Tuesday, July 17, 2012

OROP


On 15 July 2012 18:50, Sailesh Ranade wrote:

Dear Veterans,

1. I have been closely following the situation with regard to OROP. I feel disgusted that veterans are crying like spoilt children for some fancy toy. This Tamasha has been going on for a few years now with no end in sight. In fact, we have brought this upon ourselves.

2. Now let us come to the main point. Veterans are not children. So stop behaving like children. If you think that the government (politicians and bureaucrats) is going to listen to you, forget it. Have you noticed that the government will notice you only if you do dharnas, hunger strikes, rallies and resort to things like rasta / rail roko. See how every other department is holding the government to ransom. 3. So what needs to be done? Get your butts off the ground and pull your finger out. Following points come to my mind readily.

•Bring in a Tall and Clean Leader. Only one relevant present day ICON comes to my mind.

Gen VK Singh. He has no financial historical baggage.

•If you cannot muster VKS, bring in Anna Hazare.

•Join Forces. Today we have all sorts of Brigadiers, Major Gen, Lt Gen and even a Major who run different types of organisation. Come together, but keep the tainted out. I used to see a lot of Generals on TV in the last 6 months. Dump them. Also dump all the military Governors and High Commissioners. They were all corrupt.

•Form a Political Party. Call it the “Patriotic Front“. I guarantee, at least 100 seats in Parliament if there are clean candidates. The number of ex-servicemen and servicemen is easily close to 4 million. There is no bigger homogenous force in the world. If you include the paramilitary, it will easily touch 10 million. When in Parliament, make your own laws. Pass any bill in favour of the veterans.

•The statement that “we will play by the rules” needs to be discarded. When your future is being decided by corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and judiciary, there is simply no future. Hold rallies, strikes, rasta roko etc. I am sure Delhi and surrounding areas can easily muster more people than what Anna Hazare and Ramdev could organise. And these two gentlemen brought the government on its knees.

•As military veterans, we should consider all means. All is fair in love and war. The result will be quick and the lesson will sink in once and for all. We don’t need cry babies on TV. Act now. The mood is against the government. India desperately needs a revolution. A minor storm by military veterans will be enough.

Regards,
S Ranade
An excellent idea. Implementable.
Regards,
Co
l Rajan Comment: Why are IESM and IESL the two large Veteran organisations losing steam? Is it because their primary aim is now refocussed on collection of funds and spending more and doing less for the Veteran community? What has happened to improvement of ECHS, CSD and Resettlement? We hear nothing on ground.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

IESM Pune team visit to Shegaon in Sangli district


rom: Ravindra Pathak Date: Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 9:17 AM Subject: [IESM_GovBody] Rally At Shegaon 13 Jul 2012 To: gove body IESM Dear Sir

The Pune Team of

Brig Luktuke

Dr Mrs Sardesai

Gp Capt S S Phatak

Wg Cdr Kalavar

Self

visited Shegaon in Sangli district at the invitation of the local ESM.

The meetting was attended by about 75 people and we were able to enroll 37 members(5 JCO,17 Jawans and 15 widows.)

We were able to solve two pension cases on the spot and they received their dues immediately as the bank was on the ground floor of the place where meeting was held.

We were also able to convince them to form an association which they have agreed.Importance of joining ECHS was also explained to them.Their problems with ECHS were the same that are known to us.

Wg Cdr Kalavar is requested to upload the photos of the visit to me for sending to GB. Brgds

Ravi

Cdr Ravindra Waman Pathak I.N. (Retd) 1 Surashri,1146 Lakaki Road Shivajinagar

Thursday, July 12, 2012

EMPANNELED HOSPITALS AT NAGPUR


To Date: 12 July 2012 Maj Gen J George MD ECHS Central Org ECHS Mod Lines Delhi Cantt-10

EMPANNELED HOSPITALS AT NAGPUR

Dear General George 1. We just spoke about empanelled hospitals at Nagpur. Mail received from veteran Ramesh Bora is enclosed.

