Daily Briefing: What happens to cadets disabled in military training?

Indian Express

6 days ago

Good morning,
Imagine waking up to a call from cricket maestro Virat Kohli. Or Yash Dayal. Or even AB de Villiers. For one man in the remote Madagaon village of Chhattisgarh, this wasn't a dream; it was reality. It seems luck had favoured Manish Bisi when he bought a new SIM card. He was allotted the phone number of Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper. Soon, the RCB squad was lighting up his phone. Kohli even rang back, curious why Bisi was using Patidar's number and WhatsApp. Ecstatic but baffled, Bisi and his friends had no clue how they had landed it. The police arrived at his house in the next ten minutes to solve the mystery. Turns out, Patidar's 'VIP number' was reissued after he had left it unused for 90 days. In the end, Bisi returned the prized SIM card to Patidar. Bizarre, right?
On that note, let's get to today's edition.
They once dreamed of becoming Army officers and fighter pilots. Today, they are left with lifelong disabilities, having suffered injuries during training. Around 500 such officer cadets have been medically discharged from India's top military institutes, such as the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), since 1985. In the past five years alone, there were 20 such cadets.
Zoom in: So, what happens to these men once they are discharged? In most cases, they are left to struggle through life. Ineligible for the status of an 'ex-servicemen' (ESM), since their disabilities occurred before they were commissioned as officers, these cadets do not receive free treatment at military facilities and empanelled hospitals under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). This means they must survive on the ex gratia payment of up to Rs 40,000 per month, depending on their disability. But with mounting medical bills, this monthly compensation usually falls short of their needs.
My colleague Amrita Nayak Dutta spoke to several such cadets struggling in the shadows with lifelong scars, shattered hopes, and poor benefits. Read.
In limbo: In the past 29 years, the needle has moved rather slowly to provide relief to these cadets. A letter to grant them ESM status and a disability pension was drafted but never signed. In 2024, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a key proposal that would have increased the monthly ex gratia by at least 50 per cent. But 17 months later, the proposal is stuck between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Finance, with no resolution in sight.
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🏏 There's an undeniable allure to Mohammed Siraj, who sealed India's win in the final Test against England at the Oval. He stepped up when Jasprit Bumrah had to be rested under a rotational schedule owing to his back injury. Mohammed Shami, too, has battled recurring injuries. The reality is that fast bowlers spend much of their careers injured or recovering, until it becomes one injury too many. Yet, India has few ready replacements for its stars. My colleague Sandip G writes about the country's fast-bowling crisis.
🎧 Before you go, do tune in to the latest '3 Things' podcast episode. Today's lineup: Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' charge; India's purchase of Russian oil; and open book exams.
That's all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
Sonal Gupta is a Deputy Copy Editor on the news desk. She writes feature stories and explainers on a wide range of topics from art and culture to international affairs. She also curates the Morning Expresso, a daily briefing of top stories of the day, which won gold in the 'best newsletter' category at the WAN-IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards 2023. She also edits our newly-launched pop culture section, Fresh Take.
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