Citizens for Soldiers: I have been following Major Navdeep Singh on Twitter thanks to Gul Panag and have been, thanks to his tweets been informed and sensitized to issues that concern the gentlemen that protect us. As we casually go about our everyday breathing a very free air, enjoying a freedom, it is the gentlemen who at our borders toiling at punishing conditions putting their lives at stake for us. Sharing a brief sent by Major Navdeep Singh In a first, and a unique and touching effort, many known public figures from all walks of life have come together to endorse a politically neutral letter to the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister on the Armed Forces Flag Day (7th Dec) requesting them to ensure sensitivity at the hands of Ministry of Defence (MoD) towards the needs and requirements of soldiers, disabled military veterans and military widows. The letter states that “most of the appeals filed by the MoD pending in Supreme Court are against the disability benefits awarded by Courts and Tribunals to disabled soldiers- an actuality which is stark and alarming enough to make the entire citizenry hang its head in shame.” It has been requested in the letter that anomalous policies should be resolved rather than the MoD initiating ego-fuelled litigation out of administrative egotism. The letter, that has been affirmed by personalities such as Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar, acclaimed Actor Kabir Bedi, War Hero Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, singer Chinmayi Sripaada, former Army Vice Chief Lt Gen Pattabhiraman, journalists Sucheta Dalal and Nitin Gokhale and many others, states that the MoD appeals to the SC against disability benefits involving only a couple of hundred rupees which is in sharp contrast with other departments. It has also been pointed out that the lower bureaucracy obtains one-sided decisions from the political executive by painting a unilateral picture since poor veterans and other stakeholders do not have the ear of the higher echelons of governance and are hence unable to rebut incorrect facts. Appreciating the stand of many MPs including Ms Smriti Irani on the subject, the letter says that disability benefits are denied by the system based on hyper-technicalities and that there is inherent stress and strain in military service coupled with the fact that a person operates away from family during most of his/her service in a regimented lifestyle under a strict disciplinary code and is torn between domestic requirements that he/she cannot attend on one hand and the call of duty on the other. Decisions of the Supreme Court and Punjab & Haryana High Court in cases such as Dharamvir Singh, K Srinivasa Reddy, Umed Singh and Barkat Masih have also been pointed out. The endorsees state that the Government recently has probably correctly decided not to appeal to the SC against a decision of the Bombay High Court involving an amount of Rs 35,000 Crores in order to support the morale of business sentiment but the morale of men and women in uniform is also of utmost importance and as a nation everyone is expected to stand behind them rather than stand against them in an adversarial role.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 05:35:55 +0000
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