2. There is need to get Super Specialty Hospitals empanelled to ECHS. I looked at the list of CGHS empanelment and I found there are 36 hospitals on the list. I am enclosing the same for your information. You may like to get approval of the Govt. for all CGHS empanelled hospitals deemed to be empanelled to ECHS. Simultaneously, we should either outsource the processing of Bills or introduce automation at more locations and in due course cover the entire country. You are aware that good super specialty hospitals are withdrawing from the ECHS for delay in clearance of their bills.

3. In the mean time local formation i.e. HQ MAINT COMMD IAF may be asked to play an active role in getting the local hospitals to opt for ECHS.

With Regards,

Jai Hind Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM

Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement Mobile: 9312404269, 0124-4110570 Email : satbirsm@yahoo.com

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Kargil replied, Mumbai remains by Col Karan Kharb




Dear All,

A nice article reflecting the sentiments of every Indian Citizen from Karan.

Regards,

Brigadier V Mahalingam

Kargil replied, Mumbai remains

India’s response to Mumbai 26/11 attacks has been nothing more than whining and complaining as a hapless victim which neither deters future attacks nor does it inspire confidence in her own security apparatus.

Karan Kharb

Mumbai 26/11 was an aggression that had all the ingredients of a ‘covert military operation’ innovatively planned, meticulously coordinated and audaciously executed through un-uniformed Pakistani ‘soldiers’ – call them mercenaries if euphemism be so necessary for those un-enrolled combatants trained and motivated under the aegis of Pakistan Army, Navy and ISI. Quite understandably, it comforts Pakistan to disown these ‘soldiers’ and label them as ‘non-state actors’ absolving itself of any involvement in the anti-India crusade. Pakistan’s mask of innocence has, however, been ripped off by confessions made by Kassab – the pawn in the forefront on 26 November 2008 and other irrefutable evidence already aplenty. More revelations from David Headley and Rana picked up by the FBI in the US have added more substance to it. If more was still needed, it is now overflowing from Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal whose depositions have now exposed how the entire operation was being remotely guided and controlled from the ‘Control Room’ in Karachi.

Somehow, India’s response has been embarrassingly feeble despite overwhelming evidence. We started by sending lists of Pakistani individuals identified as culprits in the episode to the Pakistan Government and quite naively expected them to punish them. On which principles of statecraft do we expect that the Pakistan Government (read ‘Army’) would ever admit its complicity in the crime and proceed against those it hired, trained and sent to do what they did? ‘Patriots all, they deserved highest of the awards on earth and zannat in the heavens’ - that’s how their masters in Karachi and Islamabad would seem to think. Little wonder that every piece of evidence supplied by India has been trashed by Pakistan. Surely, there must be better ways to deal with aggressions like these.

Every sovereign state is entitled to defend itself against all kinds of aggression or inimical actions with all its might. India too must act in a manner that Pakistan is made to genuinely believe that the retaliation to any misadventure originating from her territory would be sure, swift and severe. Look how we have decimated our own credibility in the recent past. After the attack on our Parliament in December 2001, the Army was mobilised and deployed all along Indo-Pak border – but only to return home empty handed after nearly a year of un-fought Op Parakram. Registering our protest against Pak sponsored terror attacks, we have frequently disrupted the summit meetings and Samjhauta bus service only to resume again without extracting much from our protests. We have created enough precedence on the basis of which India’s response to future such attacks can be foreseen and predicted.

The world, however, has better models and precedents to go by in dealing with such hostile acts by rogue states. Israel, for example, has developed her model of credible deterrence and frequently demonstrated her resolve through severest counter-blows to the originators of crime, no matter where they hid. Fear of hostile international opinion has not discouraged her bold initiatives and in preserving her sovereignty Israel has never shied away from delivering crippling blows often to the consternation of even her trusted ally, the United States. Now, compare ‘Operation Entebbe’ with India’s response to India’s shameful ‘Operation Kandahar’ in December 1999.

