How to beat the apathy of the Government on NFU and parity with civil services

The armed forces despite the most hazardous job are short of perks and promotion. The matter is pending for NFU with the HSC but here is a suggestion to beat the GOI at its own game. Before I write anything further I must state that I am unable to agree that a plethora of ranks will undermine discipline.  In my service career, I had observed that most officers will not mind losing a little pay to put on a higher rank. Pay alone cannot satisfy the lucre of wearing senior rank. So where do we go from here?

The proposal of doing away with a few middle-level ranks and facilitating the retirement of all officers at least as Major Generals is laudable. It takes care of so many things. The question that command and control will be affected is like a red herring as all are governed by various acts of the Air Force and army and a sense of loyalty exist among all men and officers to the nation and the parent arm. Modern war is also not what it was at the turn of the last century. Holding a coveted rank satisfies the ego and is a must. One can read that the first act of Adolf Hitler to bolster the confidence of the army was when in that famous ceremony( I think in 1936) he promoted nearly 6 field Marshals. As he handed the FM's baton to the men in a public ceremony the atmosphere was electrifying. This was to establish motivation in the army. He was a success. So saying that ranks should be denied and in lieu pay given will not serve the purpose.

I can quote so many examples to justify what I am saying. An Air Vice Marshal. a friend of mine in an informal chat with me said he would accept lesser pay but putting on a higher rank is the glory. What have the generals to say to this? I find the opposition to this proposal is mostly from the general rank officers who are aghast that so many Marshals will be around. Frankly, nothing is going to happen as at one stroke the question of parity with the Police and paramilitary forces and the IAS can be solved and morale upped.

There is also a need to similarly think of giving something for the men who constitute the force. 

The army in India has been unable to assert itself. One will have to study the reason for it.  Even in Burma a Buddhist country the army has 30% seats in parliament reserved for it as well as key ministries.  Thailand also the army calls the shots. In Pakistan, the people still respect the army despite it losing half the country in 1971. In any case, the COAS is a member of the all-powerful security committee that almost runs the government.

One can write reams and reams in a discussion. No two points will be the same, but the crux of everything in the military is the rank. Hitler and Stalin and Roosevelt realized it. It's about time the same was accepted here. Pay increase? Its ok but rank matters.