IAF officers face women’s wrath over pay

As soon as the convoy with Air Marshal Singh and Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Headquarters Training Command arrived at the entrance of AFTC, the women rushed to the gate, ignoring the cries of officers who were shouting “ladies, don’t do it, ladies please don’t.” The convoy was blocked for several minutes.

Singh invited the women to talk things over in the mess but they refused, saying, “We are no more members of the Air Force Wives Association or anything else.”

“The pilots cannot do anything without our husbands,” said one to this reporter.

“They are the ones maintaining the aircraft. The pilots just hop in, do a sortie and come back. For that, young pilots trained at government cost earn more than our highly qualified husbands, many of whom have put in more than two decades of service,” she said in a matter of fact tone.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Union Government has given Air Headquarters a month’s time to sort out the mess. If it fails, the Government will intervene.

Sources said that even an Internet site has cropped up, at members.tripod.com/@IAF’ have been put up.Most of the women’s husbands have filed Redressal of Grievance (ROG) petitions, the main legal way of protest available to armed forces officers. Some have also submitted their resignations. “But we don’t want them to resign. Why should they penalise themselves?”

Sources added that visits by Sareen scheduled at other stations in the country, like Zulur, had to be cancelled because of anticipated protests. Reports have also come in of graffiti against air force top brass, including air chief Sareen on the walls of Training Command offices, and demonstrations at various places.

These can been seen even at the Kanpur Base Repair Depot.