Another model is the United States of America. Whole world watched how the US responded to the al Qaeda terror attack on her vital installations on 11 September 2001. The US carried the war to the land from where it had originated and not only wrested Afghanistan from al Qaeda-Taliban clutches but continued the pursuit until Osama bin Laden was raided and killed in his den deep inside Pakistan. China, Russia, France, Germany, UK and many others have often carried out swift surgical operations by mobilising their Special Forces and striking cross border targets leaving the harbouring country under awe. Even countries like North Korea and South Africa have clearly defined and unambiguously declared policies which have been reinforced by their actions. India too has a highly trained set up of Special Forces with capabilities to swiftly move and strike anywhere across the globe. What we do not yet have is an unambiguous national policy to deal with acts of terror and covert attacks like Mumbai, Red Fort, Parliament et al.

The Pak doctrine of covert military operations is not new. It dates back to 1948 and has been resorted to nearly in all conflicts between the two neighbours since then. What could be more shocking than the fact that Pakistani soldiers were infiltrating in the guise of local shepherds to occupy heights in Kargil at a time when the two Prime Ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif, were signing the Lahore Declaration in Feb 1999 promising to find solutions to problems through peaceful means with mutual cooperation. The Indian Army had to fight a limited war and sacrificed precious lives to beat back this military adventurism of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif is on record having admitted that he was kept in the darkness by his Army Chief, Gen Parvez Musharraf and the Army’s Kargil misadventure did not have his Government’s approval. Going by the post-Mumbai official posturing, how ridiculous would it seem if India were to despatch nominal roll and proofs of the Pakistani soldiers killed at Batalik, Tiger Hill and other Kargil heights requiring their commanders including Gen Parvez Musharraf to be prosecuted for their misdeeds?

If the Army could ignore their Prime Minister in 1999, the Pak Government is in far worse disarray today and, therefore, there is every likelihood of the Army/ISI having acted on their own in planning and deciding Mumbai 26/11. Remember President Zardari had offered to send the ISI Chief to Delhi soon after the Mumbai attacks. Next morning he was over ruled by the Army Chief, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani who said there was no question of the ISI Chief or any other official going to Delhi to assist in investigations or give clarifications. Imagine a Government having to maintain its sober countenance with such an over assertive and insolent Army on one side, hard-core Islamists and pro-Taliban maulvis on the other, and a hyper-active Supreme Court gunning for the President from the top. Logically prudence suggests that while meaningful negotiations would run through complexities in such a chaotic environment, lightning commando strikes on pre-selected targets like the ‘Control Room’ complex in Karachi and Terrorist training camps deep inside Pakistan could have achieved better results with stunning effect.

Sadly, however, India’s response to Mumbai 26/11 attacks has been nothing more than whining and complaining as a hapless victim which neither deters future attacks nor does it inspire confidence in her own security apparatus. Anyway, the time and opportunity for quick and meaningful retaliation has been lost long ago. Asking and expecting the Pak Government to prosecute Pak citizens found involved in the Mumbai attacks is too much. But not all is over yet. At this belated stage too, India can still proceed decisively in a manner that would display her resolve and competence to deal with the guilty – be it the state or individuals – effectively. There is an immediate need for India’s top politico-bureaucratic policy makers to make themselves abreast with the capabilities and limitations of the Armed Forces and other security agencies. Integrating them in the process of decision making, planning future safeguards, pre-empting enemy plans and delivering a swift and decisive retaliatory blow in the event of any future attack can go a long way not only in fine-tuning our response system but also in building up our credibility as an emerging global power. Likewise, even as we move ahead in the now-on now-off Indo-Pak confidence building parleys, it is strategically vital to introduce there an implicit suspicion – rather, belief – that India can choose any means of reprisal to avenge any recurrence of Pak exported or assisted attack. Alongside, Pakistan must also be made to visualise two aspects very clearly: One, Pakistan stands to gain far more from peace, friendship and cooperation with India in revitalising her economy through trade agreements and cheaper transit costs. Two, her policy of unleashing terrorism on India will hereafter become dangerously disadvantageous and highly unaffordable to it. These two aspects should be highlighted and projected to Pakistan and the world in absolute unambiguous terms sooner than later.

