Health Issues of Indian Army Veterans: A Socio-Analytical View

Objective: The Indian Army has its own values, customs, traditions, standards of behaviour, standards of discipline, teamwork, loyalty, selfless duty, rank, identity, etc. All these things are taken into account and followed by a person when he is getting recruited to the Indian Army. But when a person retires from the service of the Indian Army and tries to re-establish himself in society, he has to face many problems due to various things like the policy, rules, customs, traditions, etc. of the society. Among various problems, one is health. The objective of this study is to analyze the health problems of retired members of the Indian Army. Method: The data for the present study have been collected from 200 Indian Army veterans (also known as ex-servicemen) belonging to the two tehsils of Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India. The primary data have been collected by using an interview schedule and observation techniques consisting of both quantitative and qualitative responses. The respondents have been selected by using snowball sampling. The data have been analyzed using SPSS. Results: Most of the Indian Army veterans reported good mental health, but most of the veterans suffered from non-communicable or lifestyle diseases in their physical health, and the majority of the veterans have social health issues. On further analysis, it was found that most respondents with non-communicable diseases were suffering from cardiac problems, B.P. problems, etc. Conclusion: It is a widely discussed phenomenon that a person's physical health remains good in the Indian Army, but no one pays attention to what his health is like after he retires from the Indian Army. This study shows that after retirement, the social and physical health of veterans is not good. Key words: Indian Army, Indian Army Veterans (Ex-servicemen), Health, Veterans Health Issues, Social Health.