Mounting medical bills, nowhere to go: Braveheart cadets disabled in military training struggle in shadows

Indian Express

10 hours ago

* He knew from childhood that he wanted to become an Army officer. Today, his speech is slurred, he needs help at every step. And yet, when Vickrant Raj sees a movie about the Army on TV, he perks up and wants to chip in, somehow.
* Shubham Gupta once dreamt of piloting a fighter jet but now can't even hold a glass of water.
* Kishan Kulakarni is fully dependent on his mother, a former school teacher, for his most basic needs; and, Harish Sinhmar has simply lost the will to live.
All of them, once cadets training at the nation's top military institutes such as National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA) — selected after rigorous training and fired by dreams to defend the nation — are today bravehearts struggling in the shadows.
They are among the around 500 officer cadets who have been medically discharged from these military institutes since 1985, due to varying degrees of disability incurred during training, and are now staring at mounting medical bills with an ex gratia monthly payment that's far short of what they need. At the NDA alone, sources told this newspaper, around 20 such cadets were medically discharged in just the past five years, between 2021 and July 2025.
According to rules, these cadets are not entitled to the status of ex-servicemen (ESM), which would have made them eligible under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) for free treatment at military facilities and empanelled hospitals, since their disabilities took place during training before they were commissioned as officers.
And, unlike soldiers in this category who are entitled to ESM status, all that these officer cadets get now is an ex gratia payment of up to Rs 40,000 per month depending on extent of disability — an amount that falls far short of basic needs, they say, with medical expenses alone costing, on an average, nearly Rs 50,000 per month or more.
Today, after years of waiting in vain for a helping hand, all their hopes are pinned on a renewed Government push to get them some relief but The Indian Express found that even this has been stuck in red tape for over a year (see adjoining report).
'Without ESM status, medical care takes place at private hospitals, including hiring physiotherapists, which leaves families with hefty medical bills. Should cadets like my son not get ESM status so that he can at least get treatment in military hospitals?' asks Suman Raj, the mother of 26-year-old Vickrant who gets an ex gratia of Rs 40,000 but is saddled with monthly medical bills totalling nearly Rs 1 lakh.
'A disability pension and ex-serviceman status can give me a life of dignity,' says Shubham. 'My life is over but this should not happen to any other young cadet,' says Harish.
Then there's Bharati, the mother of Kishan, who has not been able to start physiotherapy for her son three years after his NDA discharge. 'We are not from a military family, we are teachers. We do not understand the processes linked to this ex gratia,' Bharati, a former school vice-principal, said.
Vickrant, Shubham, Kishan and Harish are among the illustrative cases that The Indian Express focused on over the past month, interviewing former cadets and their families, and reviewing their medical records. It came across a string of severe disabilities, ranging from paralysis to brain damage, shattered dreams and lifelong scars.
'It is so painful for a mother'
Vickrant Raj, 26
Home: Chandigarh
NDA tenure: December 2016 to June 2020
Injury: Head injury, subdural haemorrhage (blood collection between brain and outer covering)
Monthly ex gratia: Rs 40,000
Monthly medical bill: Rs 95,000 (approx)
His story: Once labelled as a potential fifth-generation officer, Vickrant suffered a head injury that caused a brain haemorrhage, leading to coma for six months. Today, he needs assistance to walk and perform basic daily chores — and his speech is slurred.
Records show Vickrant was ranked fourth in the NDA entrance examination. His mother Suman Raj said, 'From his childhood, people we knew used to say he had 'officer-like qualities' and was 'General material'.'
According to Suman, Vickrant 'was doing well at NDA'. 'In 2018, he was hit on the head during a boxing bout. He got up but fainted later and was hospitalised for a week. Over a month later, he participated in Rovers Camp, an endurance test lasting 4-5 days. He also appeared for his term exams, in which he did fairly well,' Suman said.
'Inspired by his success, he participated in a football match in October that year despite advice to the contrary. Minutes into the match, the football struck his head at the same point where he was hit during the bout. He collapsed and underwent brain surgery but slipped into a coma. My 6-ft-tall son, who weighed 70 kg, became 35-40 kg in weeks,' Suman said.
Suman, the daughter of an ex-IAF officer, says her son 'gave eight years to the military, from the time he joined Rashtriya Indian Military College as an 11-year-old to the time he was medically boarded out of NDA at 19'. 'Even today, when Vickrant hears a speech or sees a movie related to the military or national security, he wants to contribute. The other day, he saw NSA Ajit Doval speaking at IIT Chennai, and he asked how he can join R&AW… It is so painful for a mother,' she said.
'Trauma…no friends'
Shubham Gupta, 33
Home: Bhatinda, Punjab
