Rank Pay is a scheme implemented by the Rajiv Gandhi led Indian National Congress (I) Government in 1986
In the wake of 4th Central Pay Commission (4CPC)
That reduced the basic-pay
Or grade pay
Of seven armed officers ranks of 2nd Lieutenant
- Lieutenant
- Captain
- Majors
- Lt-colonel
- Colonels
- And brigadiers
And their equivalent in the Air Force and the Navy by fixed amounts designated as 'rank-pay'.The reduction in the basic-pay
The established basis of determining rank equivalences between armed forces officers and civilian and police counterparts
Altered long established historical grade-pay equivalences or parities between armed forces officers and police officer
Which was an accepted principle since 1947 for determination of armed forces grade pay
And which was 'further cemented' in 1973
By the 3 Central Pay Commission (3CPC).The reduction in grade-pay apart from causing asymmetries in rank equivalence between the officers from the Indian Police Service and armed forces affected the basic pay
- Allowances
- Entitlements
- Promotion prospects
- Status
And pension of thousands of officers in the service in January 1986
And the decades after that.In 2012
Reduction in armed forces grade-pay
Which was a subject of litigation since 1994
Was declared illegal by the Supreme Court of India
Which in a landmark judgement ordered the government to pay arrears to the more than 20
000 affected officers of the armed forces.