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Efforts are apace to evolve WARB


By Vidhi Upadhyay

Fifteen months after it was set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the welfare and rehabilitation of the ex-servicemen of Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF), the Welfare and Rehabilitation Board (WARB) hasn’t garnered the kind of response one would expect from it. Constituted after much deliberation and delays on part of the government and amid pressing demands from ex-servicemen, the board is still finding its feet. WARB this month organised a ‘Kalyan Mela’ in the capital to ‘publicise’ its activities and services.

Till February 2007, every Central Police Force was managing its own welfare activities with its own resources; however, the constitution of WARB in March 2007 changed that. It gave a collective, centralised platform under the patronship of MHA for the grievance redressal of ex-servicemen and Next of Kin (NOK) of all CPMFs.

In more than a year of its constitution, WARB has, in liaison with Mother Dairy, allotted five booths to Ex-CPMF personnel and NOKs of deceased personnel in National Capital Region. According to Rajesh Singh, Inspector General of Police (Administration), CRPF and member secretary, WARB, the rehabilitation activities of the board initially have been carried out in National Capital Region since it’s easy to monitor them here. The welfare activities will be taken to all India level eventually, he added.

While much was anticipated and expected when WARB was set up, the board has not achieved the kind of recognition and success it deserved as an effort. During his address at the Kalyan Mela, WARB Chairperson V K Joshi, DG, CRPF said, “Magic is not possible in one year, the very inception of this board is commendable. The fact that it is a collective effort of all the CPMFs deserves accolades. We have to think about how to take it forward.”

He admitted there were hurdles in the path before it could start functioning effectively but refrained from elaborating further.

Among other issues, WARB is constantly warding off comparison from its Defence counterpart, the 60-year-old Army Welfare and Rehabilitation Board. Speaking during the Kalyan Mela, Joshi said, “We are not in a position to compare with them. In Defence forces, welfare schemes and rehabilitation have become part of the system and are working very effectively; it will take time before WARB can attain that level.”

Singh also termed the comparison as unjust. The WARB secretary said that the CPMF board could not follow the schemes of the Army welfare Board blindly. While officials may term the comparison as unjust, those who have served the CPMF are not so amiable. P.S. Nair, Secretary, All India CPMF ex-servicemen Association rues over the fact that even though CPMF is so crucial for the security of the country, its personnel are being subjected to step motherly treatment when it comes to benefits and welfare schemes.

“CPMF are also defending the country, they make sacrifice in the line of duty. They serve in difficult terrains and are vulnerable to diseases, yet they don’t get the same benefits which are given in armed forces. They are not given the armed forces status. There are no dedicated hospitals for them as in the case of Armed forces,” Nair said. He is also not very satisfied with WARB, for which he along with thousand other ex-service personnel had waged a long battle. Nair says that though the board has been constituted, it lacks funds and manpower to run it smoothly.

Nair has a point. Among the main reasons which have prevented the board from becoming a more sought-after body is lack of dedicated human resources and budget allocation. However, Singh said that it is too early for the board to ask for funds from the government. “WARB is in its infancy, before asking for funds, we first want to do some commendable work to prove our intent”, he said. While it’s true that WARB has not brought a noticeable change in the lives of those it is meant for, efforts are apace to evolve it into an effective organisation. Apart from Mother Dairy, the board has also liaisoned with the Tata Indicom for allotting booths at nominal price and high commission to retired/disabled ex CPMFs personnel and their NOKs. Since many ex-CPMFs personnel choose becoming private security guards as their second career, a security training firm’s help is being taken for training them and to aid them against exploitation. Besides these, the board officials are also actively engaged in updating data-base so as to have correct figures regarding the beneficiaries. Another important role assigned to WARB at its inception was to act as a think tank for the MHA in devising welfare and rehabilitation schemes for ex-CPMF personnel. Keeping up with its role, WARB has made efforts to explore avenues of employment for its personnel.

Proposals have been sent to the MHA for re-employing Ex-CPMFs personnel in tourism police and tiger protection force in agreement with the Tourism Ministry and Ministry of Environment and Forests. Also under active consideration is a dedicated WARB website so that grievances can be registered online. The board is also likely to set up national level vocational training centres to rehabilitate its retired personnel