As the recent Government decision to tax disability pension has led to unrest amongst the Services and veterans, a city-based organisation of war disabled and battle casualties has taken strong exception to the Army's endorsement of the move claiming it affects the morale.
The Army on Tuesday maintained that disability pension was being misused and such cases were on the rise. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week had assured the Lok Sabha that he will look into the matter after the Congress raised a din over the issue.
Disabled War Veterans (India), in a letter to the Army said any "discrimination or invidious distinction" while making an official statement, affects the morale of the entire military community.
In a series of tweets, the Army had said over the years, broad-banding and the compensation awarded for disability with income tax exemption had led to a rise in the number of personnel claiming disability even for lifestyle diseases.
The issue was not of doing away with tax exemption but to put an end to the alleged wrong use of the disability pension thereby denying the facility to the more deserving cases, officials said. It was learnt the annual disability pension is about Rs 50 crore or so. The Central Board of Direct Taxes in a directive early last week informed that the disability pension for those personnel who serve full military service and then retire will not be exempted from income-tax.
The Army's endorsement of the order had upset several veterans of the armed forces, some of whom had suffered grievous injuries in action. In its letter, the Disabled War Veterans (India) said, "It is also well known that disability in the military is on a rise all over the globe due to operational commitments, transfers and other stressors".
"Being at the forefront of issues related to the war disabled, we must put it on record that sensitivity must be displayed towards genuinely disabled with non-operational disabilities also," reads the letter sent by the organisation to ADGPI (Additional Directorate General of Public Information) of the Army.
In the letter, dated July 3, the Delhi-based organisation also underlined that stress and strain of military service is known to "adversely affect" the health profile of troops.
"Rather than attaching stigma to low medical personnel or negativity to disability compensation, we should be concerned about ensuring better medical care for our soldiers and ensuring a stress-free health and not payments," it said.