Rising
disabilities in the military- a misdirected approach
Navdeep Singh
Earlier this year, in a
tragic coincidence, four officers of the Indian Army passed away on account of
cardiac arrests, in different parts of India, on the same day. Between that day
and today, many more non-operational disease-related deaths have been reported,
and the same have been spiralling upwards since the past many years.
The military is always
perceived to be fitter, stronger and healthier than the civil populace. But this,
sadly, is a myth. When compared to civilian government employees, members of
the military and other uniformed forces face a considerably higher stress and
strain of service which affects health in a detrimental manner, a fact which is
universally recognized by all major militaries. Incurring a disability while in
service entitles soldiers to disability benefits on retirement and higher death
benefits to the family in case of death, and the applicable rules provide a
presumption of ‘service-connection’ of disabilities which are acquired during
service. However, in order to avoid such payouts, the system has been wrongly branding
such disabilities as “neither attributable to, nor aggravated by military service”
which is not only against ground realities, but also against rules and
decisions of Constitutional Courts.
Though the Courts, the
highest of political executive, Government’s legal advisors, Committees set up
by the Defence Ministry and also the military medical authorities have time and
again ordained sensitivity towards such disabilities, liberal grant of
disability pensions and also withdrawal of appeals filed by the Ministry
against disability benefits of its own disabled soldiers in the Supreme Court,
it is highly unfortunate that the hands of senior political leadership and
higher bureaucracy have been restrained by misleading and mischievous file
notings initiated by lower bureaucracy to deny such benefits to soldiers and
projecting them as somewhat greedy. To take an example, to elicit a negative
response from the top, the financial entities of the Defence Ministry have
instilled a feeling that such disabilities can occur in civilians too and hence
uniformed personnel do not require any special dispensation- a thoroughly
erroneous supposition.
Firstly, file initiators have
hidden from the hierarchy that this thought-process militates against the basic
entitlement rules which list even conditions such as heart disease,
hypertension and neurosis as diseases affected by stress and strain of service.
Moreover, what is glossed
over is the fact that there are many unique stressors in the military and hence
any parallel sought to be drawn with civil employees on this subject is inherently
flawed. For example, soldiers and officers of uniformed services spend most of
service away from family and lead regimented lives under strict military law,
often in barracks and predominantly away from society. There is also an acute inability
of fulfilling domestic and familial commitments. Freedoms are curtailed which
may seem innocuous to the untrained eye but it takes a toll on a person’s health.
Illustratively, even when posted in a ‘peace’ area, to undertake regular
activities such as visiting the market a soldier needs to seek permission, sign
multiple forms and be back in time for the roll call. A soldier is not
available to provide or receive emotional support when required, even sexual
needs remain unfulfilled. Again some seemingly benign examples- what does a
person do when one’s child gets hurt? Kiss and hug the child, hold the child
close, a luxury not obtainable by members of the uniformed forces. What does
one do when there is a property dispute or any other administrative requirement?
Follow it up with the local authorities and courts, something impracticable for
men and women of the forces since they mostly remain away from home. The list
is endless. All such factors give rise to a feeling of helplessness leading to stress
and strain thereby aggravating the mental and physical conditions of soldiers
and this also is the reason which prompted the Supreme Court to once remark
that a soldier remains torn between the call of duty and family commitments.
It is however lamentable
that financial entities of the Defence Ministry are able to tide over rules, binding
judicial dicta and also political will and are able to elicit incorrect
reactions from decision-makers. Apart from soldiers, a tirade was unleashed
against senior officers of the military stating that high ranking officers have
also been granted disability benefits. But why not? If a General is suffering
from a disability known to be aggravated by stress and strain of service, why
should she or he be denied because of rank? Some senior officers are at an even
higher risk because of an elevated age bracket and greater responsibility.
There have been multiple examples of Generals in the recent times suffering
cardiac arrests and undergoing heart and other procedures due to extreme
stress, can such live examples be brushed aside? People also speak of cases of
senior officers hiding their disabilities in order to remain eligible for
promotions. If true, then it is purely an administrative infraction for which
remedy lies elsewhere and this has no connection with disability benefits which
are purely linked with a person’s physical condition at the time of joining
service vis-a-vis retirement. Moreover, it also means that the system needs to
plug the holes in the annual medical examinations and at the same time harmonize
and rationalize its promotional policies, make them practical and bring them in
line with modern times so that people do not hide their medical status.
With a sensitive and
sensitized Defence Minister, one hopes that the law as ordained by Courts, recommendations
of experts and the word of the political executive prevail ultimately, and not sadistic
file notings of penny-counting accountants who bring a bad name to the
establishment and avoidable distress to the military community. The focus also
should shift to improving the health profile of the military in wake of heavily
stressful conditions, and not saving money through a ham-handed approach.
---
Major
Navdeep Singh is a practicing lawyer at the Punjab & Haryana High Court. He
is also the author of ‘Maimed by the System’. He writes on public policy, law
and the military.
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