikhs hiding in the compartments.

Two officers Yadav (75 Armoured Regiment) and AP Singh(9 Horse) managed to get hold of a 12 bore rifle which was being carried by a soldier proceeding on leave. They fired few rounds at the mob and mob retreated. They were awarded subsequently for this bravery.

Should the military brass get so many awards--Part II

In the first month of 2014, only this blog entry, 'INS Vikramaditya comes home...'(http://nitinagokhale.blogspot.in/2014/01/ins-vikramaditya-comes-home-escorted-by.html) has evoked more page views than my latest piece,
'Should the military brass get so many awards?' (http://nitinagokhale.blogspot.in/2014/01/should-military-brass-get-so-many-awards.html). But the latter article has also triggered heated and passionate debate over the practice of granting awards in the Indian military. 

Some of the responses are already posted in the comments section of the piece on awards. But many serving and retired officers and remarkably, one retired JCO, have written in with their views. I can't name most of them. 

In any case, individuals are not important in policy issues. So here's a sampling of the views.

THE FIRST RESPONSE

Totally endorse your views....these are NOT awards....these are rituals on every Republic Day....every general officer being humoured prior to retirement...a complete fresh look is warranted where the number of awardees in terms of recognition(not related to bravery) should be proportionate to the contribution by the troops on ground.......in my view it should be the Jawans, NCOs, JCOs and then Young Officers and a very very miniscule general/flag officers(who in any case over a period of time would have been felicitated earlier in life).

But the biggest hurdle is the mindset and the comfort zone.

ONE MORE DETAILED RESPONSE SAID:

I am of the opinion that distinguished service awards should be scrapped for 'peacetime'. Earlier, the Sena Medal used to be only for gallantry. I was actually galled when a Sena Medal (Distinguished) was introduced, which makes no sense. Perhaps distinguished service awards in field could be retained.

The higher level distinguished service awards are on the whims and fancies of the Chief - the question on News Warrior why the CISC has not been given PVSM despite Uttrakhand Disaster ! The usual excuse is that "he still has time to retire" but then again it depends on whims and fancies of the Chief.

(THOSE IN THE KNOW HOWEVER POINT OUT THAT LT. GEN ANIL CHAIT WAS GIVEN PVSM LAST YEAR AND THEREFORE WAS PERHAPS LEFT OUT OF THE AWARDS LIST YEAR!)

To that end, I am dead against the prevailing quota system for gallantry awards. Why should there be a quota? With this quota, lot many deserving cases miss out and to my mind the axe falls more on below officer rank though I may be wrong. Concurrent is the idiocy of linking the award to number of kills. I have attended Honours and Awards Committee where officials from MS (X), who represent MoD, were arguing things like that a recommendation for Ashok Chakra must have proof of the individual having had minimum five kills - some weird concept of bravery !

There is case also to rationalize cash awards to gallantry award winners pan-India. Presently, there is vast difference between what States are giving them. The straight logic is that when these guys are Central Govt employees and their pay, allowances and pension too are given by GoI, why should everyone not get the same cash allowance for the same award.

Serious re-look is also required to review the quota of Honoray Commissions to JCOs and NCOs and accompanying perks. Here again, a quota should be lifted with focus on deserving cases. then, many other ranks get conferred with a Honorary Havaldar rank after he has retired, which in any case does not have any financial benefit - so why this crap?

Finally, the desire to have more ribbons on the chest actually went up when interaction increased with foreign armies, especially US where a ribbon is even awarded for every course of instruction one attends. Perhaps the Chiefs themselves felt some sort of complex - which is a myopic. But then thank God we didn't follow the North Korean Generals whose medals cover there entire coat front!

ANOTHER LONG-RETIRED  GENERAL OFFICER SAID:

Thank you very much for the "Thought Provoking" paper on the subject which will attract both positive, negative and and neutral reactions; Unfortunately these awards have been linked to ranks;I am touring for the present. Will send you my "honest" views for what ever they are worth soon.

