Ratan Tata Officers Holiday Home......Why this discrimination...?????

Ratan Tata Officers Holiday Home, located in the heart of Ooty, has always been a favourite place to stay for all service officers. It has always offered a perfect holiday at a very affordable cost. the RTOHH has now been very well done up.The furnishings are new and the old building has been carefully renovated and maintained......a very commendable job indeed !!!

But there is one thing that has upset me some what.The room tariff for a double room is Rs 300/- per day for a serving or retired Army Officer or his family and Rs 1200/- per day for a serving or retired Air force /Naval Officer or his family. It is Rs 1200/- perday also for civilians !! That means Air Force / Naval officers have now been equated with civilians. I find this discriminatory attitude utterly disgusting. aren't the Air Force or the Navy our sister organisations ?Aren't the three of us expected to fight a war together against a common enemy ? With this discriminatory attitude within ourselves.......against our very own people ........is there really a point talking about the attitude of the "babus" ?

I am sure RTOHH will sadly be avoided by the officers from the Air Force or Navy from now on.....not because they have to shell out Rs 1200/- per day but because they have been equated with civilians.........that is a little difficult to digest. I am sure the present Army Chief will not approve these kind of decisions . This decision has apparently been taken by some short sighted , ill advised guy at a much lower level. Very sad indeed !!!

"Have a Heart my friend"...............

I am writing this article for my fouji friends who are not from the medical side. I suggest you spare a few minutes to go through it. You may perhaps benefit from it some day.

Many of us may not be aware of the fact that India is now the “Heart disease capital” of the world – we have the highest number of coronary artery disease cases (the ones blocking the coronaries leading to heart attacks) …..and the number is rising every day. We foujis are also part of this population that is certainly not insulated from this risk. This is despite the fact that we are in general, a screened lot having undergone a rigorous medical exam on entry and subsequently every year. It is high time that we take remedial measures to prevent a catastrophe……I shall begin with a few examples to highlight my point.

Let me begin with my own case……I have been a teetotaler, non smoker, non obese, not suffering from diabetes or hypertension and a fitness freak all my life despite which I had a heart attack just after retirement. Had I undergone a routine Treadmill Test earlier, this could have been largely prevented.

The second example ….. a fairly recent case… a senior specialist doctor, a man with clean habits and a fitness freak, at a large service hospital was playing a vigorous game of squash when he suddenly collapsed with a cardiac arrest. Fortunately for him, the cardiologist happened to be his game partner. He was revived and taken up for emergency angiography when a block was detected which was subjected to stenting. He luckily made a full recovery.

No body is therefore insulated from this risk. What is the solution? Well, I strongly recommend a yearly Treadmill Test for every one over 40 years of age and once every five years between 30 and 40. This may not be available through your unit facilities because a yearly TMT may not be authorized as per “rules”. At the most, what they do is a routine ECG which is quite useless as a screening tool. But you can always get a TMT done through any cardiologist in your home town when you go on leave. Get a yearly Lipid profile and get your Blood pressure and blood Sugar monitored on a yearly basis. Lifestyle modifications as under, are important as a preventive measure.

Dietary Habits : Avoid Red meat , yellow of eggs, and saturated fats, fast foods. Take more of vegetables and fruits. Fish is good for the heart. Moderate your alcohol consumption.

Exercise: A brisk daily walk for 30 to 45 minutes at least 5 days a week is good for your heart.

Your heart is in your hands ! Look after it …..before it is too late….

ECHS needs to do more......................

The ECHS was a well conceived scheme with the objective of providing comprehensive medicare to the Veterans in the evening of their lives. The scheme has indeed benefited a lot of ex-servicemen and their families. It is stating the obvious to say that the govt spends crores of rupees to sustain the scheme as a measure of welfare towards Veterans.

However the scheme like several other newly introduced schemes has its share of shortcomings. If remedial actions are taken to rectify these, I think it will go a long way in making it much more meaningful to the clientele. I have tried to comment upon a few of these shortcomings based purely on my personal observations.

Procedural Simplifications : An ESM on reporting to an ECHS polyclinic is referred to a specialist at an empanelled hospital . The specialist at the empanelled hospital after examining him orders for additional tests like a thyroid function test or an ultrasonogram or a CT scan or a treadmill test. Now the poor old man has to go back to the referring doctor at the polyclinic merely to get a rubberstamp of approval and return back to the specialist at the empanelled hospital. Assuming that the ESM stays in a village 30 kms away from the polyclinic and the empanelled hospital is 50 kms away from the polyclinic, one can well imagine the plight of the old man !! This extra trip could have been avoided had the referring doctor written “referred to the cardiologist xyz Hospital, for appropriate investigations, opinion and treatment“ . Now if this patient is asked to undergo a coronary stenting, he goes back to the polyclinic, where a statement of case is made, forwarded to the SEMO , who is the CO of the nearest MH. After scrutiny by the SEMO, the SOC is forwarded to the Command Hospital for approval by the Cardiologist. I am sure the cardiologist merely affixes his stamp of approval after which the papers find their way back to the same polyclinic where it all began. This entire exercise would have taken full two months. If the old man is lucky to be alive, he gets to undergo the procedure.

This is the delay that is entirely avoidable. In today’s world of fast communications , secure e mail channels, telemedicine, I think such a delay is uncalled for. .I feel a telephonic/ e mail approval followed by the usual channels of “SOCs” without causing undue hardships/ delays to the patient would be more appropriate.

