New Delhi: Bullets don’t discriminate between soldiers, so why does the govt? It’s a question that’s being raised by armed forces veterans who have served in multiple conflicts, including the 1965 and 1971 wars.The Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs) and the Short Service Commission Officers (SSCOs)—who have served from 5 to 14 years in the forces before being discharged — have been demanding pension and medical benefits since 2018. Earlier this week, the group under the umbrella of the All India Short Service Commissioned Officers Welfare Association faced another setback when the Delhi High Court asked the Armed Forces Tribunal to consider the petition.Association president Capt (retd) M S Uppal says, “We are back where we started. A group of officers had approached the AFT in 2018 and were told to petition the high court. Now, after waiting for justice for seven years, we are being sent back.”The 81-year-old was commissioned in 1970 and fought the 1971 war before being discharged after a decade of service. The officers say they have been given second-hand treatment despite fighting on the battlefield as equals.The demand for pension traces its roots back to the years following the 1962 Indo-China war. To rapidly expand the officer cadre, the govt inducted thousands of young men as ECOs between 1963 and 1965. SSC was introduced from 1965 onward. In the orders issued at that time, the govt had committed to the fact that “pension is under consideration”. However, there was little headway after that.In 2018, Uppal began petitioning the defence ministry, but there was no implementation despite verbal assurances. In 2019, Uppal — along with about 2,000 members who joined the association — approached the high court.Capt Rajinder Litt, who was commissioned in Sept 1978 and served over nine years in the Army says, “The govt’s policy is discriminating towards officers like us who have given the prime years of their lives to the Army. You can’t create a class within a class.”The association claims that lack of pension and medical benefits have only aggravated a discriminatory system. “We are treated badly as soon as we leave the service. People want to know why we were sacked,” Litt says. For most of the veterans, the jobs offered after a decade or more in service are security managers in companies. “This is not just humiliating, but has also made it very difficult for us to make ends meet,” Uppal says.The absence of pensions has defined the post-service lives of the officers. “I was thrown out after serving 10 years,” recalls Uppal, adding, “I used to do two jobs, just to support my children and send them to a good school.”Advocate Pallavi Awasthi points to the Army Act, adding, “Section 2A of the Army Act, 1950, covers officers without mentioning type of commission, which is defined in Section 3(xviii). The Act, therefore, recognises PCOs and SSCOs at par for all purposes.”
