Meenal Sujeet Bhosale, the wife of an Indian Army officer, requests in her letter to the Central government to replace outdated and unsafe Cheetah helicopters that endanger the lives of Indian soldiers and citizens. The letter is sent to PMO Office through Change.org – Editor
BeyondHeadlines News Desk
Three army officers were killed after their Cheetah helicopter crashed in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh last month. The helicopter was reportedly on a testing flight. Just two minutes after take-off, it caught fire and crashed.
When a person joins the army, his family prepares itself to face the harshest news. But when young Officers / soldiers die in an accident because the military equipment is outdated, nothing can prepare the family for this tragic loss.
We are wives of Army personnel’s across India and we have come together to ask the Defense Minister, Manohar Parrikar and the Prime Minister to Announce the specific time frame for the replacement of outdated and unsafe Cheetah helicopters that endanger the lives of our soldiers and Citizens.
All the efforts by Army, Air force and navy to phase out this obsolete equipment have fallen on deaf ears.
Technical snags in these Cheetah and cheetak helicopters are common and every year there are at least two to three major crashes that claim innocent lives.
The Cheetah helicopters are 44-year-old and cheetaks are 54 year old and the army has been trying to replace them for a long time. But the efforts have failed because of corruption scandals and bureaucratic delays.
The Indian Army personnel risk their lives to protect the country. The least we can do for them is to ensure that they have quality equipment.
The National Disaster Management Authority, headed by the Prime Minister uses Cheetah, Cheetak helicopters for supply of essentials and evacuation of stranded people during natural calamities like floods,earth quakes, tsunami and hurricane . By using such outdated equipment India is going against the best practices in Aviation Safety and Disaster Management.
In spite of the high stake in Defense in war time, peace time and Disaster Management the callous attitude of Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs is quite evident.
