‘Lower rank officers are forced to live in pathetic conditions’

Colonel (retd) Suresh Patil has served the army for 25 long years. Since his retirement in 1993, Patil has been meticulously working for environmental causes through an NGO, Green Thumb. Being the president of the Justice for Jawan (JFJ), Patil also works to improve the living conditions of ex-servicemen in the city. DNA speaks to Patil on environmental issues and problems faced by ex-servicemen and their solutions.

The Justice for Jawans has been demanding an eco-council to use barren plots for plantation purposes in Cantonment area. How will this help?
Of late, the city has been facing many environment related issues. Though the city needs to maintain a 33% green patch, the present scenario shows a poor 8-10%. Our NGO, Green Thumb, has been successfully working for conversion of sewage canals into landscape gardens for nearly a decade now.

We want the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) to concentrate on preservation of greenery in the area. For this purpose, formation of an eco-council is necessary, as it can help monitor this activity in a full-fledged manner.

This council must include the army commandant, environmentalists, elected members of the board and architects. The council, through regular meetings, can ensure that barren plots are utilised for plantation purposes. If this structure can be efficiently employed in the PCB, then similar activities can be carried in the Dehu Cantonment Board (DCB) and the Khadki Cantonment Board (KCB).

Recently, ex-servicemen had raised the issue of sub-standard living conditions that officers of lower ranks in the city have to face. What has been JFJ’s take on it?
Though Pune is considered to be ex-servicemen’s paradise; the real picture is very bleak. In spite of a huge concentration of ex-servicemen in the city, the condition amidst which the lower rank officers are made to live is pathetic and shameful. In fact, there is a battalion of Jammu and Kashmir which has been
living in the slums of Ghorpadi. This scenario needs to change. Shortage of accommodation, scarce water supply and poor ambience have plagued these officers, who deserve a much better treatment. But despite repeated pleas, the army commandant, has been indifferent towards the issue.

The Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) is facing problems. What do you think are the shortcomings in the scheme?
The basic problem is the utilisation of resources. In spite of a number of vehicles employed for various activities related to ex-servicemen, the number of ambulances serving the ex-servicemen under this scheme seems to be less. Besides, there is a need to take doctors and medicines to servicemen living in the outskirts of the city for whom the scheme was primarily launched.

Recently, an RTI query was filed with the Southern Command on voting rights of the servicemen residing in Cantonment area.

What is the present situation on this issue?
According to the army order issued in 1995 backed by both the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, defence service employees are entitled to vote wherever they go with the help of a specific document signed by the local defence authority. We filed an RTI query on this issue and have received a reply from the Southern Command, which says that the query has been forwarded to army headquarters.