Service chiefs discuss pay panel report with Antony

The armed forces on Tuesday submitted their revised salary vouchers ending a month-long deadlock over their decision to withhold "discriminatory" pay commission report, paving the way for the personnel to receive part arrears just in time for Diwali.

Simultaneously, the three services chiefs discussed the ways for moving forward on the issue at their regular weekly meeting here with Defence Minister A K Antony, Defence Ministry sources said.

"The meeting today was a regular weekly meeting of the Defence Minister with the Services chiefs. But pay commission issues were top on the agenda of the meeting," sources said.

The developments come after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up a three-member ministerial committee headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee last Friday to consider their four core issues.

Also, Antony had taken a tough stand and asked the defence chiefs to accept the 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations temporarily, after their decision to withhold its implementation.

Though the defence forces submitted their revised salary bills, the personnel would receive their first pay under the CPC scales only in their November salaries. But this would enable the government to pay the part arrears to the personnel before this weekend, sources said.

The Defence personnel's salaries at old pay scales for October were already credited into their bank accounts, as the armed forces agreed to submit their revised pay vouchers only now, the sources said.