Army honours its bravehearts disabled in the line of duty

A seminar on 'Physical and Mental Issues of Disabled Soldiers' was organised at Manekshaw Centre.

Image Credit: Twitter/Indian Army

NEW DELHI: Army on Wednesday honoured the soldiers who have been disabled while serving the nation in a seminar on 'Physical and Mental Issues of Disabled Soldiers' organised at Manekshaw Centre. The seminar was organised to commemorate the 'Year of  Disabled Soldier in  Line of Duty'.

The event was attended by disabled soldiers and veterans, along with serving soldiers, officers and ladies. This event was used as an opportunity to connect with injured Army bravehearts and acknowledge their service to the Nation.

Seminar on‘Physical & Mental Issues of Disabled Soldiers’ organised at Manekshaw Centre. General Bipin Rawat #COAS stressed on the need to recognize physical & mental aspects of disability & providing care to disabled soldiers to help them reintegrate into society #YearOfDisable pic.twitter.com/rbdsnLfHBs — ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) June 20, 2018

Director General (DG) AFMS, Lt Gen Bipin Puri delivered the welcome address for the event which was presided over by Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), Gen Bipin Rawat. 

During his speech, the COAS emphasized on the need to recognise both the physical and mental aspects of the disability and providing comprehensive care to the disabled soldiers to help them reintegrate into the society. He also highlighted various disabled-friendly initiatives that have been taken in Armed Forces Hospitals.

On the occasion, Maj DP Singh (Retd), a Kargil War veteran and celebrity blade runner, also shared his experiences with the audience. Other speakers included Col Sachin Saxena, Psychiatrist from Base Hospital Delhi and Col AS Kalra, Prosthetic Surgeon from Artificial Limb Centre, Pune. They spoke about the challenges faced by disabled soldiers and discussed the very pertinent issue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) that afflicts a large proportion of disabled soldiers.      

The aim of the Seminar was to provide an educative experience about the various stresses faced by the soldiers and their families, especially when a family member suffers from an injury leading to a devastating disability. A detailed account of various problems with special emphasis on effective solutions to combat them was deliberated upon. This Seminar is one of the events which focuses to establish 'feel good' connect between disabled soldiers and the organisation and also aims to galvanise support for them.