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Journalism of Courage
Last year, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a key proposal that would have led to an increase of at least 50% in the monthly ex gratia awarded to officer cadets who sustained major disabilities during their training at military institutes leading to their medical discharge before they could join the armed forces.
Seventeen months later, that file is gathering dust somewhere in the corridors of power.
According to sources, the proposal, which would require an additional compensation of about Rs 11.43 crore per year, is caught between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Finance — with no resolution in sight.
The plan was cleared by Rajnath Singh soon after he chaired a meeting on March 1, 2024, with the families of such officer cadets and the top defence hierarchy, including Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, the then Defence Secretary, and Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW).
The meeting outlined the contours of the problem and proposal solution:
* Commissioned officers who are medically discharged get a disability pension with two components: service element and disability element. The service element is 50% of the pay last drawn and the disability element is 30% of the pay last drawn (for 100% disability adjusted proportionately for lower disability percentages).
* Officer cadets who are medically discharged during training, before being commissioned in the armed forces, get what is called an ex gratia payment with service and disability elements. The ex gratia is calculated based on the stipend (approximately Rs 54,000 per month) allotted for the fourth and final year of training.
* It is at the next step that a key mismatch impacts officer cadets. The disability element for 100% disability is set at Rs 16,200 (30% of the fourth-year stipend of Rs 54,000 per month). But the service element is calculated at 50% of the minimum basic salary of a Central Government employee, not the stipend.
As a result, while the disability element in the ex gratia is Rs 16,200, the service component is only Rs 9,000 (there are additional components such as Rs 6,750 per month for attendants, etc, taking the maximum amount provided, based on degree of disability, to about Rs 40,000 per month).
It is this anomaly that the proposal approved by Rajnath Singh aims to to correct.
Documents accessed by The Indian Express show that the latest proposal calculates the service component of ex gratia payment as 50% of the stipend, thus increasing the amount from the current Rs 9,000 per month to around Rs 28,000 — an overall hike of at least 50% in the maximum amount granted.
Apart from the ex gratia, cadets with 100 per cent disability are covered under an insurance scheme of up to Rs 15 lakh. But those insured have to pay the premium, and parents of such cadets say the money does not amount to much when you consider that their children have to spend the rest of their lives on a wheel chair or a bed, requiring medical assistance every day.
The Defence Ministry’s latest proposal acknowledges the hardships faced by these cadets and their families, underlining that the existing financial assistance is barely sufficient to cover the high costs of private medical treatment and care.
While the number of affected cadets is relatively small, the proposal argues that their challenging circumstances and the Government’s lack of support discourages young and talented persons from pursuing a career as officers in the Armed Forces.
According to Government records, around 500 officer cadets have been medically discharged since 1985 from military institutes, such as National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, due to varying degrees of disability incurred during training.
For the record, fourth-year training for cadets at the NDA takes place at other institutes like IMA in Dehradun for Army cadets, Air Force Academy in Dindigul and Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala. IMA and the Air Force and Naval academies also directly admit cadets for training to become officers through the Combined Defence Services exam.
‘Injured in prime of youth’
The age cap for entry to the NDA is 16.5-19.5 years, and for Combined Defence Services 20-24 years. “This means most of whom were in their teens or early 20s, the prime of youth, when they suffered disabilities during military training, leaving them with shattered lives,” said Ankur Chaturvedi (51), who was medically boarded out of NDA in 1996 due to a boxing injury in his sixth term.
“Enhancement of ex gratia will be the first move towards resolution of other important issues faced by these cadets, such as changing the nomenclature to disability pension and the grant of ex-serviceman (ESM) status,” said Chaturvedi, now a corporate professional who is helping these cadets fight for their rights.
The tag of disability pension entitles these cadets to a better payout while ESM status gives them access to free treatment at military facilities and other empanelled hospitals through the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), as well as career resettlement options.
Unlike soldiers in this situation who get ESM status, rules for officer cadets stipulate that disability pension and an ESM status are only available to those who have been officially commissioned after completing training.
Medical records show these disabilities range from paralysis to brain damage and spinal cord injuries, leaving many of these cadets dependent on their families and attendants for even the most basic daily needs. And according to their families, the ex gratia of up to Rs 40,000 per month depending on the extent of disability is far short of what they need.
According to Chaturvedi, there is no legal, moral or ethical reason to deny disability pension to cadets. “For any job, training is mandatory, and in every sphere, trainees are treated on a par with regular employees for the grant of disability benefits. The provision of disability pension for cadets was in effect from 1944. In 1996, the then government created an absurd term called ‘monthly ex gratia’ instead of continuing with disability pension, which became the root cause of all problems,” he said.
Chaturvedi said that since then, there have been efforts to ensure rightful dues for disabled cadets, including a disability pension and ESM status (see timeline).
“We had come very close to a resolution multiple times, particularly in 2015, when former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar agreed to correct this issue. Unfortunately, Government officials entrusted with implementing this move came up with technical objections,” he said, adding that there has been “a positive shift in attitude” under current DESW Secretary Dr Nitin Chandra.
According to Chaturvedi, Singh had also approved a separate proposal to extend resettlement facilities to cadets who are medically boarded out for disabilities suffered during military training.
Such resettlement opportunities, which ex-servicemen are granted, would typically include various self-employment schemes, among other benefits. But, even that is yet to be implemented on ground, he said. “Their sacrifices are immense. Righting this long-standing wrong will earn the Government the gratitude of every patriotic Indian,” Chaturvedi said.
The Indian Express sent a detailed questionnaire on the plight of these cadets and the fate of the Government’s latest proposal to the ministries of defence and finance, the Integrated Defence Staff HQ for NDA, and the Army for IMA. No comment was received.
29 yrs later, still waiting
Despite multiple representations, recommendations and discussions since 1974, disability pension or ex-serviceman status remains elusive for cadets who were medically discharged after suffering disabilities during military training:
1996: Policy for monthly ex gratia not considered pension despite a provision for pension on ad hoc basis in the 5th Pay Commission (Para 164.23).
2006: ESM status granted, but only for soldiers.
2009: Proposal from Service HQ to link ex-gratia to officer’s salary denied; ex-gratia linked to the minimum salary of a Central Govt employee.
2014: 7th Pay Commission denies demand for disability pension to these cadets, stating they were on training and not on duty.
2015-2022: Experts recommend a change of name of ex-gratia to disability pension and its linking to a stipend. Letter granting disability pension and ESM status to these cadets is drafted but not signed. Judge and Advocate General recommends amendments be made to pension rules.
