WHAT IS THE PAY OF A DEFENCE OFFICER - STORY OF THE “CTC” LIEUTENANT

WHAT IS THE PAY OF A DEFENCE OFFICER ?

“How much pay does a Defence Officer get?” someone asked me.

“Why don’t you ask some Defence Officers?” I said.

“Will they tell?”

“Of course, they will tell – there is no pay-secrecy in the defence services,” I said.

And suddenly – I remembered the story of the “CTC” Lieutenant.

So – Dear Reader – let me delve deep into my “Humor in Uniform” Archives and pull out this hilarious “memoir” for you to enjoy, have a laugh and think about.

This story happened 37 years ago – in the late 1970’s.

I had first posted this hilarious Naval Yarn in September 2013.

Read on:

STORY OF THE “CTC” LIEUTENANT

A Spoof

By

VIKRAM KARVE

THE “CTC” LIEUTENANT – a spoof by VIKRAM KARVE

“How much pay do you get?” the man asked me.

“1100,” I said.

Well, this happened around 37 years ago, in the 1970’s. 

I was a newly promoted Lieutenant in the Navy (Equivalent of an Army Captain or Air Force Flight Lieutenant) and those days our pay scale was Rs. 1100-50-1550

(Yes, those days, Lieutenants started off with a basic pay of Rs. 1100 with an increment of Rs. 50 every year and we remained Lieutenants for 8 long years. After this long wait, we became Lieutenant Commanders with a pay scale of Rs. 1450-50-1800 --- Of course, now, with the Ajai Vikram Singh (AVS) Cadre Review bonanza in 2006, promotions are much faster and the junior-most rank has been abolished)

At the time of this story, as a newly promoted Lieutenant, I had started off in the pay scale of Rupees 1100-50-1550.

The gentleman had asked me how much pay I got.

So I told the gentleman my basic pay – which was 1100 Rupees a month.

“Do you know Lieutenant ‘G’?” the gentleman asked me.

“Of course I know Lieutenant ‘G’ – he is my course-mate and is serving on a ship of my squadron,” I said – and I named the ship.

“Yes. Yes. It is the same person,” the gentleman said.

Then he paused for a moment and said to me, “Your friend Lieutenant ‘G’ – how much pay does he get?”

“Well – he must be getting 1100 Rupees too,” I said.

“Are you sure Lieutenant ‘G’ gets only 1100 Rupees a month? Lieutenant ‘G’ told me that he gets much more pay that that – are you sure he doesn’t get more?” the man asked.

“How can he get more pay than me? Sir, I told you that Lieutenant ‘G’ is my coursemate – and like me – Lieutenant ‘G’ is also a recently promoted Lieutenant. In fact – Lieutenant ‘G’ got promoted two months after me since I gained more seniority in our Sub Lieutenant training courses – so surely – Lieutenant ‘G’ cannot get more pay than me.”

“That’s strange,” the gentleman said, “your friend Lieutenant ‘G’ told me that his pay is 5000 rupees per month.”

“5000 rupees per month? That is just not possible,” I said, “Even an Admiral does not get that much.”

“Maybe – Lieutenant ‘G’ gets some additional pay,” the man said.

“That is not possible. He cannot get more pay than me. Lieutenant ‘G’ is in the surface navy like me. And even aviators and submariners don’t get the amount of pay that he is saying,” I said.

“So Lieutenant ‘G’ is telling lies?” the man said.

“Well – I may not call it telling lies – but obviously – Lieutenant ‘G’ is exaggerating his pay quite a bit,” I said.

“He told me all lies,” the man said again, looking downcast.

I looked at the man and asked him, “Sir – please tell me – why are you asking me all this about Lieutenant ‘G’?”

“There was a marriage proposal for my daughter,” he said.

“There is a marriage proposal from Lieutenant ‘G’ for your daughter?” I asked.

“His parents approached us. Or rather – we approached his parents when someone told us about Lieutenant ‘G’ – that he was a suitable status match for our daughter. Well, we live up-north – and we really don’t know much about the Navy. There was some business work in Pune – so I decided to come myself – rather than send my manager – well – I thought it would be a good idea to go via Mumbai and have a look at the boy Lieutenant ‘G’ before progressing matrimonial matters further,” he said.

