With reports
emerging that the data on disabled soldiers and disability pensions presented
by the Defence Accounts Dept to the 7th Central Pay Commission may have
been twisted, what could be more saddening than the thought that the allied
departments created to help and aid the defence services have today become
their greatest enemies.
The controversy : The genesis of
this controversy lies in the slashing of disability pensions for defence
services by the Pay Commission, tacitly hinting that percentage-wise more
officers were drawing disability benefits than personnel of lower ranks. This
has unnecessarily created fissures between the Government, the Armed Forces,
disabled veterans and the civil society in what was clearly an avoidable
controversy. Further rankling was the fact that the Pay Commission admitted in
Para 10.2.50 of its Report that the data had been provided to it by the
Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), which is inherently odd since it
was the Ministry of Defence or the Defence Services Headquarters who alone were
authorized to interact with the Commission. Moreover, it also defies logic as
to how could such data be relied upon in a one-way manner without being
authenticated or even discussed with the stake-holders.
Strange coincidence : What is more
shocking is the fact that the CGDA, as reported by the Indian Express today, tried to intervene and interfere in disability benefits to soldiers
by writing a letter to the Army in September 2015 and when its efforts in
denting the legally admissible benefits failed, the same points found place in
the Pay Commission Report in November 2015 based on data provided by CGDA.
Needless to state, the Supreme Court and the High Courts have time and again
held that the Defence Accounts Department has no role to play in such aspects
which are the domain of rules promulgated by the Government, binding judicial
decisions, executive and legal authorities. The exuberance shown by the said
department to exceed and usurp jurisdiction therefore should be nipped in the
bud by the Government. The department, though admirably rendering important services,
should restrict itself to accounting and correctness of amounts to be disbursed
as per rules.
Twisted figures : The CGDA provided
a data of 18.9% recipients of disability benefits in the year 2007-2008 which
went down to 7.2% in 2013-2014 for ranks other than Commissioned Officers while
it stated that the percentage went up from 13.6% to 19.8% in case of
Commissioned Officers.
However, it is
understood that even the said data is false and the percentage of recipients
for personnel other than Commissioned Officers was about 16% and for Officers
it was 12.5%. The shocking schism projected by the CGDA was hence faulty and
consequently so was the reliance of the Pay Commission on doctored data
therefore also rendering its final recommendations questionable.
Even the above
figures of 16% and 12.5% respectively are not an accurate representation of
military disabilities since many of these instances would comprise of injuries
as opposed to diseases. Injuries during the course of performance of duties due
to accidents, operational reasons and unforeseen incidents are unavoidable in
any operationally oriented force which does not function in a controlled
environment.
Comparison with other nations : The closest
democracy to which Indian forces can be compared operationally and numerically
is the US. In 2014, a total of 22.5% personnel in the US were released with a
disability, which is much higher than the Indian figures. The incidence of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) alone rose from about 90 cases in 2002 to
12,570 cases in 2014 as recorded by the Congressional Research Service in its
report published on 7th August 2015. Veterans serving in the operational
environment in the Middle East have displayed symptoms of PTSD alone upto a
tune of 20%, and this is only speaking of PTSD and not other disabilities.
Reasons for rising disability data in India : The reasons,
though not thrashed out by the CGDA or the Pay Commission, for a slight rise in
correct disability data and higher incidence of disability in Commissioned
Officers, are multifarious:
The service span of officers is more than
others. While lower ranks start retiring in their 30s depending upon rank, the
minimum age of retirement of officers is 54, thereby increasing the probability
of disability in case of the latter.
The percentage projected by the Defence
Accounts Department contains the data of not only diseases but also injuries
and operational disabilities which are not in the control of individuals or
institutions or health services.
The data, though even numerically wrong, is
also not honestly rendered since it is not current and contains hundreds of
instances where even old cases (some of them who had retired with a disability
in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and early 2000s) who were illegally denied disability
pension earlier and had now been released their due benefits on change of
policy or judicial intervention.
