Major
Navdeep Singh
Yesterday
(30 Apr 2016), 6:29 pm
On
24 April 2016, three soldiers of the Indian Army lost their lives during a
high-profile military exercise in Rajasthan. The deaths were attributed to the
excessive heat, injuries sustained while para dropping from helicopters and
snake bites. In this context, we delve into the life expectancy of soldiers and
non-combat related injuries or health issues of soldiers.
Most
nations recognise the inherent stress and strain of military service and its
detrimental effect on the health and daily lives of soldiers. India does too.
But only in theory, not in practice.
Lip
service galore, zilch on-ground support.
Contrary
to popular perception, the life expectancy of soldiers is lower than their
civilian counterparts. The reason is not difficult to understand. Soldiers live
in a regimented lifestyle, away from their families and at times under the
shadow of the gun for most of the year. Covered by a tough disciplinary law for
twenty-four hours, they face unique stressful conditions which aggravate even
regular diseases and ailments.
There is
little doubt that soldiers face higher stress levels than ordinary citizens
living with their families. This is because soldiers are away from commune
living and so, cannot adequately cope up with domestic commitments and
stresses.
But in a
strange and ironic kind of incorrigibility, it is the defence establishment
which is not ready to accept this proposition – a statement which is not rocket
science but just common sense.
Snapshot
· Soldiers
disabled by high stress levels and other ailments are released from service
without regular pension or disability benefits.
· Despite
Supreme Court orders, Army headquarters has filed appeals against tribunals
which have granted disability pension to soldiers.
· According
to the rules, for a soldier recruited in fit medical condition, any disability
is considered to be influenced by service conditions.
· Still,
benefits are refused on excuses such as ‘disability was incurred in a peace
area’ or ‘disability was due to domestic stressors’.
· Contrary
to popular perception, the life expectancy of soldiers is lower than their
civilian counterparts.
Indian
Army dress rehearsal for Republic Day Parade. (Photo: Reuters)
Denying
Basic Human Dignity to Soldiers
Medical
specialists all over the world recognise higher stress and strain in uniformed
forces. All democracies endorse this. Disability rules in India also state the
same. The Prime Minister feels this to be true. And so does the Defence
Minister. The apex military medical body is in agreement. Even the courts,
including the Supreme Court, have issued directions along these
lines.
But
still, many of our disabled soldiers are released and sometimes even thrown out
of service on medical grounds, without regular pension or disability pension.
This denies them a life of basic dignity – on the pretext that their
disabilities were declared ‘neither attributable to, nor aggravated by military
service.’
This
declaration by military medical boards is a blatant disregard of practical
realities, to say the least.
Tharoor on the Declining Status of the Indian Armed
Forces
When such soldiers
fight long legal battles for their dues, the official establishment is quick to
file appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court. And why? In order to deny
these soldiers and their families a few thousand, and at times a few hundred
rupees. The officialdom is comfortable wasting money and resources on expensive
lawyers and litigation. But not with releasing lesser amounts to those who have
served us.
Nothing could be more
shameful for us as a nation.
Hostage to File
Notings?
The Supreme Court, in
a series of decisions, has directed the Ministry of Defence to grant benefits to
disabled soldiers. The Defence Minister constituted a Committee of Experts to
look into rising litigation against soldiers, of which incidentally I was a
Member. The Committee also recommended the withdrawal of such litigation as well
as appeals by the Ministry of Defence against its own
soldiers.
Despite all this,
recently, elements in the Ministry of Defence had asked the Army Headquarters to
file appeals in the Supreme Court against tribunals and court orders wherein
disability pension had been granted to disabled
soldiers.
And it seems, the Army
Headquarters has readily complied.
Having worked for
disabled soldiers for close to two decades now, what pains me greatly in writing
this, is the fact that even though all stakeholders, including the political
executive, are on board and there are all encompassing directions of the highest
court of the land, the system is held hostage to contemptuous file notings of
lower level officials.
These notings are
purportedly based on some legal advice egging on the establishment to file
appeals against verdicts rendered in favour of disabled soldiers. The
Headquarters of the Defence Services are also meekly accepting this bloodbath,
without taking a strong stand on file by pointing out this malaise to the powers
that be.
But, What Do The Rules
Say?
The rules provide that
in case a soldier is recruited in a fit medical condition, then any disability
arising during service, except when caused due to his or her own illegality such
as substance abuse, is deemed as having been affected by service
conditions.
This presumption is
not unique to India but is followed in almost all democracies. This is because
the harmful effects of insidious and invisible pressures of military life are
known to manifest themselves negatively on the health of
soldiers.
Still, benefits are
refused on unforgivable excuses such as ‘disability was incurred in a peace
area’ or ‘disability was due to domestic stressors’ without realising that the
inability to attend to personal requirements has a direct link with the military
– since it is due to service in the defence services that a person is not there
all the time to take care of his or her domestic needs. This is a fact even
recognised by successive defence ministers, who themselves have underlined the
rise in stress levels faced by
soldiers.
Additionally, soldiers
living in barracks need permission, even to go to the washroom, are required to
sign registers and take an out-pass for a visit to buy a toothbrush from the
market. They are denied basic needs such as physical proximity, emotional warmth
or even sexual fulfilment for months
together.
In such circumstances,
it hardly matters whether they are serving in a ‘peace’ area or ‘field’ area.
And to top it all, the rules anyway progressively provide that service in
‘peace’ or ‘field’ makes no difference for disability
benefits.
In the ultimate
analysis, it seems that it is not the directions of the apex court or the will
of the political executive that would be allowed to prevail in our homeland but
the sadistic urge of a few stray voices that are holding the morale of our
nation to ransom. The courts are clogged with mundane disputes and unwanted
litigation thereby burdening the judiciary to unprecedented levels. And here we
are, in this great nation of ours, wasting taxpayers’ money in fighting cases
against our own disabled soldiers, the ones who silently sacrificed their health
to protect us.
(Major Navdeep Singh
is a practising Advocate in the Punjab & Haryana High Court. He was the
founding President of the Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association. He is a Member
of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War at Brussels. He
is also the author of “Maimed by the System”, a collection of real life accounts
of military veterans and their families who had to fight to claim their
rights.)
Brig Opinder
Singh
Yesterday, 10:19
pm
Dear Maj Navdeep,
please get Mr Parrikar to issue written orders in this respect. Use the services
of Mr Rajiv Chandershekhar and Mrs Kher our MPs. Also please be prepared to file
case on behalf of Jawans against 7CPC recommendations on disability pension vis
a vis their civilian counterparts. How can the commission be so insensitive and
make such ridiculous recommendation of granting better scales to civilian
government employees. So it is not only OG baboos who suffer from
insensitiveness towards the Military personel, IAS and IDAS types are the real
enemies.
aj
singh
Today, 13 hours
ago
· Today, 11 hours
ago
Everything described
here is true. We all are aware about it. With respect to
https://twitter.com/SinghNavdeep and officers who have commented,
we all probably know what is required to be done. I'm serving in IAF and
presently on instructional duties with Indian Army. What I see, on a "daily
basis" that morale of jawans is not up to the standard. The achievement of
trainees after passing out from my institute is one of the most respected
achievements in our Armed Forces. Our country's all three special forces are
trained here. They are suppose to be mentally agile and physically fit raw
trainees including officers. But unfortunately it is not so. Life of soldier
back in their parent units is such that when they are at training with us, they
just feel to recover their body strength from last night's duty. During
training, several of the jawans get injured, and during exercises too. I was
part of the recently conducted major exercise, have seen with my own eyes. They
do supreme sacrifice demanding nothing in return with respect to our civil
counterparts.
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