Army most secular,says Chief

“I cannot comment on this issue at all. But all I can say is that Army is most secular,” said Singh,who retires at the end of May. Asked about the issue of corruption in armed forces,he said: “I have done all I could do. Now,the ball is in the court of the government and it is the government that needs and should take action.”

Refusing to comment on the inquiry by Italian prosecutors on allegation of corruption against state-backed defence major Finmeccanica that had cast a cloud over the multi-million dollar deal that the company signed with India for 12 VVIP helicopters,Singh said: “For this issue,you must ask the ministry. I have nothing to say.”

Speaking at the ex-servicemen rally organsed by the Indian Ex-Servicemen League,the Army Chief announced that Defence Minister A K Antony “is in agreement with the principle of ‘One Rank One Pension’ demand of the ex – servicemen and that the same should be implemented soon”. “For implementing this,we need just Rs 1,300 crore. One section of the government and the Defence Minister agree with our demands. He has assured us all support but then decisions have to pass through various layers of the government and take time to be implemented,“ said Singh.

Saying that the Army had announced that year 2012 will be the year of veterans,he added: “My main aim is to bridge the gap between the in-service officers and the ex-servicemen. It is the duty of each in-service officer to help solve the problems faced by the ex-servicemen. To a large extent,we have been successful in doing this through our Veteran Cell that was set up in the Army headquarters two years ago. It has a toll free number where our ex-servicemen can register their problems.”

“We had also identified some 46 anomalies related to pensions and other benefits being given to the ex-servicemen and after the efforts put in by us,only 39 remain. But I have full faith that these too will soon be removed for the Minister of Defence has in-principle agreed to all the issues that we have raised with him,” he further said.

On the ex-servicemen facing problems in CSD canteens,the Army Chief said: “There are some problems for CSD canteens and its purchases are no longer with the Army headquarters. The Government of India makes budgetary provisions for the purchases. While we have been able to get an increase in this budget but still,a part of this budget gets used in paying the previous year’s debts that we have incurred due to some wrong decisions.”

“We have suggested to the government that in case they are finding it difficult to run these canteens,they can hand these back to us for the Army is capable of running these. While we are ensuring that all basic items are available in these canteens,bar on items like cars will stay at least for the next four to six months,” he added.

Speaking about the contributory health scheme for ex-servicemen,the Army Chief said: “We have identified problems like shortage of medicines and doctors. Hence,we are trying to tie up with the state approved medicine shops that will provide best medicines to ex-servicemen in good prices. We will also set up 20 more centres in Punjab for their benefit. Moreover,we are trying to set up CSD canteens and pension offices next to these centres so that the ex-servicemen do not have to run from one office to another to get their work done.”

‘Media putting own concoction
to everything’

While commenting on President Pratibha Patil’s comment made to The Indian Express in an interview where she said that the perceived stand off between the Army Chief and the government “should not have happened…It should have been handled in a disciplined manner”,Singh said: “What the president said is known to only two persons — the president and the person who conducted this interview. A section of media is putting its own concoction to everything.”