The cause is noble and the concern is genuine
“The day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day”. The words of Kautilya addressed to Emperor Chandragupta Maurya are echoed by Dr Harsh V Pant a professor, King’s College London in an article titled ‘Here's a Civilian Perspective on Indian Soldiers’. He says, ‘A country makes a sacred contract with its soldiers.’
‘A country that refuses to respect this contract with its armed forces will eventually end up getting forces that will not respect the nations' aspirations.’
Welcome to the IESM, IESL and all other ESM Organisations and Outfits of Pan India. The time for endless talk, seminars and meaningless letters, emails and petitions is over. It is now time for action.
Truth is on the march and nothing can stop it.
We make our greatest mistakes through ignorance.
Never take away a person's hope. It may be all that they have.
Real insanity is seeing the world as it is and not as it should be.
...until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
This is your movement and it is your Right to support it any way you can and you are Free to do so if you so desire.
The list of Demands
Absolute Parity in Pension, defined explicitly as “two soldiers of each rank with same length of service are entitled to the same pension”.
The denial of collective bargaining power to help the community of the serving soldiers is the root cause for the inability to study, understand and seek remedy to all anomalies and grievances.
The denial of job security, appropriately termed ‘Assured Continued Employment’ till the age of superannuation, has relegated the soldiers on retirement to a neglected community that is presently taken care of by half baked welfare measures, such as creating Directorate of Resettlement, Department of ESW, Rajya and Kendriya Sainik Boards and raising funds through Flag Day Collection.
The efficiency anf efficacy of these measures is appalling and matter of great concern.
The payment of pension has been the biggest bugbear. Pensioners especially the family pensioners are deprived of their due by the various Pension Disbursing Authorities and scant monitoring done by the CDA Pension adds to their woes. Whenever revision takes place through Pay Commissions the effect, which is very confusing even to the PDA, is not made known to the pensioners transparently and systematically by the Government, thereby resulting in wide spread short payment of pension.
Family pensioner who is entitled for 60% of the total pension of the pensioner is denied by introducing the condition that the family pensioner is entitled for either of the military or reemployed pension not both.
The Medical Care for ESM. The very concept is so much procedure oriented with checks and counter checks that the purpose for which it is introduced is not being served in a fair manner.
The monitoring of the reemployment of ESM does not exist and therefore, reemployment is a challenge to the ESM with the result that many defence pensioners who are not wise of the ways of civilian systems lose the battle and do not get reemployed. Post meant for ESM is more often reverted to civilian posts and duly filled up.
Retired senior officer cannot be trusted for even certifying bona fide status with regard to the ESM, who have to run after VAO, Magistrates and the Assistant Directors of local KSB.
Credit: Maj Gen RN RADHAKRISHNAN (Retd)