NDA: June 2010 to June 2014
Injury: Cervical spinal injury, quadriplegia (paralysis of all four limbs and torso)
Monthly ex gratia: Rs 40,000
Monthly medical bill: Rs 40,000
His story: Shubham, whose uncle was in the IAF, recalls being fascinated during childhood by the aircraft that flew high above his house. In June 2010, he joined the NDA to give wings to his dreams. But what happened two years later changed his life forever.
'In April 2012, when I was in my fourth term, I suffered a spinal cord injury while taking a deep dive in the pool. I barely survived but the impact fractured my neck, left me paralysed from neck down. I underwent eight surgeries and was on the ventilator for two months,' he said.
Medical records show Shubham underwent treatment at Command Hospital and Military Hospital in Pune over the next few months. With no improvement, he was boarded out of NDA. 'My injury caused me tremendous physical and emotional trauma. I cannot even lift a glass by myself. I have to undergo daily physiotherapy sessions, with two attendants to help with basic daily tasks,' he said.
Shubham's younger brother is a doctor in the Army, his father a retired soil conservation officer and his mother a retired school teacher. He spends time tracking the stock market and studying astrology. 'I don't have any friends from school near home. But my NDA coursemates come and see me whenever they are in town. Some of them are Majors in the Army today,' he said.
'90% nerve damage'
Kishan Kulakarni, 25
Home: Hubballi, Karnataka
NDA tenure: January 2019 to April 2022
Injury: Cardiac arrest, HIE (caused by oxygen, blood deprivation in brain)
Monthly ex gratia: Rs 40,000
Monthly medical bill: 40,000 (approx)
His story: Kishan has been bedridden since July 2020, with his medical report showing more than 90% nerve damage in the brain. 'Doctors have said the nerves in his brain have degenerated due to lack of oxygen, and they may not regenerate again,' said Kishan's mother Bharati Joshi, a former school teacher and single mother who is taking care of him all by herself.
'Kishan does not ask for food so I ensure that he is fed at regular intervals and that his urine bag and diapers are changed. I have not yet kept an attendant or started Kishan's physiotherapy because we started getting the ex gratia amount only recently,' she said.
Citing information received from authorities, Bharati said Kishan was serving milk to cadets during breakfast when he got disoriented and fainted. Medical records attribute his cardiac arrest to training. They show that he underwent treatment for two years at Military Hospital in Kirkee before he was medically boarded out of the academy in April 2022.
'The cardiac arrest left him 100 per cent disabled and bedridden. I recently took voluntary retirement to take care of Kishan. I have been struggling without any sleep at night. I am now planning to take Kishan to Pune for another diagnosis, a difficult task considering his current condition. We are also looking for an attendant,' Kishan's mother said.
'Turned to academics'
Kartik Sharma, 27
Home: Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
NDA tenure: June 2015 to Nov 2021
Injury: Traumatic spinal cord injury with quadriplegia
Monthly ex gratia: Rs 40,000
Monthly medical bill: Rs 40,000
His story: An alumnus of Sainik School Sujanpur Tira, Kartik was selected as an Air Force cadet and dreamt of becoming a fighter pilot. Today, he sits on an automatic wheelchair, his limbs so weak he can't propel a manual version, with an attendant to help with daily tasks.
Kartik got injured in 2016 during an 'organised training activity' and underwent treatment at Command Hospital in Pune for about a month. 'But my condition started deteriorating after contracting pneumonia, and I was airlifted to R&R Hospital in Delhi in March 2016. I was boarded out in November 2021 from the Military Hospital in Khirkee after spending over five years on rehabilitation,' he said.
Kartik refused to give up and channeled his love for sports. Records show that he participated in para table tennis twice at the national level. 'I also turned my attention to academics. I graduated in political science and am currently pursuing a masters in political science from IGNOU. I have also cleared the UGC NET and am preparing for the civil services examination,' he said.
'Nothing left in life'
Harish Sinhmar, 40
Home: Rohtak, Haryana
IMA tenure: June 2006 to December 2007
Injury: Severe head injury
Monthly ex gratia: Rs 40,000
Monthly medical bill: Rs 70,000
His story: An alumnus of Sainik School, Kunjpura (Haryana), Harish suffered a head injury during boxing at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, leading to surgery and coma for 42 days. 'It's been nearly two decades since I was discharged and I sleep for nearly 15 hours every day with nothing much to look forward to in life,' he said.
Harish can walk around the house and even manages to visit the local grocery shop sometimes. 'But my mental health has taken a beating. There are times when I collapse. There are times when I get aggressive at people around me. I have also been taking medicines for seizures. I lack full motor control, and suffer from loss of memory and blurred vision,' he said.
Harish is 'angry' over his fate. 'I don't have any friends from IMA… My coursemates are Colonels today… My parents take care of me but for how long? My father would ideally want me to die while he is still alive so that I am not left alone,' he said.