A jawan, who had served over 20 years with the Indian Army and unable to re-join the duty because of his wife’s ailment, is compelled to work as a daily-wager without post-retirement concessions in Odisha. 51-year old Chanduram Majhi a native of Paraskhol in the Nuapada district belongs to the Gond tribe and was the first from his family to be chosen as a sepoy in 1988. As part of his connection with the Army Service Corps (ASC), he had worked in various locations, from Gaya to Srinagar and Chandigarh.
“During my long years of service in the Indian Army, I had dreamt of providing good education and a bright future to my daughters. By a quirk of fate, I have now ended up working as a daily laborer and my four daughters had to drop out of school and college. They help me earn living,” whined Mr. Majhi. The tribal man from Odisha’s Nuapada district said that he was a target of bureaucracy and restrained from his legitimate dues.
“Until 2011, I was happy with life, with careering progressing at a normal pace. My wife suddenly became ill and she became paralyzed below the waist. I had to be by her side,” he told. Mr. Majhi said he was promoted to Havildar in the ASC and was to retire on August 31, 2012. “I had even taken the last leave of my service. But my wife’s condition worsened so much that I could not rejoin on the scheduled date. I was declared a deserter by the ASC,” said Mr, Majhi. His wife was admitted to many Army hospitals, including the Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi. Unfortunately, his wife died on November 13, 2012.
After his wife’s demise, Mr. Majhi attempted to reach his last ASC unit and get his dues. He states that the ASC closed the door on him. Following the interference of the Rajya Sainik Board, he sent several messages to the Ministry of Defence to standardize his service. Mr. Majhi claimed, “I was demoted and handed over for special punishment by my unit authorities in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017-18. I did not get any salary for that period.” In the past four years, he has acquired only 3.14 lakh, which he utilized to reimburse a loan in his village.
He said that his post-retirement concessions would have been around 30 lakh. Analyzing the traumatic life of the Army man, the Nuapada district government has pursued a precise report. The administration has determined to started communication with the Ministry of Defence on Mr. Majhi’s service detail.
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