ONE MORE LONG RESPONSE: 

I would like to put across my views on how the transition in “Dilution of Awards” and “Honorary Ranks” has taken place.   Every one in the chain of command is responsible for these dilutions in the name of earning laurels for the unit, formation and individual glory to earn awards and higher ranks and nominations. One main cause now is also the rat race to earn Unit Citations.   This trend has also resulted in earning a bad name by our Army – False Encounters, Ketchup Brigadiers/Colonels, Sadbhavna Brigadier(s) and HMV (His Masters Voice) SOs.   A dangerous trend is also on increase of the breed of officers (including couples!) who are capable of pocketing some of their IOs & ROs towards earning good reports and awards...I would like to talk about the plethora of Awards which have been introduced over the years.  I do not want to give the impression that I am against awards but what I want to discuss with the environment is “Was there a need to introduce new series of awards when for the similar acts awards existed”?   The awards which existed earlier were PVC series, AC series and PVSM series, Sena Medal, Mention-in-Dispatches and COAS’s Commendation Cards (CC).  New introductions are SYSM series, GOC-in-Cs CC, CIDS CC and we now have SM (distinguished service) to add to the confusion.    Wonder how many more are likely to be introduced in the years to come.  Let us revisit the issue and stop introducing new awards for the sake of introducing something new.  The following suggestions merit deliberate considerations:-

Ø    Stop awarding the SYSM series.

Ø    Stop awarding the SM (Distinguish Service).

Ø    COASs CC and other CCs be only awarded to Capts and below.

Ø    Need to ensure greater transparency. Let the names being recommended in the chain of command be circulated within the Division for a true feedback with veto/enhancement/reduction. 

While serving in a Corps HQ a decade back I had analysed and brought to the notice that 60 percent of the CCs had gone to the personal staff/clks, peons and various categories of gladiators.  The same year during command a GOC, Cdr and myself the CO were awarded GOC-in-C’s CC.  I had echoed my views that it is a shame for awarding CCs to offrs above Cols.   It is better not to award if not found suitable for the award recommended than to dish out CCs as a consolation.  
 

THE MOST DETAILED, WELL-INFORMED RESPONSE

Your message in the morning was like a breath of fresh air. Thank God someone out of uniform has woken up to it. 

Some facts first about the awards

The Army is permitted 19 PVSMs, 32 AVSMs, 40 SM(Distinguished) and 75 VSMs every year. The Navy and IAF get commensurately less but the quota is fixed and in fact the all three Services have asked for more because of the increase in senior ranks in recent years as the full implementation of the AVSC has been completed. The Chakra series and Sena Medal (Gallantry) do not have any limit. The Yudh series (SYSM, UYSM, YSM) also do not have any limit; which is why you find the scope being expanded for the recipients; earlier only officers from the CI areas were the recipients of this and that too based upon performance; now these are being dished out to create scope for officers from the peace stations to get the VSM series from the quota thus effectively diluting the Yudh series.

In my opinion, since so many three stars are being adjusted in the PVSM, UYSM, AVSM list two stars have to be pushed into the YSM, SM and VSM list therefore effectively ejecting one star and Cols/ other officers or deserving jawans and JCOs from these lists.

Not more than five or six Lt Gens should get the PVSM and it need not be the Army Cdrs and Corps Cdrs alone. It could go down to Maj gens too, just like it was many years ago. Very deserving performance by Lt Gens which made a difference at National level should be considered for civil awards like Padma Bhushan.

The UYSM and YSM series must be scrutinized very carefully; the problem is that when the custodians of probity in such affairs are themselves not clean then which other committee can be placed over them. I find no solution to this problem except a greater sense of honour among those who are to perform this sacred duty. At present it is done in a most pedestrian way. If no better way can be found let us do away with all awards. 

While I feel it is good to have decorations for as operationally deployed Army as ours we need to cut down the numbers and ensure that these decorations are not given as a matter of routine, for having reached a particular rank and appointment. It is the performance in each rank which must make the difference. However, who is to bell the cat; that is the million dollar question. This is where the moral fiber of the Army will be put to test; an appeal to its sense of balance and image would be necessary because otherwise the whole concept is becoming questionable and for the sake of the undeserving why should the deserving be faulted.

The monetary awards attached to these honors must be uniform throughout the country. It is not uncommonly heard that since a particular state gives more to its awardees why not give a greater quota to that state.

AND FINALLY THIS IS WHAT A RETIRED JCO WRITES and RIGHTLY TAKES THE MEDIA TO TASK!
 

Sir, I just read your blog. It is unfortunate that our defence forces choose to follow pyramidal structure on command and control and inverted pyramid system when it comes to welfare/ amenities. Majority of journos are aware of this but won't point it out like you did because they don't want to strike their name from the good books of Armed Forces. Majority of news programmes aired on news channels are aimed to project the officer cadre. It is good to see that unlike the sister services the Army is willing to give gallantry awards to JCOs and other ranks.

 Some thing to ponder over for us defence journalists!

And before I close, this debate is not limited to India alone. Read this (sent to me by another General) about an American debate

http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/27/medals_for_drone_pilots_hagel_still_cant_decide