From the States

Chandigarh

Chennai

Guwahati

Disabled soldiers encounter a callous army

We sleep beneath the very sheet of protection our soldiers fight and sacrifice their lives to provide us with. However, as wretched irony would have it, what they get in return more often then not, and when they need it least, is the callous attitude of the Indian army, the very institution they risk their lives for on the battlefield.

There are several instances where a soldier has had to go through enormous amount of inconvenience and anxiety to collect his dues for a disability acquired by him while serving the Army, and that too his efforts have often been in vein.

Capt Reet M P Singh (retd), Vir Chakra, lost an eye and suffered crippling injuries while trying to recapture a village from the Pakistanis during the 1965 war in the Khemakaran sector. Today he is fighting another battle, this time against his own Army, to get his service dues.

Lt Col SS Sodhi (retd), president of the Ex-Servicemen Grievances Cell, repents that 50 per cent of the cases he has in hand concern glitches in disability pension. He added that it is unfortunate considering that almost 14 percent of soldiers return with some disability.

Another case is that of Capt Chanan Singh Sidhu (retd), who lost his right arm and suffered permanent injuries in his right leg in a landside on the Tibet border that killed a fellow officer of the 5 Paras in 1970. Released from the service in 1978 with 80 percent disability, he was told that being a short-service commission officer, he was entitled to pension only for two years and five months i.e. the period until his accident and not for his entire service of 10 years.

A disciplined soldier, Sidhu resigned himself to his fate until 2003 when his course-mate Capt S P S Gondara (retd) who had suffered a brain hemorrhage during service, won a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC), giving him full pension. This was in accordance with the Army Rules, which decree that if a short-service officer's disability is 80 percent or more, he will be treated on par with a regular officer as far as pension matters are concerned.

The feisty Sidhu, who drives all over Punjab with one arm, also approached the HC and even won the case but now the Defense Ministry has filed an SLP appealed against the orders of the HC in the Supreme Court.

Sidhu who also received a letter from the President sanctioning the full pension wonders in anger how the Defense Ministry can challenge its own rules! Sidhu is however, determined to tale his fight to the apex court after not getting any pension from the army.

There are other soldiers like Subedar Dharam Pal Singh (retd) of Badwali village near Mohindra, who retired in 2005 with 20 percent disability after 28 years of service. His disability pension had been suddenly discontinued by the Medical Adviser of Pension on the plea that he was suffering from a constitutional disease not entitled to pension.

Then there is the wheelchair-bound Naik Raghubir Singh (retd) of the Ministry Police, who is fighting the order of the Survey Medical Board, which had downgraded his disability even though Civil Surgeon, Ropar, has declared him 90 percent disabled.

Though the quantum of disability pension is not exactly generous, considering that it ranges from Rs. 2,6000 for an officer to Rs. 1,9000 for a JCO and Rs .2,550 for others and, it's a considerable amount for a retired soldier.

Caption Reet MP Singh (retd) justifiably stated that it is a crying shame that a person who is willing to risk his life for a theoretical concept like patriotism, is made to run from pillar to post for getting his dues. "The Army must realize that unless it starts looking after its soldiers, it will never have enough recruitment".

Source: Disabled by an indifferent army. Indian Express, Chandigarh, 21 June 2006.

Top

A Different Dangal

When the world was in the grip of serious soccer fever, hordes of people from shimla and around gathered to cheer more than 200 wrestlers batting it out in the dangal. First they came in trickles, then in hordes till a huge crowd swept the Ramlila grounds in Boileauganj like a wave. They were all there for their love of the good old kushti (Indian style wrestling).

The annual dangal (wrestling competition) has being organized there since 1970 and has been attracting wrestlers from all over the North India, Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, et al - besides from all over Himachal Pradesh. Prakash Chand had lost his leg in an accident but has never since lost a wrestling match.

This 28yeras old shopkeeper and a part time truck driver from Arki in Solan district has wrestled one legged for 12 years now. Crowds cheer him up as he hops on to the akhara for his match at the Lakhdata Dangal contest in Boileauganj. True to his reputation, he does not lose there either.

Recognition is all that he looks far at such wrestling contest and the audience gave him his due, "It cannot be a livelihood for it pays less. Yet it can be a way of living for it teaches a lot," says Prakash. The game is played for peace and prosperity. And in the rural areas, apart from being an occasional source of recreation, wrestling has also inspired the youth to stay away from drugs.

Prakash says he is not alone; there is a whole league of such extraordinary men of dangal in Himachal Pradesh. He quickly scans through the 200 wrestlers who are participating here, to find his friends Jaikaran from Mandi.

