Satara’s oldest ex-soldier fights for govt aid to save his foot

Satararsquos oldest war veteran 98yearold Nivruti Maruti Barge had marched to the front as part of independent Indiarsquos brand new armed forces on September 10 1947 Today hersquos unable to even walk around properly in his house every step wracked with pain due to a gangrenous left footldquoI canrsquot avail free medical treatment at the military hospital or any empanelled healthcare facilities Nor can I afford treatment at a private hospital as I have no moneyrdquo says Barge who receives none of the benefits of an exserviceman as he was discharged with injury before he could complete the minimum service period of five yearsHe sustained an injury to his left leg in his second year of service during enemy firing in Jammu and Kashmir Two of his colleagues were killed in enemy action and Barge had a narrow brush with death during the operation when his leg was crushed by a sluff or miniavalanche Declared unfit for service Barge was discharged on December 31 1949Vilasrao Laxman Ghadage former Assistant District Sainik Welfare Officer in Satara says free medical care would help a lot of WWII sainiksrsquo familiesThe regulations for military recruits and their benefits are different today but as Barge is a veteran from the period immediately after Independence he was allotted limited benefits along with another group of soldiers who served in World War II prior to Independence Under this concession he currently receives a mere R11000 per month which barely supplements his familyrsquos meagre earnings of about Rs 2 lakh per year from farming soybean and sugarcane on their over oneacre plot On these earnings and his compassionate monthly payouts Barge supports his family of fourToday he is the sole living soldier in Satara district to receive benefits in this category apart from 192 widows of WWII soldiers who are all in their twilight years aged above 85 years Much like Barge these widows too depend entirely on the monthly payout to bolster their insufficient income from farming They all have the same pleamdashfor the war veterans to be recognised as exservice men ESM so that they can avail free medical care at military hospitals and subsidised rates for household needs at the military canteens Only the central government can make this happen as armed forces fall under the ambit of the Defence MinistryTherersquos a major hurdle in the communityrsquos hopes thoughmdashas soldiers in WWII which took place before the countryrsquos independence these men served as part of the British army fighting Germans After WWII some were discharged while a few went on to serve the Indian Army for a short duration However postindependence most of them who could not fit in the recruitment criteria of the Indian Army either quit or were rejected Since they either never served with the national army or didnrsquot complete their minimum tenure the government does not recognise them as ESMKalavati Jyotiram Shedge a resident of Anajpur village in Satara district holds a photograph of her husband who had served in the British Army during WWII Her family of five survives on her monthly benefitsAs per the statersquos Department of State Sainik Welfare records the number of WWII veterans and their widows has shrunk in the last seven years from 4155 to 1566 Most of them are aged 85 years and above and reside in rural regionsAs the group gets smaller and smaller with the demise of exsoldiers and widows Barge hopes the government will consider more benefits for the surviving members of the community ldquoI will appreciate if the government considers our diminishing numbers and allows us free medical treatment at military hospitals and also allows us canteen usagerdquoHis grandson Sahil 27 recalls that Bargersquos foot problem began seven months ago with a small wound on the left foot that refused to heal In the last four months gangrene set in leading to discolouration of his entire foot ldquoDoctors said his leg was not getting enough blood supply due to which the foot was becoming discoloured We spent over Rs 40000 for my grandfatherrsquos treatment at a private hospital We can no longer afford treatment at private hospitalsrdquo says Sahil who is torn between his gratitude to Barge who raised him and the practical limitations of the familyrsquos income ldquoI lost my father in a road accident when I was four years old My mother and grandfather raised me and my younger sister and supported our education We still have to repay loans running into a few lakhsrdquo says Sahil who is a senior associate at the Pune office of an MNC earning a monthly salary of Rs 25000 while his sister Shraddha pursues an MBA degreeRetired deputy education officer Vishwas Phadtare with his mother Dhorkabai 92 widow of WWII veteran Shrirang PhadtareldquoIt was difficult for my grandfather to even take care of his basic medical needs with R11000 Most of it is spent on his medical requirements and on basic household needs such as groceriesrdquo the grandson addsWorld War II was an atypical situationrdquo says Col Suhas Jatkar Retd Former Director at the State Sainik Welfare HQ who is presently heading the Military Polyclinic at Buldhana ldquoThis was not a regular army it was a force that was raised for the duration of the war so the basic conditions for recruitmentmdashphysical standards medical fitness agemdashwere loweredrdquo Once the war was over it was not possible for the British to sustain this kind of army so they discharged them ldquoThat is the reason these people were not taken care of Firstly they did not work for a pensionable service nor did they put in the number of years of service required to get pensionrdquo he addsThe outcry for financial assistance began in the late 1980s as the former soldiers got older and couldnrsquot work anymore says Jatkar ldquoWhen these people were discharged they must have