India, Aug. 28 -- When the Defence Ministry notified the Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pensionary Awards, 2023 in September 2023, it claimed to bring clarity and curb misuse. Nearly two years later, the consequences are plain: the rules have left thousands of veterans stripped of support and dignity. What was presented as reform has, in practice, become a blunt instrument to deny those who served the very benefits they were promised.

The most damaging change is the shift of the burden onto the soldier. Under earlier regulations, ailments arising during service-hypertension after years in counter-insurgency, joint disease from mountain marches, or hearing loss from artillery-were reasonably presumed to be aggravated by the job. ER-2023 n...