THOUGHTS ON FUTURE COURSE FOR VETERANS

          The Veterans are at a cross road, having become disillusioned over the last over one year because of the obduracy of the government in meeting their aspirations. In the intervening months since the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission were made public in end March 2008, much has happened in coaxing the government to listen and then act. The government has no doubt listened but their actions, or lack of them, are partial (some would say minuscule) at best. The veterans had employed many means to make the government relent or at least understand what was compelling the veterans to adopt varied means to highlight the issues that were bothering them. The manner of highlighting was also varied as it ranged from the traditional methods of approaching the government (what is known as through proper channels), as well as varied degrees of confrontational approaches.

          As is well known, over a period of time the veterans have formed a large number of pressure groups, all with the objective of getting their grievances redressed. The exact number of veteran organizations is not known, but my rough estimate is that there must be around 200, big and small, although the well-known ones are probably a score or so. A large number of veterans groups exist in our rural areas, which were formed largely to show a clout locally in various elections at the local, regional, state and even all-India levels. There is also an element of social interaction amongst such groups as most erstwhile soldiers still feel happier in associating with faujis. The ambit of these groups is for getting a better deal from the various Sainik Boards, in terms of changes in pension regulations, canteen facilities, medical treatment and what state and local governments provide by way of grants, doles and freebies. These small local organizations have still not joined the larger organizations, except perhaps that they are dormant members of the IESL, the oldest organization and some have their sympathies with other veteran organizations.

          My aim of giving the above overview is that unless we visit our rural areas and interact with the rural-based veterans, the existence of such mini organizations is unlikely to be known or appreciated.  All these mini organizations need to be co-opted by the bigger organizations, both to raise their memberships and to get them in the mainstream of the various actions that the bigger organizations are likely to take in the future.

          The bigger organizations, numbering about 20, include IESL, IESM, AIEWA, RDOA, Sainik Sangh, some very active organizations in Punjab, H P and Uttranchal. Then there are organizations at Ghaziabad, Meerut, Chennai, other places in Tamil Nadu and so on. Of course there are the two major Foundations – Navy and Air Force and many independent veterans who are well disposed to take up issues with the government or its functionaries. One could continue to list them but it is unlikely to add to the purpose of this paper. My reasons for listing them are that despite all organizations trying out their own methodology, the position remains the same as it was when the veterans had first decided to approach /confront the government.

The various organizations had their own methodology for seeking redressal, from an agitational mode to lobbying to the through proper channels modes. None have really succeeded although all organizations lay a claim to so-called achievements. I do not think we need to go into any details, although many may not agree with me.

Where do we stand today? The government (read bureaucracy) has played a clever trick, resulting in the public perception that all aspirations of the veterans, especially relating to OROP have been met.

That should be enough background.

The important question is what the veterans should do now. I feel there are the following options:

Ø  The first and most important is unity. I am sure every veteran has been hurt by the allegations and counter-allegations by various organizations in the last over one year. Many attempts at unity have fallen by the way side, mainly because each organization was convinced it was right. It needs to be understood that however much the veterans try, no organization is willing to merge with any other. Therefore, the solution needs to be found wherein each organization retains its individuality and a central body is created as an apex entity. Such an apex body will only be accepted by most veteran organizations (still not all), if there is adequate representation of at least the major organizations. Please look at the example of CII or NASSCOM. They steer the common issues of the individual organizations they represent, with the government and others. The CII has a membership of over 7800 organizations and NASSCOM has more than 1200 members. Their Executive Councils are elected bodies, with a fixed tenure. Modalities of a structure for the veterans can be worked out through discussions, but all veteran organizations must then conform without reservation. If the veterans are unable to achieve unity, nothing would be achieved.

Ø  Lobbying and convincing everyone that grave injustice has been done that needs to be set right. Lobbying is not only with the government – political leadership as well as the bureaucracy, but also with the people. We have seen how obtuse the functionaries of the government are, so although one may expect little from them, lobbying does pay in the long run. The veterans should also launch a concerted campaign to inform the people of the perfidious actions of the government and convince them that the veterans of all ranks continue to be left high and dry. This is not something that can be achieved in a short while, but sustained efforts would be needed. The people must be convinced that all claims of the government that OROP has been given must be exposed as lies.

Ø  There can be a maximum of 553 members of the Lok Sabha and 250 of the Rajya Sabha. The veterans should depute an equal number from their organizations and be tasked to befriend and brief an MP each repeatedly till he understands what the veterans are talking about. It can start with general knowledge about the military and security issues and lead to what is troubling the veterans, as well as its adverse impact, if not tackled at an early date. By pooling resources of various veteran organizations, this type of manpower can easily be found and formed, from within the NCR. In their constituencies, local veterans can assume this responsibility.  The veterans should also concentrate equally on opposition MP’s and keep reminding the concerned parties that the veterans had supported them and pay-back time has come.

Ø  There are many who are convinced that the various agitations that were launched, like the few rallies, dharna and fast, medals return and other similar events did force the government to act. I do not think so. The effects of such events are only felt by the people and the government if there is wide media coverage. This was absent, except in the initial stages of ‘medals returning’. This also reduced considerably when it became a routine event. Any event the veterans organize in future must have the support of the media consistently; otherwise little is likely to be achieved. This translates to cultivating the media in the same way as the parliamentarians.

Ø  Some excellent suggestions have been mooted by a number of veterans. Without naming them, for those not named will take umbrage, I would suggest that they be viewed deliberately and with an open mind.

Ø  My view is that unless the veterans prepare the ground (shaping the battlefield in military parlance), no attempt be made to re-start a confrontational approach. Once the ground work has been laid, a concerted plan must be put into effect. What does preparing the ground entail? In my view it includes the following:

-       Unity amongst the various veteran groups. In this, the first step may well be unity of purpose, as even this seems to be lacking at present.

-       The overall focus should be on the long term and not trying to get issues resolved in a hurry. The veterans have woken up after decades; to hope that they will be able to resolve their problems overnight is not possible.

-       Convincing the people of the justness of the veteran’s case.

-       A more broad-based objective, covering various facets of problems of the veterans and not focusing exclusively on OROP.

-       The present perception that the veterans are only seeking more money needs to be changed. The way to do it is to project lowering of status and not lowering of pay/pension. The latter would automatically follow.

-       Close interaction with the serving community, as it is the only way to get maximum synergy. We need to disabuse the notion that the actions of the veterans will embarrass the serving community. Such notions have little basis, in my view. It is the veterans who have to make such overtures and not the other way around. The serving have the option to go along covertly or overtly or even back out, but this must not deter the veterans.

-       Building up the various veteran organizations by major membership drives.

-       Personal reaching out to the rural-based veterans and weaning them away from their present exclusive focus on the different types of elections.

-       Periodic interaction with the Department of Ex Servicemen Welfare and the personnel directorates of the services headquarters, as also with the Ministers.

I think I have already made this paper too long. Therefore I will now conclude by saying that it is better to introspect and dwell on issues in detail then to launch oneself in a half-cocked manner.