Kargil Divas on 22 Jul 2012 at Noida Sec 29 ...11AM-1 PM...High Tea for all...


Monday, July 9, 2012

(MAL) FUNCTIONING OF THE CANTEEN STORES DEPARTMENT (CSD)


PRESS RELEASE

Sir,

Press Release about functioning of the CSD is appended below for publication in your Most Esteemed Paper please .

With Warm Regards,

Your Sincerely,

Brig Harwant Singh (Retd) President , The All Defence Brotherhood (Regd) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PRESS RELEASE

(MAL) FUNCTIONING OF THE CANTEEN STORES DEPARTMENT (CSD)

1. Control of the CSD .Under the garb of ‘Welfare’ , the MOD has reportedly taken over control of the CSD and put it under the Department of the Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW) . The Defence Services would have hardly any say in policy formulation . It is one of the MOST unfortunate blow to the welfare of the serving and the retired soldiers (term includes Sailors and Airmen) and is an utterly negative step. It violates the time tested principle that ‘The USER must have a say and stake in running of any organisation’. It is pertinent to mention that the DESW is staffed purely by the civilians who at best are apathetic to the welfare of the Defence Services who may be deprived of the major portion of the of canteen profits which was used for the welfare of the soldiers .Takeover of the CSD by MOD must be resisted forcefully and status quo ante restored.

2. Availability of Cars and items Against Firm Demand (AFD) . For the last about two years supply of Cars and two wheelers through the CSD had been very meager and most erratic . Severe unrealistic restrictions have been put on the sale of the same , e.g. the NCOs and Jawans can buy a car once only in their life time . It is most unfair. Even the registration of a car is valid only for 15 years on the premise that by then it would be too old for use. When new and more fuel efficient models are coming up frequently , it is most unfortunate to put such restrictions . Release of funds to the CSD has also been reduced . When the consumers ‘Pay in Advance’, it is NOT understood why should the MOD not release funds IMMEDIATELY to the dealers . Non release of funds has resulted in the serving and retired soldiers being put to great inconvenience .

3. Range and Quality . Latest models of house hold goods and all ‘variants’ of automobiles are not available in CSD. Only those models are sold , which do not sell well in the market .The CSD, being a captive market, appears to have become a ‘Dumping Ground’ for less popular items . The CSD is being perceived to benefit the manufacturers more than the Services.

4. Procedures . Procedures to get AFD items are cumbersome . At present , apart from completing many formalities, the Serving and retired Defence personnel have to go to CSD depots like Ambala, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, etc, (in Punjab , Haryana and Chandigarh ), to deposit their bank drafts to get AFD items and then get the authorization slip for the dealer to provide them . For doing so the serving personnel have to get leave for a day or more . It is suggested that the procedures be simplified and arrangements be made that the bank drafts are deposited either with the local canteen of CSD or with the local dealers. Incase of cars/ scooters after taking delivery, they again have to go to CSD Depot again for its verification before the same are registered by the registration authorities . With today’s advance in electronics , including communications, it should be possible to simplify the procedures.

5. “Customer Satisfaction Survey” . To fulfill its stated role, the CSD should remain under the Army control . It should not only simplify its procedures but must provide all the household items, which are available in the market. Finally , let the MOD carry out a “Customer Satisfaction Survey” and find out the views of the Serving and Retired Soldiers whether they are happy with the functioning of CSD, along with the ‘Range’ and ‘Quality’ of the items supplied . This survey might be an eye opener.

Sd/-

{Brig Harwant Singh (Retd)} ,

Mohali (Punjab). President

09 July 2012

The All India Defence Brotherhood (Regd)