The Deccan Queen started its climb up the Western Ghats – and soon we reached Lonavala – where I got off the train.

                                                                

A few days later I ran into Lieutenant ‘G’ at a party.

“So – I believe that you are planning to get married?” I asked him.

“Not really – why?” he said.

“Well – I met your prospective father-in-law,” I said – and I told him about the gentleman I had met on the Deccan Queen.

“Oh, that? It’s just in the first stages. I’ll see the girl when I go home on leave next month,” Lieutenant ‘G’ said.

“Why did you tell him that your pay was 5000 rupees a month?” I asked.

“He told you that?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you say?” asked Lieutenant ‘G’ – with an anxious look on his face.

“Well – the gentleman asked me my salary – and I told him it was 1100 rupees a month,” I said.

“Are you crazy?” Lieutenant ‘G’ exclaimed.

“Why? Isn’t our pay 1100?” I said.

“1100 is our bloody basic pay. That’s the problem with you Maharashtrians – you guys always undersell yourselves,” he said.

“But how can you say that your pay is 5000 Rupees? Even if you add the DA – and all other allowances – your pay will not be more than 1500 Rupees – isn’t it?” I said.

“What about the monetary value of all the other benefits and perks we get?” Lieutenant ‘G’ said.

“Other benefits and perks?” I asked.

Lieutenant ‘G’ looked at me and said, “We get so many things. Let’s take married accommodation – do you know the market rent of the houses we get in prime localities? And what actual rent do we pay?”

“So you added the difference between market value of rent and the rent we are charged while calculating your total pay?” I asked.

“Of course,” he said, “and there are so many perks and facilities we get – CSD canteen, LTC, medical treatment, membership of clubs, duty free liquor…”

“Duty free liquor? Booze? But you are a bloody teetotaller – you never drink liquor. Don’t tell me you included the difference in the cost of booze?” I asked, aghast.

“Of course I did – the differential between market value and what you pay is tantamount to notional salary – isn’t it?” he said matter-of-factly.

“So have included the so-called money value of each and every thing when you calculated your salary as 5000 rupees?” I asked.

Lieutenant ‘G’ looked at me said, “Obviously I did. I considered the notional value of all benefits, perks, facilities, subsidies – everything – and came to a figure of 5000. You see – 1100 rupees may be our basic pay – but 5000 rupees is our notional pay.”

I wanted to have the parting shot, so I said to Lieutenant ‘G’: “Since you are so money-minded – instead of the Navy – you should have joined the Army.”

“Army? Why?” he asked me.

“In the army you would have got the additional perk of a batman, a sahayak – and you could have added his ‘notional cost’ of the sahayak to your pay. What is the pay, the perks, the notional cost of a soldier – 1000 Rupees? 2000 Rupees? – just imagine – you could have told your prospective father-in-law that your pay was 7000 rupees instead of 5000 rupees!”

“You have a point. How come I never thought of that?” Lieutenant ‘G’ said.

“And unlike in the Navy – where you have to use your own vehicle – in the Army you get free transport. Think of the cost of the petrol...” I said.

“That is true too...” Lieutenant ‘G’ mumbled.

As I walked away I noticed a curious expression on his face – as if Lieutenant ‘G’ was busy calculating something in his mind.

Maybe Lieutenant ‘G’ was realizing that with so many extra perks like sahayaks, transport, et al – he would have been better off as an Army Officer – and he was regretting that he had joined the Navy instead of the Army.

EPILOGUE

It was much later while I was doing my management course – that I learnt of the concept of “CTC” or “Cost-to-Company”.

It was only then that I understood what Lieutenant ‘G’ was talking about.

Yes – Lieutenant ‘G’ was way ahead of his times.

Later – in his illustrious naval career – Lieutenant ‘G’ distinguished himself as a successful “businessman in uniform”.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

1. This story is a spoof, pure fiction, just for fun and humor, no offence is meant to anyone, so take it with a pinch of salt and have a laugh.

2. All Stories in this Blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

 

Revised and Updated Version of Story First Posted by me Vikram Karve in my Academic and Creative Writing Journal Blog at 9/25/2013 11:45:00 AM at url : http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2013/09/humor-in-uniform-cost-to-company.html