Pension adalat at the Indian Navy Office in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 27: Saraswati Tripathy, 81, the widow of an ex-Navy personnel, has been running from pillar to post since 1961 to get her son a job.

Today, she turned up at an ex-servicemen mela and a pension adalat conducted by the Indian Navy here to air her grievance.

Like Saraswati, many other ex-servicemen also visited the mela which was aimed at redressing the problems of ex-servicemen. This mela was the first of its kind in the state and was organised to celebrate 2012 as the “Year of ex-servicemen”. Sources said about 100 complaints were registered with the authorities at the mela.

Speaking on the occasion, Commodore M.V.S. Kumar, principal director, directorate of ex-servicemen affairs, Union ministry of defence, called upon retired naval personnel to register themselves with the Veteran Sailors’ Forum to get all the information about the welfare projects of the Union government.

“Most of the time, the family members of ex-servicemen are not aware of the benefits that they can avail. This is a forum to convey grievances for quick redressal. People should actively participate in such kind of melas,” said Kumar.

Saraswati Tripathy

Sources said this was the fourth mela conducted by the Navy in the entire country. Earlier, the Navy had successfully conducted such melas in Porbandar, Bangalore and Hyderabad as a part of its efforts to commemorate 2012 as the “Year of ex-servicemen”.

The representatives of directorate of ex-servicemen affairs, pay and allowances, Commodore Bureau of Sailors (CABS), ex-servicemen contributory healthcare scheme (ECHS) and the central pension processing cell of State Bank of India were also present to resolve the grievances of ex-servicemen and widows.

“Action will be initiated to redress the problems faced by the pensioners, widows and dependants. Most of the time, the dependants fail to avail various entitlements because of lack of awareness,” said command regimental system officer of eastern region Kanchan Mukherjee.

The ECHS is an initiative by the Navy to dispense free medical facilities to the ex-servicemen. At present, the Navy has 15 empanelled hospitals and diagnostic centres in the state to provide free treatment to former employees.

To support the families of deceased employees, the Indian Navy had constituted a Naval Regimental System on February 1, 2011. The system ensures completion of all paper work for entitled dues of the deceased along with providing guidance for investment in various government housing projects.