Date:08/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/08/stories/2008100854000500.htm

New Delhi

Pay issue an internal matter: Kapil

Photo: R V Moorthy.

Ambassador on job: Kapil Dev donating blood at a camp organized by the Territorial Army in New Delhi on Tuesday.

New Delhi: As the controversy over the armed forces’ reluctance to implement the Pay Commission report rages, former cricketer Kapil Dev on Tuesday said their grievances could have been sorted out internally and should not have come out into the open.

“If they (armed forces) have a demand, it is their internal matter and should not have come out before the common man,” Kapil Dev told reporters after donating blood at a camp organised by the Territorial Army here.

The Government had recently appointed Kapil Dev as an honorary Lieutenant-Colonel in the Territorial Army and named him a brand ambassador to attract new talent to the defence forces.

“Everyone wants an increase in their pay. All of us want to lead better lives,” he said.-- PTI