This is something I found while trawling the internet for reports of a “Black Diwali” for the Armed Forces. I think it reflects the simmering anger of those in the services.
SCPC: A Soldiers Lament to the President
While we awaited the pay commission bounty
The IAS got there first
and now, President Aunty
We have no choice but to be blunt
We are third class citizens,
though manning the front
The bureaucrats who decide things for us
Have truly shown their animus
And we who defend our dear nation
Have again been shown our lower station.
When the seventh pay commission comes around
We will no doubt lose more ground
Then Colonels would equal civilian clerks
In salary, status and other perks
Generals will wait on worn out chairs
Outside IAS Officers’ lairs.
A once proud service is now so degraded
That though their uniforms still be braided
They are demoralised and wait to retire
And then take up their pens to fire
At those they served all their life
In times of peace and in times of strife.
The lesson from this, our children we tell
Is that, if in life you want to do well
And this, I am sure, every soldier endorses
Do not ever join the forces.
Just become a doctor or a pleader
Perhaps, even better, a political leader
Or an IAS officer, with his red light
Why face the enemy, why risk a fight
When the nation you guard
does not value you much
And treats you merely like a handy crutch
To support the government in civil disorder
Or when the enemy threatens the border
But when the time comes to share the pie
They get all antsy and ask - why???
So Madam President, hear us out
A change is going to come about
And we, the most courageous of all
Will soon be replaced by the petty and small
Alas, your government would be squarely to blame
For this avoidable national shame.
Kishore Asthana
A well written post with a very nice thought. keep on writing.
Hmm…blame it on high salaries in the private/IT sector, from an economic perspective just raising salaries is detrimental to the economy, it leads to inflation. And civil govt employees have got their shares so the armed forces are let down. But then the armed forces, go out to the private sector and make big bucks, and at the same time, they are getting their pensions, me says, the pension should start after they actually retire i.e. stop working, not just leaving the army. Say if an officer gets a lac a month in the private sector, his/her pension should start after he/she has retired and has no source of “direct income”. This is a touchy issue again, but lower ranks should start their pension the moment they leave the army. But in general any well-organized workforce can demand pay rises, the private sector civilians are the ones who are the most exploited.
The enemy inside the gates are more dangerous than the ones outside - it is so sad and painful to watch those who put their lives on the line so we can sit in the comforts of our home and watch Banian Khan and Govinda and Katrina prance around on the silver screen on the TV monitors being treated so shabbily. They deserve better than anyone else. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice post.
Take care :))))))
surely our soldiers deserve more.
Soldiers” feeling well expressed.