By Major Navdeep Sing, IBN Live
It is well known that the current political regime is proactive and
deeply concerned about the welfare of men and women in uniform. It is
also well documented that both the Prime Minister as well as the Defence
Minister are sensitive towards the fact that military veterans in this
country are perturbed by the functioning of the Department of
Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW) and also the litigation unleashed by it on
disabled soldiers, poor pensioners of lower ranks and also military
widows. Not only that, this issue was also raised in Parliament and very
recently by known public figures. I had also sent a confidential note
to all concerned, including the defence services, requesting action in
this regard. But of course, this issue is not as glamorous or brownie
point oriented like say the One Rank One Pension.
Keeping in view the fact that the manifesto of the ruling party
spoke of minimising appeals filed against military veterans by the
government, many veteran organisations wrote to the PM and all concerned
apprising them of some ruthless decisions taken in the past, not by the
political executive but by the bureaucracy at the lower levels in
tandem with some staffers of the defence accounts department who cannot
think beyond the literal interpretation of government policy which it
feels is sacrosanct even if it is struck down by Courts or contravenes
law, logic or basic common sense. Unfortunately, in our system, any
illegality or illogical action can be defended with a noting sheet by
the civil as well as military bureaucracy leading to wrong inputs to
those occupying posts at the top who do not have time or inclination to
hear the other (affected) side of the story.