Attitudinal problems : Many of the staff members at the polyclinics are rather rude to the ex- servicemen. This includes some of the doctors also who appear to be disgruntled with the “post – office “ job that they are doing at the polyclinic. Careful selection of doctors and other staff members is important…….. they need to be sensitized to the elderly irritable clientele that they are required to deal with.

A word of caution……….ECHS has been discussed in several blogs wherein a few of our friends in the medical fraternity particularly the younger lot of serving doctors have expressed a view that the Organization is already “overburdened “ with the ECHS….that the Veterans are enjoying the “hospitality” extended by the ECHS and so on….Some of them also portray an impression that they and the ECHS are doing a great favour to the ex-servicemen by giving them treatment.!! Well, these are the irresponsible outbursts from immature minds and ought to be condemned. Perhaps one does not realize the plight of an ex- serviceman until he him selves becomes an ex-serviceman one day !!

Let it be clear….veterans have given their best years to the organization and now they need to be looked after. Nobody is doing a great favour to them by extending medicare…..besides no ex servicemen are interested in falling sick merely to “enjoy the hospitality” of the ECHS !! They need to lead a life of dignity in the evening of their lives !! After all each one of us has to become an ex-serviceman one day…………..

Of Corrupt Generals ………..and Corrupt Baboos……

I have woken up after a long period of “hibernation” and I thought a topic such as this would be most appropriate to write about.

The news channels were abuzz with the reports of the corrupt deals of a few serving Generals involved in the infamous Sookna land deal….but what struck me most was the recommendation of the Eastern Army Commander to deal with the offenders rather ruthlessly. The message by the incumbent Army Chief was loud and clear…….it is indeed reassuring to learn that the Indian Army will be in safe hands and the guilty will be punished……Officers like Gen V K Singh will make us proud of the Indian Army!!

No sooner had the Sookna land scam died down some what, when news comes of a senior IAS couple from MP, caught by the Tax guys with crores of unaccounted wealth!!
Yes, I am speaking about Arvind Joshi and his wife……both officers of the rank of Principal Secretaries !!.............and my mind goes back a few decades……….. of happy memories.

Arvind Joshi was my class fellow at a small school at Gwalior for a good three years. That was in the Sixtees….over forty years ago !!He was from an aristocratic background. His father was a DIG of police. It was indeed a familiar sight to see the immaculately dressed Arvind dropped off to school every morning in an old ,well maintained car driven by a police driver…and yes…he was treated by all as a VIP so much so that the school principal used to respectfully refer to him as “dig sahib ka ladka hai”. But then, Arvind was indeed exceptionally good at studies.
Those days, unlike today, one of the most preferred carrier options for brilliant boys, was to join the NDA…..and Arvind was no exception. He appeared for the NDA entrance exam and made it to NDA. Arvind indeed did us all proud !

Bur fate had some thing else in store for him. At NDA, he was injured in a riding accident and he was medically boarded out !! But Arvind was not someone to take it lying down. He came back, continued his studies, prepared for the IAS and he made it !! Commendable indeed !!
Arvind did us proud once again.
Years later, Arvind was posted at the MoD as the JS (Army) during George Fernandes’ time….there were several stories of corruption at the MoD including the infamous “Kargil coffin scam”. Arvind came back to his parent cadre at MP as the Principal Secy. There were several allegations of corruption against him but nothing was proved.
And now he is caught by the IT sleuths with crores of unaccounted wealth. Arvind Joshi is suspended from service !! Arvind now made us hang our heads in shame !!
Our old school principal at Gwalior must be crying in his grave seeing all this. I am convinced this must be the story of several baboos who are still holding high positions in babudom. Is there a remedy for all this ? Food for thought folks ……

PB 4 for Retired Lt Cols..........Thoughts of a veteran soldier......

I now write not as a doctor but as a veteran soldier for the reason that I may not remain a doctor for long. After all, in old age, when my vision is impaired, when my hearing has gone down, when my fingers are no more steady and are incapable of feeling a spleen or liver, when Alzheimer’s has set in, I shall not remain a doctor any more but then, I shall continue to remain a soldier, for old soldiers never die they just fade away.

Now coming back to the point………….The grant of PB 4 to Lt Cols was indeed a welcome step particularly for the retirees some of whom are old and forgotten and in these hard times a little more income could bring the much needed solace in old age. Lt Cols of every branch except a few like the AMC, ADC, RVC etc have been greatly benefited .Quite naturally, Retired Officers of these branches are sure to feel a little disappointed in that they may stand to gain nothing at all with these orders.

As per the cpc, the minimum guaranteed pension is not to be less than 50 % of the minimum of the pay band + the grade pay + the MSP which would logically mean that the minimum pension of a retiree should not be less than the pension drawn by the junior most individual holding the same rank, if he were to retire today. Now , that is not happening in the case of retired officers of these branches. The junior most officer of let’s say the AMC, if he were to retire today would get 50% of minimum of pay band + grade pay + MSP + NPA ! I feel this amounts to travesty of justice towards the retired Lt Cols of AMC, ADC, or the RVC. I wonder if the words “logically” and “legally” could be synonymously used!

So much for Lt Cols and PB 4……. numerous posts about which have appeared in various blogs. All of us seem to be suffering from the "Oliver Twist syndrome"….always asking for more. But in all this, have we forgotten our retired PBORs? Aren’t they also veterans like us? Haven’t they too served in the difficult , snow clad mountains of Ladakh with us ? Haven’t they too fought wars along with us? Haven’t we commanded those very people? But how many of us have spoken about their pension anomalies? Are they getting the promised 70% pension? Is any thing being done to sort out their pensionary grievances? I am afraid not………..Food for thought folks……