Army rank downgrade: 5 takeaways from Rahul Gandhi's letter to PM Modi

Here are the five main issues raised by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in his letter to Modi

Expressing his concerns over reports suggesting the government had agreed to downgrade the status of military officers, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In his letter, Gandhi pointed raised a number of issues concerning the Army personnel. These include the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, One Rank One Pension (OROP), disability pension and a parity in ranks with their civilian counterparts.

Here are 5 key takeaways from Rahul Gandhi’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi:

1. Low morale

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi expressed his concern over reports emerging in the media about the government decision over the past few weeks to lower the rank of Army personnel vis-à-vis civilians. He said such reports adversely affected the morale of the armed forces.

2. Disability pension

Talking about the disability pension system, Gandhi stressed that the new slab system drastically reduced the pension received by these brave men in case of disability.

3. 7th Pay Commission

Gandhi claimed the rollout of the 7th Pay Commission put defence forces at a disadvantage and further exacerbated the disparity between them and civilian employees.

4. Parity in service ranks

Referring to the letter detailing the government decision to downgrade the status of military officers’ vis-à-vis their civilian counterparts, dated October 18, 2016 – which was all over in the media – Gandhi claimed it was contrary to what was promised in OROP implemented earlier by the government.

5. Duty to honour the servicemen

Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the soldiers got their dues, and said: “It is our duty to show them that we care for them and their families, not only through words but also through actions.”