Since, inception, as many as 16,000 cases related to Service personnel, which were pending in various High Courts, were transferred to the Tribunal. The figure includes fresh petitions which were filed with various Benches. Of these, the Tribunal had disposed off almost 3500 cases by the end of the year 2010.
Provision of Married Accommodation. In order to provide all ranks an opportunity to stay with their families at least for the duration that they spend in a peace station, the Army launched an ambitious Married Accommodation Project thereby substantially increasing the satisfaction level of housing while in service. Provisions also exist for field area family accommodation’ to cater to the needs of the soldiers who are posted at non-family stations.
Provision of Quality Education. The Army Welfare Education Society25 has over a period of time grown into an organisation which is capable of providing quality and affordable education to the wards of both serving and retired soldiers. Apart from providing schooling facilities, it has also made pioneering strides in provision of higher education to the wards of serving and retired Army personnel in the fields of Engineering, Medical, Dental, Law Management, Hotel Management and Nursing. The endeavour is to expand its scope and target as many military stations as possible; thereby ensuring that affordable quality education is accessible to maximum wards of serving and retired soldiers. Also, establishment of institutions of higher learning has ensured that children of Army personnel, who hithertofore were disadvantaged because of lack of domicile status, frequent movements and lack of reservation of seats, now have dedicated institutions which accord priority to their educational requirements.
Insurance Cover. The Army Group Insurance provides insurance cover to all Army personnel against risks while in service, including war and war like situations.26 It endeavours to optimize the growth of the fund through increasing returns, while providing responsive and personalized services in consonance with the growing aspirations of the environment. It provides maturity benefits at the time of retirement, release or discharge from service and also caters for post retirement insurance cover. Apart from providing insurance cover, it also has a number of loan schemes, loan linked group insurance scheme, social security deposit, provision of sustenance allowance to differently abled children. The Army Group Insurance Scheme, thus not only provide security to serving and retired service personnel, but also endeavours to improve the quality of life of all ranks of the Army.
The Army Group Insurance Scheme, thus not only provide security to serving and retired service personnel, but also endeavours to improve the quality of life of all ranks of the Army.
Provision of Affordable Homes. The Army Welfare Housing Organisation27(AWHO) functions as a self financing system on a ‘no profit no loss basis.’ The sole purpose of the organization is to provide dwellings to serving and retired army personnel and their widows at an affordable cost. The fact that it has already constructed and handed over nearly 20,000 dwelling units and is in the process of constructing housing facilities at several more locations, is indeed creditable for an organization that is driven more by a sense of service rather than generating profit. Persistent demands from the environment have resulted in several projects being on the anvil presently. What is noteworthy is the fact that the organizationwas able to obtain land for the projects at very reasonable rates at a number of places with the assistance of the State Governments, thus maintaining the cost of the dwelling units at manageable levels. The organization has indeed done yeoman service to the Army because the possibility of having a roof over ones head at affordable rates is indeed a huge motivating factor for a soldier.
Maintaining High Standards of Motivation and Morale. Apart from various other factors which keep a solider energized and motivated, certain issues which have a bearing on the morale and motivational levels are those related to pay and allowances, adequate remunerations for hazards of service, speedy redressal of his grievances and his status in society. Although the VIth Central Pay Commission awards have been able to address a lot of issues related to the same, a lot still needs to be done to alleviate the aspirations of the men in uniform.
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Armed Forces Pay Commission.28 The Armed Forces, because of their peculiar terms and conditions of service, rank structure, promotional prospects and wastage rates have always felt disadvantaged when categorised into the same kind of pay structure as that of the Civil Services. This anomaly, to a large extent will be rectified with the introduction of a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces which has been announced by the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri in Parliament. Constitution of a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces would also enable the Commission to study various aspects related to the services like compensation for early retirement, slower promotion prospects and difficult service conditions in a more realistic manner and make recommendations accordingly. It would provide a voice for the Services in matters related to their pay and allowances, which hitherto-fore was not the case.
The Army has initiated numerous measures to address the issue which includes aspects like better travel facilities, comparable leave travel concessions, exclusive boarding and lodging facilities at selected holiday stations.
Speedy Redressal of Grievances– Armed Forces Tribunal. With an aim to establish an effective redressal mechanism, absence of which led to a large number of Service personnel moving the civil courts, the Government passed a bill in the Parliament to set up the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).29 The Principal Bench along with two more benches were made functional at Delhi in Aug 2009 and six more Regional Benches were established by Nov 2009 at Chennai, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Lucknow and Guwahati. All the Regional Benches except Mumbai are now functional. A large number of cases relating to Service matters filed by Armed Forces personnel and which have been pending in the courts for very long have been transferred to the AFT for speedy disposal. The forum provides both serving and retired Service personnel and their dependents an option to seek speedy justice at affordable cost. Since the jurisdiction and spread of the Tribunals covers the entire country, service personnel and the retired fraternity find it an extremely convenient avenue for appeal against any perceived injustice done to them under the provisions of the Army Act or the stringent terms and conditions of the Services. Since, inception, as many as 16,000 cases related to Service personnel, which were pending in various High Courts, were transferred to the Tribunal. The figure includes fresh petitions which were filed with various Benches. Of these, the Tribunal had disposed off almost 3500 cases by the end of the year 2010.
Status in Society.While the entire Nation looks up to the men in uniform at the time of conflict, soldiers sometimes have a feeling that they are a neglected lot and do not get the kind of recognition that they deserve during peace time. The Army has initiated numerous measures to address the issue which includes aspects like better travel facilities, comparable leave travel concessions, exclusive boarding and lodging facilities at selected holiday stations.
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