Air Force to
finally get AJT
By Pritam
Bhullar
MERCIFULLY, the Ministry of the
Defence (MoD), after dragging its feet on the issue of
the acquisition manufacturing of an Advanced Jet Trainer
(AJT) for the past 14 years, has now taken a decision to
purchase at least two squadrons of the British Hawk.
The fact that it has
finally dawned on the MoD that the Indian Air Force (IAF)
badly needs an AJT, is a landmark achievement in itself.
But what is sad is that this realisation has come to the
bureaucrats after the IAF has lost about 220 pilots and
over 556 aircraft in accidents, the majority of which
occurred because of the lack of proper training of pilots
on an AJT.
It was in 1991, that the
choice of an AJT was short-listed to two aircraft
the British Hawk and the Franco-German Alfa Jet. Soon
after that, the IAF had opted for the British Hawk
because it was felt that this trainer would be better
suited to the structure of the IAF. There was hardly
anything that the MoD had to do after that except to give
the final nod.
Why has this delay been
caused then, resulting in the loss of so many precious
lives and aircraft? Because in India politicians and
bureaucrats are not accountable to anyone. What a
wonderful system of governance!
Hero
of Jessore
The passing away of Maj
Gen Dalbir Singh (retd) at his farm house in Ambala on
August 22, brings back to memory the honour that he
earned for his formation (9 Infantry Division), the Army
and the country in the 1971 war.
On December 6, Gen
Dalbir Singhs division was given the task of
advancing along the axis of Bojra-Jessore-Khulna to
capture Jessore and Khulna. The former was not only
heavily fortified and well defended by a brigade
size force but it also housed Headquarters 9 Infantry
Division of the enemy commanded by Maj Gen Idris.
Expecting stiff
resistance from the enemy, the General planned to punch a
hole through Jessores defences at Durgabati, 15 km
west of the former. The Indian division moved so swiftly
that by December 8, Jessore was captured. This brought to
Gen Dalbir Singh the title of the "Hero of
Jessore".
Thereafter, the enemy
fell back in great confusion to Khulna, 40 km south-east
of Jessore. Moving on the heels of the enemy, 9 Infantry
Division captured Khulna on December 16. And on December
17, the Pakistani Brigade Commander surrendered to Gen
Dalbir Singh. Gen Dalbir Singhs action in the
Bangladesh War brought him the Param Vashisht Seva Medal
(PVSM). He also commanded the famous 1 Jat (Light
Infantry). He retired in August 1976.
Justice
through court
The Supreme Court, in a
recent judgement, has ruled that the Army personnel who
become disabled when travelling at their own expense
while on leave will be entitled to disability pension.
A Division Bench
comprising Justice S.P. Bharucha and Justice N. Santosh
Hegde said: "If the journey was authorised, it
should make no difference whether the fare for the same
came from the public exchequer or the Army personnel
himself. The object of the rule, as we see, is to provide
relief to a victim of an accident during the travel. If
that be so, the nature of expenditure incurred for the
purpose of said travel is wholly alien to the object of
the rules".
The ruling was given by
the Supreme Court against the Rajasthan High Court order
on the appeal of Sawar (horse rider) Madan Singh
Shekhawat, who had lost his right hand in an accident
while travelling to his home.
This judgement should
leave no doubt in any mind that the armed forces
personnel who sustain injuries resulting in their
disability while travelling to their homes on annual,
casual or sick leave are entitled to disability pension.
Paradoxically, the
medical benefits that the armed forces personnel are
entitled to are much lower in scale than what their
civilian counterparts get. Though our politicians
dont get tired of singing songs in praise of the
defence personnel at the time of war, when it comes to
giving them the same benefits as the bureaucrats enjoy,
they become tight-fisted.
Unlike the civilian
Central Government pensioners who can get treatment for
any disease after retirement at government expense, the
defence pensioners who are members of the Medical Benefit
Scheme (MBS) can get treatment for only a few specific
diseases; for which a part of the cost of treatment is
reimbursed. Why this step-motherly treatment to the faujis?
Scourge
of security
Security is an important
factor both in peace time and in war; more so in war. But
if taken too far, security measures cause great
inconvenience to the public at large.
For instance, take
barring access to the Army telephones net-work from the
civil lines even in peace stations during the Kargil
conflict; the restriction that continued for almost two
months.
Granted that you do not
want to bother a soldier who is fighting at the front
even if there is a tragedy at his home. But there is no
reason to stretch this restriction to such an extent that
a soldier who is serving in a static establishment in a
peace station e.g. a training centre, cannot be informed
about the death or serious accident of his father or a
close relative on the telephone. There were several cases
of this nature during the period when the military
telephones were barred.
An example from
Chandigarh is of ex-servicemen who, in case of an
emergency, could not contact the Command Hospital for a
cardiac van, a funeral van or a field ambulance. Should
the military hospitals telephones also be barred?
What purpose does this serve?
In any case, the
telephone service is not a secret service. So why impose
any restriction on it in a peace station? What would have
adequately met the requirement was issue of instructions
within the armed forces that nothing will be divulged to
anyone on the telephone.
This
feature was published on September 19, 1999
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