NEW YEAR 2011 -THE EXPLOITATION PHASE OF IESM by Col Raman

NEW YEAR 2011 -THE EXPLOITATION PHASE OF IESM
Col TN Raman

Let us Welcome the New Year 2011!!

In a short time of less than three years, IESM has captured the imagination of the ESM all over our country & abroad. The reason is the right strategy adopted, that is to concentrate on the battle of the minds instead of the numbers on ground. All ESM Organisations, barring a few, have readily accepted the leadership provided by IESM to challenge the authority of the Bureaucracy & the Political masters of the day. The Govt had to concede many of our demands, which were being shelved for many years.

The year 2010 saw the consolidation of IESM, which had its AGM. The Chairman, Lt Gen Raj Kadyan, was re-elected turning out a result far better than the Bihar Assembly Election, which brought back Nitish Kumar. All other appointments were for the taking, since none volunteered. However, a few had to sacrifice their comforts for the sake of the Movement, so that the vacancies could be filled. The Members of the Governing Body, most of whom were re-elected, were doing the same for the past two years, & will continue to do the same in the next two years also. Our salute to their dedication.

Like any growing Movement, it had its own internal turmoil, with some leading lights deciding to quit & some other elements knocking at the doors of Courts, in futile exercises. In all these affairs, a valuable lesson was learnt. “No one is indispensable in an Organisation”. On the other hand, if an Organisation has to become personality oriented, it is better that the same is dispensed with, at the earliest.

From my point of view, from the south of our Country, the Movement has caught the imagination of the ESM. On just a mail from me, Veterans contributed voluntarily to the tune of more than Rs 40,000/-. Still some more are pending with me to be sent to the treasurer. Such spontaneous reaction speaks volumes about the spirit of our Veterans. Veterans of Tamilnadu, do care about our Movement.

The year 2011 will be a challenging one for the IESM. Are we as a team competent to reciprocate the faith of all the Veterans, whether they are our Members or not? This will be real exploitation phase.

Many teams of IESM are already working on different aspects of the Veterans Welfare, covering ECHS, CSD, Pension Guidance, Grievances Redressal Commission recently formed by the Govt on the orders of SC, cases being progressed under the AFTs & last but not the least the OROP. The time has come to put in action the Road Maps drawn so far & also update the maps with the experience gained in the last two years plus.

Let the success not blunt our minds to the reality. We have tremendous responsibility towards our Nation & our brothers & sisters who are serving the Nation through the Armed Forces. Any indecent act, un- soldierly behaviour or unnecessary comments on the present Brass, may not be viewed with sympathy by our own Veterans. We have to exercise more caution while making a political statement. It would be better if such statements are avoided.

With passage of time, the existing members of the Governing Body are growing older. Our top priority must be to bring in more youngsters as replacements. This effort should start from the State Levels.


The greatest achievement of IESM was to educate all the ESM that they have a voice, which must be raised when injustice is done. We really acted as the “Voice of Veterans”. Let us continue to do so.

Jai Hind!!

Veteran Raman