been between 20 and 30 years old of working age By 1989 though they got to 6070 years and couldnrsquot work anymore As the elderly veterans died their widows were left without support in twilight years of their liferdquo he addsSince financial assistance to WWII soldiers is a state subject every state made necessary provisions as per their discretion The Maharashtra government on compassionate grounds from October 1989 decided to provide Rs 10 per day or Rs 300 per month After repeated campaigns for a hike this figure was raised over the years to the current Rs 11000 per month announced on January 1 this yearThe R5000 hike in the compassionate payout from Rs 6000 to Rs 1100 is thanks to the effort of Rupesh Rathod 40 who chased the ministers and political leaders at Mantralaya to push for this relief Sunday midday tracked down the farmer and tailor from Vithala village in Yavatmal district to hear his accountldquoMy grandmother Sundalbai Rathod has crossed 100 years this month She is the widow of Fulsing Rathod who served the British Army from July 1944 to December 1946 We had no clue about it until my grandfather died in 1991 We visited the District Sainik Welfare office and showed his discharge book and my grandmother got arrears of R300 per month since October 1989 Since then my grandmother continued to get this monthly amountrdquoOver time this rose to Rs 6000 but Rathod still found the amount paltry ldquoI started writing to and meeting politicians requesting for an increase The last requestmdashfor a hike from Rs 6000 to Rs 9000mdashwas raised as a Legislative Assembly Question by Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Rathod who hails from my district I also met CM Eknath Shinde and requested a hike of an additional Rs 2000 This was approved by the Finance department and the payout is now Rs 11000rdquo recalls Rupesh adding ldquoThis is the least we can do for WWII soldiers and their widows I will be writing to the new government post the election to allow them medical care and canteen facilities toordquoThe hike while welcome is still not enough to keep pace with inflation say the beneficiaries The payout is far less than the pensions recommendations made by the seventh Central Pay Commission for Class 4 state and central government employeesldquoEleven thousand rupees is less than the average monthly rural household income in India Given that the recipients are senior citizens their chances of supplementing this income are next to zero With their advanced age a single medical emergency can wipe out their savings unless they have recourse to free medical care and other social securityrdquo says Anupam Manur Professor of Economics Takshashila InstitutionldquoGiven that the survivors are so few in number and that it will not put a huge fiscal burden on the government the amount can be further increasedmdashideally by indexing it to the Consumer Price Index with yearly increments Even more importantly this group must be entitled to the social security and safety net that the armed personnel and government employees enjoy This could be a combination of access to subsidised or free health care access to education for the dependents and insurance coverage for emergenciesrdquo Manur addsThe WWII soldiers are just as concerned about what will happen to their children upon their death ldquoThe benefits are limited to the war veteran or his widow After their death the benefit stops unless the couple has a dependent daughter who is unmarried andor disabledrdquo says Vilasrao Laxman Ghadge 65 a retired subedar and former Assistant District Sainik Welfare Officer Satara ldquoThere are many families that are still dependent on this income for their daytoday expenses and most of it is spent on the medical care of the elderly family members Free medical care would help them to a great extentrdquo he addsOfficials in the Department of State Sainik Welfare who maintain records of the veterans and disburse financial aid to them agree that the sum is paltry but add that itrsquos unlikely to change any time soon ldquoOur department merely executes the decisions taken by the powers that be Once the state decides the amount we draw it from the treasury and transfer it to the beneficiariesrsquo bank accountsrdquo says an officialAnother officer adds ldquoWe are sure that more support should be provided for them but our hands are tied due to bureaucratic hurdles Sainik welfare is a low priority for expenditure planning as this is not a large vote bankrdquoRs 11000Monthly aid the veterans get from the Sainik Welfare Department1566No of WWII veterans and their widows in the state72No of beneficiaries in Mumbai city and suburbsFamilies speakKalavati Jyotiram Shedge Veteranrsquos widow 88lsquoMy husband Jyotiram had joined the army on December 17 1940 and continued serving until April 20 1947 At the time of discharge he was a Naik Subedar I have four dependentsmdashmy son Ankush daughterinlaw Swati and their two children Dheeraj 27 and Bhagyashree 24 Our only source of income is from farming and the family relies on the monthly payment from the government We are thankful to the government for increasing the amount from Rs 6000 to Rs 11000 The Rs 5000 hike means a lot to us But the government should allow us access to medical aid and canteen subsidies to offset rising costsrsquoVishwas Phadtare Retired deputy education officerlsquoMy father Shrirang Ramchandra Phadtare served in the British Army between 1941 and 1948 He belonged to the Maratha Light Infantry and was last posted in Motor Transport Department Belgaum After discharge he did some farming He died at the age of 65 My mother has agerelated health problems including high blood pressure and diabetes I take her to a private hospital for treatment but there are many widows who cannot afford thisrsquoAlso ReadlsquoIf our kids study English they wonrsquot be poor farmers like usrsquo