Lt Col N Thiagarajan Veteran

On NFU, the observation that the case was not supported by the senior hierarchy is noted. 📌 On SPARSH, the official reply of PCDA (Pensions) Prayagraj filed before the Central Information Commission in Jul 26 (attached) states that as of 15 Jul 26, 9,41,924 pensioners had not logged into SPARSH even once. This is nearly 30% of the total pensioners. 📍 The same reply (Para 7) also records that between 01 Jul 25 and 30 Jun 26, 58,627 grievances were received through CPGRAMS and 1,80,235 grievances were received through the SPARSH Portal. ❓ If a large number of pensioners have never logged in, and over 1.8 lakh grievances were lodged on the SPARSH Portal in one year alone, it is difficult to accept that the system is functioning smoothly for Ex-Servicemen at large. While the reply mentions that blank and wrong data is to be updated by SPARSH, Head of Office and Record Offices, on the ground the responsibility is largely shifted to aged and less tech-savvy pensioners, many of whom live in small towns and villages. 📍 SPARSH Service Centres are not available nearby for most of them. Outreach programmes are generally organised in bigger cities. Many grievances lodged on the SPARSH portal continue to be closed without resolution. You may be among those who have not faced difficulties, and specific cases may be getting attended to. However, a substantial number of Ex-Servicemen continue to face problems with blank or incorrect data. The change.org petition change.org/p/cgda-pcda-p-cor… continues to request that PCDA (Pensions), as the Pension Sanctioning Authority, correct blank and wrong fields from the PPO, ePPO and Corr PPO records it already holds, instead of placing the entire burden on pensioners. Jai Hind! 🇮🇳 @Vedmalik1 @rakesharma15 @kayjay34350 @KatochPrakash @arunp2810 @Warrior_Mukul @kkhushal9 @ColTekpal @NTR_NationFirst @amitabhafirst @adgpi @indiannavy @IAF_MCC @IndianExpress @thetribunechd @the_hindu @htTweets @ANI

🎖️With due respect to all senior veterans, Sirs, Junior veterans understand that officers of the rank of Maj Gen and above had to maintain distance while in service for effective command. After retirement, however, a visible distance continues with the wider Ex-Servicemen community. Many senior veterans are active on X commenting on national and international issues, write articles in the print media, and appear as defence experts on national television channels. We, the Ex-Servicemen, feel proud of the same. This is their individual choice and is fully respected. What remains difficult to understand is the relative silence on the welfare of their own brethren — the soldiers and officers on whose shoulders they reached the top. Issues such as NFU for serving officers and the practical difficulties faced by Ex-Servicemen under SPARSH rarely find a mention. 📌 The Chetwode Credo, engraved at the Indian Military Academy, states: • The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. • The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. • Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time. ❓ If senior veterans do not speak for the welfare of those they once commanded, who else will? The distance after retirement appears similar to the gap that sometimes exists between different services, even though all are Indian Commissioned Officers (ICOs) of the Indian Armed Forces. It is not too late. Let us improve ourselves and stand united as one Ex-Servicemen community, irrespective of rank. These are my personal views. We continue to repose faith in the system. Change.org Petition: change.org/p/cgda-pcda-p-cor… Jai Hind! 🇮🇳 #SPARSHFailsVeterans (👁️ 88,585 Views) #NFUForArmedForces @Vedmalik1 @rakesharma15 @tksapru @kayjay3434350 @rwac48 @KatochPrakash @bhushan_gyan @arunp2810 @subnut @TheSatishDua @Ptr6Vb @Moochikal @dushy40098 @Warrior_Mukul @kkhushal9 @RDXThinksThat @NTR_NationFirst @ColTekpal @NuniwalRamesh @ragarwal @adgpi @IAF_MCC @indiannavy @IndianExpress @thetribunechd @timesofindia @htTweets @ANI @BDUTT @dibang @ravish_journo @ashutosh83B