Struggling to eke out a living, 20 World War II veterans are spending the evening of their life in a 'Sainik Ashram' in Kochi as they have not been given pension by the Central government.
They feel ignored, 'unwanted by their own country' and kith and kin.
"We do not have money even to buy medicines," one of them said.
The war veterans, now in their 80s and 90s, said they were not considered for pension as their service period fell short of the requisite 20 years.
To provide a helping hand to them, the Ex-servicemen Welfare Association has established a 'Sainik Ashram' and the war veterans are staying there now, Col (retd) K B P Pillai, who was instrumental in setting it up, said.
They are provided free accommodation and food. Some of them who have been able to produce some documents of their service are being given a Rs 400 monthly grant by the state government, he said.
"But that is not even enough to meet our medical bills," said 82-year-old P B Pappy, who joined the Navy as a seaman in 1942 and worked till 1947.
"My only son was killed in an accident recently. I had to move to the Sainik Ashram as there was no one to look after me and my wife," Pappy said.
"I do not have any Central government pension. State government gives me Rs 400 as grant, which is hardly enough to meet our needs," Pappy said.
Peters, (88) who had put in 12 years of service in the Army, said he has been an inmate in the Ashram since the past 10 years.
Peters, who was also involved in military operation in Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, said he has not got any pension from the Central government but gets the Rs 400 monthly grant from the state government.
"There is no one to look after me now," he said.
Prabhakaran Nair said he had joined the Army in 1945 and served for a year and 225 days.
"Why are we ignored by the Central government? Should we not be taken care of," he asked.
"There is no one to talk for us. We have sent several representations to the government for Central pension, but to no avail," he said.
Col Pillai said they do not seek any donation and raise funds by operating security services and tourist taxis.
He said the war veterans were denied pension as they did not serve the minimum 20 years to be eligible for it.
After the World War, the Government of India decided to 'de-mobilise' them by sending them off without pension, he added.
"While soldiers from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and other north Indian states are well looked after, those from the south, especially Kerala, are ignored," Col Pillai claimed.
Their colleagues, who joined the Indian National Army of Subash Chandra Bose, are drawing 'fabulous pension', he said.
Peters claimed: "We are also freedom fighters. We should get the pension of freedom fighters. Why is the government ignoring us?"
V K Madhavan, who served in many places including Hoogly and Jaffna after joining the forces in 1942, and George (87), who was in the Indian Medical Corps, said they have no records to show that they had served in the forces.
The war veterans now get free treatment at the Naval hospital in Kochi in case of hospitalisation. The EXWA has also constructed 16 independent houses to accommodate them.
They still hope that they would get Central pension. They have all pledged to donate their bodies to the medical colleges, Col Pillai added.
