Injured cadets battle for support decades after leaving military academies
Hubballi’s Kishan among them
New Delhi: Around 500 officer cadets have been discharged from India’s premier military academies since 1985 after sustaining serious training injuries, yet many continue to be denied the recognition and support granted to soldiers hurt in similar circumstances.
In the past five years alone, about 20 cadets from the National Defence Academy were forced to leave after accidents that cut short their training, as reported by The Indian Express.
Former cadet, Vickrant Raj from Chandigarh, now speaks slowly and struggles with coordination after a brain injury. He was injured in 2016 during physical training at the NDA. He is now partial paralysed and his monthly medical bills amounts to ₹95,000.
Discharged in 2021, Shubham Gupta from Bhatinda, Punjab was left paralysed after a diving accident and now requires constant care. "In April 2012, when I was in my fourth term, I suffered a spinal cord injury while taking a deep dive in the pool. I barely survived but the impact fractured my neck. It left me paralysed from neck down. I had to undergo eight surgeries and was kept on ventilator for two months,” IE quoted Gupta as saying.
Kishan, who is from Hubballi, Karnataka was injured in 2020. He lives with 90 percent nerve damage following a cardiac arrest during training. He is now bedridden for the last five years. Kishan’s mother stated, “Doctors have said the nerves in his brain have degenerated due to lack of oxygen, and they may not regenerate again."
Kartik Sharma, injured at the Indian Military Academy, spent 16 months in rehabilitation after a spinal injury. He turned to academics while undergoing rehabilitation. Harish Sinhmar, from Rohtak, Haryana spent decades coping with the effects of a head injury and faced memory loss with depression. He was discharged in 2004 after a leg injury. He spent two decades seeking adequate financial and medical support.
Families say the lack of ESM status not only denies them access to affordable military hospitals but also excludes them from welfare schemes and job reservations available to other veterans. “They trained to serve the country. Now they are left to fight their battles alone,” said the father of one injured cadet.
Many of the parents who had once hoped to see their children serve as officers now manage their care. Some describe the daily challenges of lifting, feeding, and transporting their sons for treatment, while also navigating administrative hurdles to secure delayed payments.
Under current policy, these cadets are not classified as ex-servicemen because they were injured before commissioning. They cannot access military medical facilities or the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme without that status. They instead, receive a one-time compensation or an ex gratia of up to ₹40,000 a month, an amount that families say is far below what is needed for long-term care. Many face medical costs between ₹40,000 and ₹1,00,000 every month, forcing relatives to either leave thier jobs to care for them or seek treatment in private hospitals.
Despite a proposal to increase the ex gratia and expand benefits receiving ministerial approval, the matter has remained pending for more than a year.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
