Military Engineering Services
By Prof. (Wg Cdr Arvind Kumar)
In the Indian Air Force whether one is old or young, fresher or an old-timer, Officer or an airman, the struggle for even satisfying the basic needs like food & shelter keeps almost everyone (except the few lucky ones occupying the plum posts like the AOC, CO, C AdmO, AOC-in-C, Air Chief, Air Marshal etc.) engaged under stress, thereby reducing the operational efficiency and increasing the risk of aircraft accidents.
Roti Kapda aur Makan
1. “Alas! I am late again. What explanation I shall give to my wife!. ”, I murmured as I packed up from the office. While climbing the staircase hurriedly I was turning blue since my store of excuses had exhausted. After-all, my wife had yesterday only scolded me that I did not care for her and I was married to my Squadron. I was certain that it was my last chance since the home minister had instructed me n number of times to mend my ways with immediate effect. As I pressed the bell timidly, the door opened and surprisingly my wife greeted me and smiled. I felt instant relief since the impending danger had weaned away. But I was confused by this sudden pleasant change. I said, “Dear how come, you are so happy today!” “Honey, you really care so much. Today the M.E.S. chap had come with the two hard beds and I got them placed in our bedroom”, said my wife. Hearing this, my chest expanded at least by six inches and I felt like a victorious warrior after a hard fought battle.
2. Yes, my loving readers, It indeed had been a real struggle to get the hard beds. I had been allotted the married officers’ service accommodation of the Flt Lt rank a month and a half earlier. My boss had told me that I was really lucky. He had to wait two years at the last station to get the house whereas I had been allotted the house just after a month of my arrival at the base. The day the house was allotted to me, we in the family had rejoiced and dreamt of finally settling down. The Officer I/C Married Accommodation while handing over the allotment letter had said, “You are very lucky. This house had been occupied by the M.E.S. Assistant Garrison Engineer. It was the first Flt Lt house in which the Kitchen and the Toilets had been tiled at this depot.” My tender heart had been filled with gratitude towards the unknown A.G.E that moment for his kind resourcefulness and I had prayed to the God to allot me in future only those houses that are vacated by the M.E.S staff.
3. On the D day, as the rep of the BSO was opening the house, he was telling me that the A.G.E Sahib had really got so many things done up. I was feeling victorious. As we entered, the BSO rep Mr. Singh pressed the light switch. But no light came. As we all looked up, I saw there was no bulb in the holder. Further inspections revealed that out of the 16 odd light points in the house, only one holder had the bulb. As my wife looked at me, I turned pale. Mr. Singh continued with his enthusiasm and said, “Sir, the house is very spacious. A.G.E. Sahib had returned back more than half of the furniture to the M.E.S. since he had a small family. But Sir, you are very lucky to have got this house.”
4. Next day I went to the office of the Flt Cdr Works and said, “David, there are no tube lights in the house. At my last station, we had tube lights. The AOC had been kind enough to provide us even compact fluorescent lights i.e. the CFLs.” David looked at me and said, “ Sir, how come tube lights were issued to you! Officers are not authorized for tube lights. And providing the CFLs is just out of question. May be the special works were sanctioned out of the way to provide the tube lights at your last station. Sir, you better fill up the bulb requisition form and get the bulbs. I will request the A.G.E (B&R) to issue you the bulbs on priority.” As I heard this I could not help thanking the God for blessing my wife with so much prudence, on whose suggestion I had purchased quantity six tube lights in advance. As I reached home I again was spellbound at the resourcefulness of my wife. She along with my two years old son was supervising the fitment of tube lights in the house. She had arranged the services of private electrician from the nearby market. I was indeed happy to see the white light at my home.
5. In the evening as I came home after a four mile jog, my better half instructed me to fix some nails in the drawing room. She was impatient to hang the painting, which she had received during the farewell from the ladies club at the old station. I picked the hammer from the green toolbox and was eager to show my engineering skills. “After all I am a mechanical engineer from a reputed college in the country ”, I said to myself. As I was successful in driving the nail into the wall with the very first blow of the hammer, my wife and my son clapped and rejoiced. Soon the painting was adding charm to the drawing room. Enthused by the success my wife said, “Dear, I never knew you were so good. Had I known this at the last station about your talent, I would not have waited for weeks for the B&R complaints to be attended. Any way do me a last favour of the day. Please fix the clock on the bedroom wall.” I shifted the stool and confidently, I struck a hard blow on the nail. Suddenly there was a thunderous sound. We all looked at the wall and found everything normal. We then rushed to the Verandah and my son pointed his finger as he said, “ E, papa.” Broken pieces of concrete were lying scattered all over. As we looked up, we saw a half broken beam about 20 feet high on the top of the terrace. I thanked God for being kind in keeping us safe and sound. My wife informed the neighbour who told not to worry much as this was a routine affair. She advised us to be a little more cautious. But I decided to do something. Next day I wrote and sent a letter under the subject ‘unusual occurrence’ to the Flt Cdr works after talking with the Group Commander Administration. The latter assured me that a board of officers had already been ordered by the neighbouring station to remove all the unwanted beams.
