The ACRSS on 6th August, 2021 conducted another webinar on the topic “Social and Legal Challenges Faced by Defence Personnel: Current Scenario”. The honourable speaker for the day was Major Navdeep Singh. He is the most decorated officer in the history of the Indian Territorial Army. He is featured in the Army's book of outstanding landmarks called 'Indian Army- Milestones'. He has time and again earned commendations from the Indian Army. Currently he is a lawyer based at the High Court of Punjab & Haryana in Chandigarh, India. He is also a former President of the Armed Forces Tribunal Bar Association. He is very vocal about rights of Indian Army soldiers and is also instrumental in pushing the implementation of various Acts such as the Indian Tolls (Army & Air Force) Act, 1901 to showcase respect towards serving personnel.
The sub themes under the topic were as follows:
a. Effect on psychology and mental health of soldiers.
b. Challenges they and their families face.
c. Disability pension and related laws.
d. Soldiers’ Grievance Officers.
e. Realities and myths of army lives.
The moderators had some intriguing questions prepared on the pressing issues revolving around the above mentioned sub-themes. The initial discussion was about how our soldiers go through a lot of trauma, whether it be wars or rescue work or seeing their own comrades dying, how they deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are there any institutions to help them, what can India learn from countries like the U.S.A. which are very serious about these issues and quite advanced in their medical research, to what extent has the study of military psychiatry by military doctors been beneficial to soldiers and what would be the key tenets of a legislation which were to be drawn to recognize and treat soldiers’ psychological issues.
Thereafter, the discussion progressed to disability pension for soldiers, the loopholes in the law and the struggles faced by injured cadets of training institutes like NDA, IMA or OTA in securing disability pension upon being thrown out of service. There was also an elaborate discussion on how a soldiers’ mental health is affected due to being away from his family, what troubles the families face regarding property and other matters and how the situation can be improved. The newly born and proposed concept of appointment of Soldiers’ Grievance Officers, the reaction of Ministry of Defence to it and the infrastructure required to establish it was also touched upon.
The session concluded after Sir answered questions from an enthusiastic audience of roughly 40 students. Most of the students of AIL being army kids and even for those who are not, this session made them aware of the various issues that soldiers come across while defending our borders. We also learnt the technique to specialize in military law and how to pursue a career in the same, inspiring us to consider the issues the guardians of our borders face and fight the legal battles to secure them with their rights. With the blessing of Dr. Tejinder Kaur, Principal AIL and the synergy put in by the Faculty Coordinators, Dr. Amita Sharma, Ms. Ekjyot Kaur, Dr. Dhaliwal as well the Student Coordinators of ACRSS, the webinar was a massive success. The ACRSS will continue to come up with such enlightening sessions!
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