"We want a sense of unanimity among all the political parties for creating the post. We are in the process of consulting political parties for evolving a consensus," Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju said today on the sidelines of a function here.
"But there are certain differences of opinion. We are waiting for the response of the political parties," he said without further elaborating.
The CDS will be an advisor to the prime minister and the government on all issues pertaining to national security, strategy and strategic planning. The CDS will also be involved in formulation of defence policies.
The minister also said that the committee, set up to review the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for the armed forces, will, among other things, look into the disparity in the military service pay (MSP) between officers and soldiers and submit its report in a month's time.
The Pay Commission has recommended that the officers will get MSP of Rs 6,000 while soldiers would get Rs 1,000.
The committee comprises Finance Secretary D Subbarao, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh. "The committee will also look into whether the compensation for officers of non-select rank is adequate or not," he said.
The minister was addressing a national integration camp of NCC cadets from Jammu and Kashmir here. About 600 cadets from the state are attending the camp that will continue till April 30.