Setting a dangerous pattern : The lack of moral
honesty in playing around with figures and feeding the political executive,
media and social media with wrong information, especially in such cases
involving the disabled and the frail, has a dangerous fallout. Tomorrow,
soldiers may feel uncomfortable in exposing themselves to exigencies of service
such as long deployments away from family or high pressure environments which
lead to rising stress levels and aggravation of medical conditions. Worse,
personnel may start avoiding operating with full enthusiasm in tough areas just
to avoid risking disability or injury, all thanks to the data of accountants
and an unethical vilification campaign against disabled soldiers. While the
world is moving towards liberalization of the regime of assessing disabilities
and rules in India also being apt and balanced, our accountants are getting
excessively concerned about rising disability payouts and labelling
stress-induced medical conditions as ‘lifestyle diseases’. Well, this unsettled
‘lifestyle’ is not a picnic for our soldiers. Disabilities are unpredictable
and not mathematical or in own control. Disabilities are a natural consequence
of an operational and strong Army and if we want to count pennies then our
accountants should simply recommend the abolition of the military, the Pay
Commission may perhaps agree!
To aid or to obstruct : It is also equally
jarring to observe that allied organisations which are meant to help out our
defence services are today embracing obstructionism and also promoting an
environment of distrust and negativity by trying to play around with the
sentiments of our defence services and projecting urban legends to the
political executive to cloud the decision making process. Contrary to popular
perception, our troops are dying earlier than their civilian counterparts.
Jawans released in their 30s standing outside your neighbourhood ATM, for we
give them nothing better, look like they are in their 50s- such is the effect
of military service on health. The question arises that if indeed there was a
trend of rising disabilities in the forces, why did not the Defence Accounts
Department or even the Pay Commission rather suggest measures to check the
deteriorating health profile of our troops?
A question to
which there is no answer.
Unfortunately the veterans organizations have been looking forward for retired veterans officers and have become stooges of bureaucrats and politicians
ReplyDeleteThese are very serious matters- fudging data and falsification of data with intent to harm - Armed Forces - National Defence !.
ReplyDeleteIt is a crime of great proportion.
There seems to be some dirty tricks cells(etc).They are doing all dirty tricks and also driving devide ( wedge)in AF by false propaganda ,using resources of some people and media.
It is time for AF to do surgical strikes at these anti national activity by some babus of mod-def accts- neta nexus.
Where it is a clear crime ,even FIR should be lodged and criminal cases booked against these perpetual offenders .
Govt should act promptly to fix responsibility and resolutely deal with them ,irrespective of their big or small positions.
AF have to be assertive and cannot be passive at these compounding anti mily and anti national activity .
A F should actively support Govt to fix these persons at high places.
My dear younger brother, Well done. What I feel, a PIL must be filed in High Court/Hon'ble Supreme Court for submitting false information to 7th CPC and 7th CPC to trust false information without verifying the truth.
ReplyDeleteIt now emerges that on the Dis Pen issue falsified/doctored data & info was given to 7CPC covertly (via insiders) directly from CGDA, bye passing the MOD .
ReplyDeleteApparently this was done to avoid vetting by the MOD ( & reaction of Service HQ,s ), so very essential for this covert plan to succeed.
If indeed it was so then the matter needs to be investigated & those responsible for this fraud & criminal breach of trust need to be identified & dealt with.
Also if it is true then the entire recommendations of 7CPC on the issue are liable to be quashed/set aside as the input info was incorrect/Falsified & not taken thru proper channels ie MOD, the concerned ministry.No comments were asked from Service HQs. So secretive was it kept that 7CPC did not even discuss/raise this issue during its interaction visits with the military & veterans all over the country !!.
Overall it was a neatly executed Surgical Strike against the Armed Forces by CGDA, +- - +--&---etc , achieving total surprise & deception ,with even Service HQs, with their vast intel resources, not knowing When,How & by Who all it was executed.
Since Civil side/CAPF were not targetted,the Obvious Aim & Purpose was to Degrade the Morale of All Ranks of the Armed Forces .But why, & Who benefits, considering that MORALE is THE most important battle winning factor?? Not difficult to Guess, only our Adversaries !! Could this have been engineered by them ?? Calls for a thorough investigation.
A PIL is a must in this case and also a criminal case should be initiated. The intent of concocting the facts was indeed with a criminal case intent to deny the correct benefits to the people....
ReplyDelete