SC seeks Centre, armed forces’ stand on case about welfare of cadets disabled in military training

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Union government and the armed forces in a suo motu case it initiated based on a media report describing the hardships faced by military cadets who suffer disabilities during training, Bar and Bench reported.

The court took up the case on the basis of an investigation by The Indian Express, which found that government efforts to increase welfare benefits for such cadets have been stalled due to bureaucratic hurdles for over a year.

Notices have been issued to the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare in the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Social Justice, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

Since 1985, around 500 officer cadets have been medically discharged from military institutions because of disabilities that they suffered during the training, The Indian Express reported. They only get ex-gratia payments of up to Rs 40,000 per month, depending on the extent of the disability.

This amount is far below what they and their caregivers need, considering their rising medical expenses, the newspaper reported, citing interviews with the cadets and their families. Further, because the cadets are not ex-servicemen, they are not eligible for the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme, which has provisions for free treatment at military facilities and empanelled hospitals.

On Monday,...

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