Zero tolerance for corruption in Army: Antony

Additional Rs 3000 for disabled pensioners
Read Maj Navdeep Singh comments: Click here
Posted On: 05-Jun-2010 13:57:19 By: Aakash Singh
Lucknow: Claiming that army personnel should follow the policy of Zero Tolerance towards corruption and refrain from making any Human Rights violation, Defence minister A K Antony today announced an additional payment of Rs 3000 per month to army personnel who retired on disability pension.

"Keeping in view the valour and sacrifice made by the army personnel, those who retired on disabled ground would get an additional Rs 3000 per month as constant attendant in additional to the disability pension," announced the minister while addressing the Army personnel during his day long visit to the Central Command Headquarters here.

He said some armed forces personnel were retained in service despite a disability that was attributed, or aggravated by military service, who forego a lump-sum compensation in lieu of disability.

"Now it has been decided to grant these army personnel as a disability element or war injury element at the time of their retirement or discharge in additional to pension and gratuity besides the constant attendant allowances of Rs 3000 per month," he disclosed.

Mr Antony said adopting Zero Tolerance towards corruption and refraining from Human Rights violation will substantially enhance the image of the Army and remove any existing misgivings.

''There is no doubt that the defence and security of the nation is in safe hands and all of your will always continue to preserve the glorious traditions of the Indian Army,'' he told the army personnel in his address.

"I urge the Commanders to think and devise ways and means to be more accessible to jawans beside there is also an urgent need to provide the best possible education facilities for the children of the defence personnel," he said.

Talking about the hardships faced by the army jawans and officers in the extremely difficult conditions and inhospitable terrain, Mr Antony said that keeping this in view the government had taken several welfare measures for the defence personnel including improvement quality of ration.

"We remain firmly committed to build upon and carry forward these measures and do a lot more for the all-round welfare of our jawans in future," he added.
Zero tolerance for corruption in Army: Antony

Can remaining apolitical reduce corruption and enhance National Security?
According to Raja Mohan, General Singh will have to check corruption in the Indian Army for the purpose of retaining public confidence and present the army as an attractive career option for young Indians. Civilian control of the Indian military has raised concerns about the role of the Army in contributing to the national security.
The apolitical nature of the army is attacked by Lt. Gen. Oberoi in direct terms, “The military also needs to modify the concept of being apolitical. The army’s long standing stance of keeping a distance from the leaders of political parties other than those of the party in power needs to be modified.
Read More
Views on ‘apolitical’ Character of the Indian Army By madhavibhasin Wednesday, April 7 4:00

Questions for the Veteran Community
Can Veterans assist in combating overall corruption in the Nation by being apolitical?
Or should Political leanings be dynamic depending on the merit of the Political Parties?
This is an endless debate... Veterans are the cream and patriotic citizens of the Nation and therefore need to listen to their inner conscience and not be swayed by blindly pursuing a static "apolitical role" which can be degenerative... as political parties keep changing their stance and are steeply embedded in undemocratic and corrupt norms... each election changes the equations of the power corridors...
Do very large numbers of ESM (as members) indicative of the organisation's strength to work for their common good and welfare?
Is locus standi with Power Corridors essential if ESM organisations are Registered under the Indian Society Act of 1860?
Are the Power Corridors truly democratic? If so why are all the favourable court rulings initially scuttled?
Should Veteran welfare organisations work in tandem or at crossroads?

Caution
Burning through or increasing or claiming/ clamouring for ESM membership in lakhs is not a decent approach to keeping our Veteran community active. It’s the worst thing you can do. You only develop transient relationships at best and, eventually, you run out of fresh blood and steam. It’s like a bad pyramid scheme. (A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, without any product or service being delivered.)

The best indicator of an ESM organisational strength and survival is how many active members you have? How many members have been participating for the last two years? A single active veteran is worth 1000 inactive members, maybe even a 1,00,000 dormant ones some of whom are not even traceable after 3 years. ESM organisations who depend only on numbers are certain to fail the Veteran community at large. Organisations have to take action today so that they will develop active ESM participation three years hence. Spend more time responding to welfare issues of members rather than raking up frivolous unconnected issues against others. ESM Organisations need to carry out an audit of their achievements rather than running down other brother organisations to score a brownie point! We need to remember our basic mission is Justice for our Jawans.