Recently the government approved a package of measures for welfare of families of the defence personnel who have laid down their lives in the current operations and for the welfare of the injured (see box). Special care has been taken to provide for houses to the families of the deceased and disabled soldiers and to provide for the education of their children.

Also, for the first time, ex-gratia compensation has also been declared for soldiers who have suffered battle injuries. This compensation will be up to Rs 5 lakh.

The government has admitted that in the past there were very inadequate provisions for welfare of families of defence personnel killed in action or those with serious battle injuries.For example, orders were issued for the first time in September 1998 providing for a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh in case of death with retrospective effect from August 1, 1997.

Prior to this, the compensation was only Rs 2 lakh (that too only for casualties in counter-insurgency operations and not in the cases of death in action against enemy). Before May 1995, this amount was Rs one lakh and before August 1993, there was no ex-gratia compensation at all.

On the face of it, there seems to be no dearth of welfare schemes. But as in most such matters, it is in the implementation that the problems arise. It appears that it takes months before the money and schemes meant for war widows or the disabled reach them.

Operation Vijay has witnessed the loss of lives of many young officers and jawans and high rate of disability. All these war affected are in the dark about their entitlements. Who is to ensure that an illiterate widow in the village gets what the state has set aside for her?

According to MajorGeneral P Dutta, director general, Ceremonials and Welfare,``We try to help as much as we can within our constraints.'' According to him, the army keeps in close touch with the widow for the first six months. An officer from the unit helps her sort out problems and complete the formalities.

Adds Major General Varun Chatterjee, who is in charge of Pensions: ``The ex-gratia amount in most cases is paid within 15 days.'' Pensions papers are also to be ready within a month. But then, it is a tough battle against ignorance and illiteracy, he says.

To ensure that the widow gets the money, the payments are made through cheques so that the money does not fall in the hands of the in-laws or anybody else and that nobody defrauds her.

But most of them do not have bank accounts. So, first an account has to be opened. At times the widow is so traumatised that she refuses to sign the papers. ``These are some obstacles we face that often cause delays,'' says Chatterjee.

Says Maroof Raza, a military expert, ``Thedisability pension is based on the level of disability and the amount varies from case to case.'' There are certain disabilities which do not hamper routine military activity like in the case of General Raina, former chief of army, who had lost an eye in war.

In such a case, the disability pension given may be a meagre amount. But what happens to those who lose their limbs and those who are incapacitated due to shrapnel wounds. They are the ones who get peanuts as pension, says Raza.

What is being done is that the army boards out those who cannot be rehabilitated within the services, says he. Actually, after so much money is spent on his training, anyone who is disabled in action should be taken in to central services and military should give him full pension, he adds.

Over the past couple of years, the country has been dealing with low intensity conflicts, where, too, the rate of disability is high, Raza says. These men cannot be ignored and a fund should be made available to them at all times, hesays. What the army can do to help them is to make policies like the LIC/Indira Vikas Patra for these disabled army men, so that it will be a long term benefit for them.

According to Colonel R K Dargan (retd), wounded in the 1971 war: ``Forty per cent of the disability fund is fixed, which amounts to nothing. Once a soldier is injured in operations, then a medical board sits to decide the extent of disability and the gravity of the injury, he says. The pension is decided based on their report. While there is a provision for appealing against it, very rarely has anyone done it.''

Another officer involved in the recent operation says that it is a very small amount given to the disabled and also the men who have lost so much would not be able to even fight the system. In many cases their families are not aware of what allowances they are entitled to, he adds.

Those familiar with the government red-tapism are also sceptical. They say that it's the Resettlement Directorate, which is supposed to give outmaterial informing about all the benefits available and assist those affected in representing their cases with the local administration and defence authorities. The directorate has obviously not been doing its duty, given the number of complaints. Till date, widows and disabled soldiers of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 war are still struggling to get their due.

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