Any anomaly in rank parity of forces to be addressed: Parrikar

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 25

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday asked for an internal cross-checking of facts to ascertain if the letter on equivalence of ranks of armed forces vis-a-vis civilian counterparts was done erroneously.

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Parrikar told reporters in Delhi that he had asked for details of the letter which was issued on October 18 and laid down new rank-equivalence norms.

Parrikar said if there had been an error it would be corrected within a week.
He said similar letters of the years 2005 and 2008 would be studied.
“The government is sensitive to issues concerning serving and retired soldiers,” he added.

Parrikar hinted that the Ministry of Defence was not happy with the demand of Rs 5 crore made to filmmaker Karan Johar saying, “There won’t be anyone’s catching of neck. We don't appreciate it.”
Parrikar was talking to the media on the sidelines of the Navy Commanders conference here. When asked about the battle casualty fund, he said, “It’s a voluntary fund.”
“We are not concerned with anyone demanding a donation for the same. There cannot be catching of neck,” he said.
The Tribune had reported earlier that the Ministry of Defence had decided not to accept Rs 5 crore which film producer Karan Johar had been asked to deposit in the armed forces’ battle casualty fund in lieu of his movie ‘Ai Dil Hai Mushkil’ being allowed to be released.