Army to extend support to disabled war veterans: Gen Rawat

The Army is taking efforts to compile data on war veterans who suffered disability so as to provide them support, including prosthetic limbs in needed cases, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said Friday.

Gen. Rawat, here to attend the Convocation Ceremony at the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME), said the aim was also to motive the disabled soldiers that disability does not mean they cannot do anything.

"What we are doing is, firstly we are identifying these people. There are disabled soldiers some of them are in the village. Some are elsewhere. Some got disabled in the 1965 war. Some in the 1971 war. They are now very, very old. So, the idea is to first identify and see how their condition is," he told reporters here.

He was replying to a question on the Army's plans to extend the support system to soldiers who suffered disability in the line of duty.

Gen Rawat said the Army was looking at compiling data on the present condition of the veterans.

"And once we have compiled the data... then we have to work out the kind of support we have to give them... It is not just monthly support, and some people need prosthetic limbs," he said.

The army was now providing very good artificial limbs and artificial systems which can help the affected lead a near-normal life, he said.

Noting that there were two distinct types of people who get disabled while serving the army, the General said some, who lost parts like an eye or a hand, need support of family members and there were others who were disabled because of service conditions, stress and even lifestyle diseases, but can take care of themselves.

Hence, there should be distinct support for the two types of disabled persons.

Earlier, Rawat, in his convocation address, said the graduating officers need to harness latest technologies.

"As technology refines and research throws open new vistas, your challenge would be to harness the latest technologies for the benefit of our great Indian Army," he said.

He also said future battle space would be dominated by guided missiles, Artificial Intelligence, unmanned platforms, robots and network-centric operations.