J K Pehalwan (Jaikaran) had lost both his hands in an electric shock a year's back, which put him out of his job of a plumber. But this hardy man stepped on to the akhara and became a heartthrob of the rustic game. Dangal has given a fair opportunity to physically challenged men in the villages to prove their mettle.

"The game is all about skill, which is required for channeling the power of a wrestler. A person with less power but better skill can also win," says JK.

Most men are like Prakash and J K who travel around on slim budgets looking for such contests. But some of them are like Amit, who comes from a rich business family of Haryana and is a Winner of the Choti Mali (Medium weight finals) here for the past three years. He even represented the country at an international event in Germany in the years 2002.

Source: Hem Lata Verma , Physically challenged men take the challenge, Indian Express Chandigarh 20 June 2006.

Top

Aspiring for an amenable world

The Persons with Disabilities Act provides that buildings and transport should be made more accessible to the disabled. In spite of this, little has been achieved in this direction so far. However, marking a break from the trend of indifference towards the anguished disabled, official and academics have urged architects to adopt disabled-friendly designs to make buildings and public transport systems more accessible to the handicapped.

A message to this effect was conveyed at the inauguration of a short-term training programme on 'Disabled Friendly City' for teachers and planners at the Anna University. The State Commissioner for the Disabled V.K. Jayakodi explained how "universal designs" would make structures accessible to the differently abled.

However, responsibility for the disabled does not lie with government alone. It is the duty of the society at large to be sensitive to the requirements of the disabled. The Social Welfare Department Director V. Thangavelu was sensitive to this issue when he stated that apart from the government, individuals and society have to do their bit (for the disabled).

Source: Disabled-friendly designs stressed. The Hindu, Chennai, 22 June 2006.

Top

Guardians for disabled majors - A blessing for the disabled

Natural guardians are normally the parents of a child. A minor is considered unfit to take decisions for him/her self and protect his/her own interests and property. Thus besides their natural guardians (usually their parents), legal guardians are appointed for persons under the age of 18. Once the minor attains maturity, the guardianship ceases automatically.

However, there are people who despite attaining the age of 18 are unable to take care of themselves or their properties because of physical and mental deficiencies. But despite the wards physical or mental disability, even natural guardians or the guardians appointed under the unsympathetic Guardians and Wards Act, 1980 and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 cease to be guardians after their wards turn 18.

There are several examples in which even the natural guardians have had to face difficulties in looking after the interest and property of their child. In one such case, a widow was withheld from operating a bank account in son's name on the ground that her son had attained maturity.

Her plea to the authorities that her son was mentally retarded and that she was looking after his well-being was ignored. The unfortunate woman was at a loss as she deposited her entire income into that account and was now unable to withdraw it.

Prior to 1999, there was no law for the appointment of a guardian of a person with disability after attaining maturity. The National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act enacted in 1999, (hereafter referred to as National Trust Act), for the first time provided for the constitution of a body at national level for the welfare of the disable persons.

Prior to this Act, the Parliament had enacted other Acts like the Equal Opportunities, Protection of rights and Full Participation Act 1995, Rehabilitation Council Health Act 1987, which were similarly inclined.

However, for the first time provisions were made under the National Trust Acts, whereby a parent or a relative of a disabled person may apply to the local-level committee for the appointment of any person of their choice to act as a guardian for the disabled person.

Further, this act enables even any registered organization to apply for the legal guardianship of the disabled person with the consent of the natural guardian and the local-level committee. Duties of such guardians are provided in Section 15 and 16 of the Act and the latter are to submit an inventory of the immovable properties and all assets with a statement of all claims, debits and liabilities due to the disabled person.

Such guardians can be removed if it is found that they are abusing or neglecting their disabled ward or misappropriating or neglecting his/her property.

Thus, after the enactment of National Trust Act, 1999, parents of disabled children are empowered to represent them even after the latter attain the age of 18 years. As explained above another person of the parents' choice may also be appointed as a guardian in case they cannot look after their child for whatever reason.

Guardians appointed under the Act can operate bank and other accounts and can subscribe to company shares, bonds and securities on behalf of their ward. They may also enter into property dealings like the purchase and sale of immovable property; they may file income tax returns and pay taxes for and no behalf of the disabled person.

Under Regulation 11 of the Board of the Trust Regulations, the following persons can apply for guardianship: parents, siblings, relatives and NGOs. It may be noted that separate persons can be appointed as guardians of a disabled person for separate properties belonging to him/her. It is important to note that no guardian is entitled to any remuneration except administrative expenses.

The National Trust Act thus comes as a relief to anxious parents who may have been fretting over the well being of their child after their own demise.

Source: Guardian for a Major Person with Disability. The Sentinel, Guwahati, 19 June 2006.

Top