6. I was waiting anxiously for the MES staff to repair or remove the beam. After two weeks I saw a letter in the mail, which had been written by the Flt Cdr Works. It was addressed to the Garrison Engineer, highlighting the danger to life and property and hence recommending and directing immediate action without any delay. I was filled with joy while reading the letter. But the joy was short-lived as nothing happened for another two more weeks. Then one day suddenly I heard louder than normal noise while I was having afternoon nap. I got up and saw four people inspecting the terrace beams. The doorbell rang soon and the team leader said, “ Sir, we have come to your house to attend to the problem of the terrace beam. We are from the M.E.S.” My heart was filled with real joy. After-all my patience had finally paid dividends. We closed all the doors. Soon there was sound of a series of hammer blows for next fifteen minutes or so. The concrete pieces were falling all over sounding like Diwali firecrackers as they landed abruptly on the hard flooring. I could hear the shouts of the servants down blow, “ Get away, get away, bricks are falling.” It seemed like a mini-battlefield while the shelling continued. Suddenly the hammering sound stopped. I thought it was a lull before the storm. My family was afraid to come out of the door. The doorbell rang again. The team leader said, “ Sir, we have removed the excess material from the beam by hammering it off. Now no loose material will fall. May we now clean up the area”? I felt instant relief. Before I could nod my head, three people entered the verandah and in no time they removed all the rubble. As they proceeded to leave, I thanked them for the job well and safely done. The team leader smiled, “ Sir, you are very lucky. In the whole lane, only your house has been attended to. GE Sahib had got your letter and had instructed us to do the job immediately. OK Sir.” I felt like a victorious warrior. Really, my efforts, perseverance and patience had borne fruit. “ This house was really very lucky”, I said to myself.
7. The incident quoted above made me to ponder seriously. The famous Abraham Maslow said that the ‘Roti, kapda aur makan’ i.e. food, shelter and clothing are the basic needs of the human beings. These needs lie at the bottom of the needs pyramid or hierarchy. These basic needs have to be satisfied first before a human being can grow up physically and intellectually to satisfy higher level needs like the self esteem, sense of achievement, job satisfaction etc. and finally the self-actualization i.e. reaching one’s ultimate potential in life. Military aviation is a very demanding profession mentally, physically as well as technologically. To maintain round-the-clock operational preparedness as well as to ensure flight safety, it is essential that air warriors are contented and satisfied. Their basic needs should be effectively satisfied. The organization should give them the opportunity to grow materialistically as well as intellectually. Unsatisfactory living conditions can demoralize the Air Warriors and hamper the operational readiness and the flight safety. Recently one JWO told me, “Sir, I have spent Rs 4000 on renovation of the SMQ. No one was taking this house. So I volunteered to take the house. I am going to spend at least two more years here. It is better to spend money rather than wait for the right house.”
8. Many questions have been coming to my mind. Why a house complete with all the authorized furniture and without any E& M or B& R deficiencies cannot be given to an air warrior! Why should air warriors run around and waste so many man-hours to bring their dwelling units in shape! This wastage of man-hours is further compounding the adverse effects of already reduced manpower in the field units. Moreover the resulting dissatisfaction and discontentment is increasing the stress levels in the air warriors. Definitely this does not augur well for the operational readiness and the flight safety record of our force. Won’t it be a good idea for M.E.S to shun reactive and adopt pro-active maintenance by giving door-to-door service! A vehicle with two persons each of the B& R and the E & M along with most frequently used items like door stoppers, bulb holders, kundis, fan regulators etc. can go around in the domestic area. Complaints will be attended there and then. M.E.S. staff won’t have to travel kilometers on their bicycles to attend to the complaints. Air warriors won’t have to wait for months to get minor faults rectified. I have myself given complaint regarding kitchen sink pipe leak twice. Nearly a month has passed without any joy. Now I often curse myself of not maintaining ‘good liaison with the AGE & the GE’. Is house with adequate living conditions a right, entitlement or a favour given by someone to an air warrior? Does it require an officer to wait for two or three decades when he can be assured of a decent dwelling unit on account of his seniority, appointment or position?
9. Once a C Adm O said, “ GE does not listen to me. I am helpless. I don’t write his annual appraisal report.” One GE said, “I am not getting support from the Administration. They are not able to give me consolidated requirement. They tell me piece meal things in an adhoc manner without any planning. Whole day I am doing fire fighting. Moreover I have civilian workers. They are old and not at all disciplined. If I am given even one half of the present manpower from my Engineering Regiment, I can be at least five times more effective.” As I talked to the civilian M.E.S. plumber, he said, “ Sir, what can I do? There are no items available in the store.” Another M.E.S. person said, “ Sir, these days the doorframes are made of iron in place of wood. We do not have a portable welding machine. So it is very difficult to fix this latch.” An air warrior said, “ Air Force should recruit its own civil engineers as GEs. This will solve half the problem.” Another air warrior said, “ It will be much better if M.E.S. staff are sensitized to keep aesthetic aspects in mind also. They come and do the job crudely making a mess. They have restored the light at my home but the wires are all jumbled up.” Still another air warrior said, “ Our pilots are flying, engineers along with technicians are maintaining and controllers controlling aircraft like Sukhois and Mirage2000 which cost a couple of hundreds of crores of rupees a piece. These men behind machines must work and operate at their peak efficiency. They must be contented and satisfied. It should be ensured that they are given good houses with prompt MES services preferably at the doorstep. After all we have a full fledged administration branch in our service.”
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