Veterans
and Social Change
Major
General Mrinal Suman
We,
the veterans take pride in the fact that we belong to the noblest profession in
the world – the profession of arms that ensures security of our country. ‘Once a
soldier always a soldier’ is an old adage. Shedding of uniform does not severe
our umbilical links with the military. We continue to act as ambassadors of the
services.
When
in service, we are admired for our dedication to the cause of national security.
Similarly, after retirement we should earn respect of the countrymen by
contributing to the betterment of the society. People should look up to the
veterans as the conscience-keeper of the values that our nation cherishes.
Most
social scientists consider the military to be a major modernizing force.
Soldiers possess necessary education, experience and maturity to be an agent of
social change. They do not get carried away by rhetoric; they are doers and
achievers.
Unfortunately,
veterans in India have come to be associated with OROP, ECHS and canteen
facilities. It is time we step out of our self-interest issues and prove
ourselves to be worthy of the nation’s admiration that we yearn for.
Two
areas in which we can contribute effectively are ‘eye donation’ and ‘body
donation’. We can kick-start a social revolution and bring about a change in the
thinking of our countrymen.
Eye
Donation
India
is home to 1.2 crore blind people and nearly half of them suffer due to corneal
disorders. Of them, 26 percent are children and 25
percent live below the poverty line.
India
needs at least one lakh donated eyes annually for corneal transplantation to
restore vision in people with corneal blindness. Corneal transplantation is an
operation that replaces the opaque cornea with a clear cornea obtained from a
human donor. The success rate is more than 90 percent. The
gift of sight is made anonymously.
Anyone
can pledge to donate his eyes after death. There is no age bar. However, as the
eyes must be recovered within 4 to 6 hours of the death of the donor, support of
the family members is critical.
Eye
removal takes only 10-15 minutes and does not cause any disfigurement. Either
the entire eye (called the globe) may be surgically removed, or only the cornea
may be excised and placed in storage media.
The
donated corneas are transplanted to the patients on the waiting list. Eyes which
cannot be used for corneal transplantation are used for research and education
purposes.
There
is an acute shortage of donated eyes. Worse, less than 1 percent of the people
who pledge their eyes actually donate them finally, primarily due to the
indifference of the family members. Whereas states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat
have good collection rates, others fare rather poorly – Uttaranchal collects only four eyes in
one year.
Lakhs
of blind persons remain on the waiting list for years, hoping one day their turn
would come to receive cornea donated by some virtuous soul. They suffer their
sightless lives in the hope of seeing this beautiful world one day.
Body
Donation
Body
donation is not only a very noble gesture but also a big boon for medical
research and development as the bodies are used in medical colleges for studying
anatomy and various diseases. They are also needed for practicing and developing
new surgical techniques.
There
are over 140 medical colleges in India,
each having 150 to 200 students. One cadaver (dead body) is needed for
every 10 students for dissection
in anatomy classes.
All colleges are facing an acute shortage
of cadavers. Some are forced to make do by sourcing unclaimed dead bodies from
the police. Due to legally mandated time-lag for their disposal, such dead
bodies are received in a rotten and decayed state. Resultantly, they are of very
limited value.
A
person in his life can express his will to donate his body after death. However,
he must convince his next of kin to fulfill his wishes. The body, along with the
death certificate/declaration of death certificate is required to be transported
within three to five hours to the medical institution for
preservation.
Although
no religion debars body donation, there is a strong mindset against it. Even if
a person pledges his body, his family members decline to hand it over. They
prefer to waste the body by burying or burning rather than offering it for a
noble cause. Therefore, education of the family members is of critical
importance.
Finally
Lest
I am accused of hypocrisy, let me state that eye donation is common in our
family. My mother expired at the age of 88 in February 2011. As per her wishes,
her eyes were donated to the Eye Department of the Armed Forces Medical College,
Pune (AFMC). Two blind persons have since got eye-sight. Additionally, my mother
had willed that her body be given to AFMC for study and training purposes. Her
wishes were duly complied with.
Eye
donation is the noblest of all causes. To gift sight to two blind persons is by
far the most virtuous act a human being can undertake; that too without any
discomfort, sacrifice or cost. Additionally, our eyes can live to see the world
even after our death. Why should we burn the eyes of our loved ones when they
can be used to impart vision to someone in need?
For
body donation, pledges are of little use unless honored by the family members.
Donors must convince and prepare the family members accordingly. Body donation
is the ultimate service to the humanity. An inscription on a grave dedicated to
body-donors reads – ‘Even
in death do we serve life’.
We
the veterans belong to the most progressive segment of the society. It is for us
to take up the mantle of ushering in a social revolution in the country. Let us
lead by example. Let every veteran pledge his eyes and body for donation. Let us
convince our family members to honour our wishes after our death.
Let
no blind person remain deprived of seeing nature’s beauty. Let us, the blessed
ones, not be so self-absorbed that we prefer to burn our eyes rather than gift
vision to the needy. A true soldier can never be that selfish. *****
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