Should defence forces be paid for their help in times of natural disaster?

Amid Kerala flood fury, there is a fair lot of discussion about whether the defence forces ought to be paid by the state governments concerned or not for the massive support they offer. The issue centres around whether the forces go beyond their call of duty when they are engaged in helping central or state governments to help out when there is a disaster.

A study of the Budget of the government of India over successive years shows that there has never been any payment made to the Army by a state or central government department for this. Since any such payment has to come from the consolidated fund of the state or the Centre, those payments would have reflected in the Budget provisions of the government.

It is also not the case that the Centre or states do not pay for taking the help of other uniformed services. The Budget of the home ministry each year shows the payments made by the states concerned for taking the help of various central government police forces like the ITBP, CRPF and CISF. The numbers are impressive. For the financial year 2018-19, the expected payout by all states is Rs 36.98 billion. Since the expenditure is a predictable year on year, the sum stays flat, after making allowance for wage inflation.

The defence ministry also gets a reimbursement from states, but that is for the use of its assets like choppers and aircraft. Their use is, however, sporadic, though in the case of Kerala it has been extensive this year. A home ministry release on Thursday noted that 40 helicopters and 31 aircraft were marshalled for the rescue and relief operations in the state. It does not give the break-up of how many of those were from the defence forces.

The reason why the Army is not paid is because the role of assisting the civil governments for such work is supposed to be included in their operations. The seventh central pay commission, for instance, in describing the expected role of the defence forces noted these as “performance of search and rescue missions, providing assistance in disasters/accidents (and) assisting civil authorities in case of emergencies and for internal security”. The pay commission made the assessment to arrive at the pay and allowances for the defence forces, just as it made the assessments of the role of other central government employees.

There is, of course, no commensurate exposition of such role definition by the defence ministry. But the Administrative Reforms Commission in its third report clearly said “notwithstanding the establishment of National Disaster Relief Force, the role of the armed forces, particularly the Army, in coming to the aid of victims of disasters should be retained and the special capabilities acquired by the armed forces in search and rescue and on-the spot medical attention need to be maintained”. So, going by the book, whether it is the Kerala floods or providing supplemental security at the Kumbh mela, states and the central government need not make any provisions for payment to the forces, for these roles.