Shyamala, widow of Captain R M Narendran who was killed in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, recalls that the martyrdom of her husband was buried in the corner of an inside page in most local dailies. The families of the deceased soldiers then got little sympathy from the public, in contrast to what is seen now.

What worries a war widow of Kottayam, Pennamma Cherian, even now is that she could not pay her last respects to her husband P O Cherian, who was killed in the 1971 war. In those days, the dependents of deceased soldiers rarely got the chance to see the bodies. They were buried on the war front and there was no practice of army men bringing back the bodies to their families for ceremonial burials.

There has been a sea change in the social and Governmental attitude to soldiers and their dependentsever since hostilities erupted in Kargil. The exhaustive coverage of the happenings on the war front has contributed significantly to this welcome change in attitude.

The Vajpayee Government formulated a comprehensive rehabilitation package, the first of its kind in the country, for the dependents of jawans killed or disabled in war. The Centre has decided that all contributions to the National Defence Fund made from June 1 would be utilised exclusively for the rehabilitation of Kargil victims. This was a great morale booster to the Indian armed forces fighting in one of the most difficult terrains in the world.

Taking a cue from the Centre, the Nayanar Government too formed the Chief Minister's Sainik Welfare Fund with several new attractive rehabilitation schemes for the dependents of Keralites killed in war, which include an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each martyred soldier. Several voluntary agencies also chipped in by raising contributions to the Central and State SainikWelfare Funds.

While the rehabilitation package has come as a great relief to the dependents of Kargil martyrs; disabled jawans and widows of martyred soldiers of the previous three wars, as well as IPKF and anti-terrorist operations, feel neglected by the administration.

Most of the fresh proposals that form part of the newly-announced rehabilitation package apply only to Kargil victims and do not have retrospective effect. As regards the Chief Minister's Sainik Welfare Fund, the recipients of gallantry awards or the next of kin of recipients deceased can still claim cash in lieu of land and annuity announced by the Government, if they have not yet received the benefit already. Barring this, the victims of earlier wars would not be entitled to any new reliefs.

There is lot of ambiguity with regard to many existing rehabilitation schemes. For instance, a related Government order states that each war widow is entitled to two acres of wet land or four acres of rain-fed land from the Government. But fewhave got it in Kerala.

Similarly, confusion reigns with regard to employment assistance. One dependent each of Keralites killed, disabled or missing in war is entitled to appointment in State Government service. The Central Government has a similar appointment scheme under which a dependent each of Central Government employees who die in service is entitled to job in the Central service. Besides, two dependents each of soldiers killed or disabled in wars are entitled to priority in appointments to Central service. In that case, will two dependents of a Keralite soldier be entitled to appointment in State and Central services respectively and another two dependents entitled for priority in appointments to Central service? The orders issued by the Government so far do not clarify this point, leaving both officials as well as war victims equally confused.

Another anomaly is that the spouses of the soldiers killed in action are exempted from paying building tax for residential houses owned by them inpanchayat areas. But the same exemption is not granted to houses in municipal or Corporation limits.

The most pressing problem faced by war victims in particular, and ex-servicemen in general, is the absence of proper medical facilities. There are 1,23,942 ex-servicemen and 21,995 widows of ex-servicemen on the register of Department of Sainik Welfare in Kerala, as on March 31, 1999. The three military hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kannur are equipped to serve only a tiny fraction of ex-servicemen in Kerala.

``Defence service personnel suffer several disparities and discrimination in service as against IAS/IPS cadres. There has been no representative of Defence service on any of the five Central Pay Commissions constituted so far. This explains why IAS/IPS cadres enjoy an edge over Defence personnel in Pay Commission recommendations, although the responsibilities of the latter are far more exacting and challenging in nature. Any well-meaning effort to ensure a fair deal to the soldiers shouldseek to end this discrimination first,'' said Col N Chandran.