Casualties Overview

In 2010, the Monitor identified 26 casualties from mines, including victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) in India. Men made up the largest casualty group, with almost 70% (18) of the total casualties; all but one adult male casualty was military/security personnel. There were eight child casualties; seven were boys. No women were reported among the casualties. As in previous years, the majority of casualties over 60% (16) occurred in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. A single victim-activated IED incident caused eight casualties in Chhattisgarh state. The other two casualties occurred in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The 26 mine/IED and ERW casualties identified in 2010 represented a decrease from the 57 casualties in 2009, but was closer to the 33 identified in 2008.[1] Such fluctuations in annual casualty figures are not thought to be indicative of trends and can be attributed to the challenges in collecting consistent and accurate data from media and local sources, since India lacks a systematic data collection system. In addition to the confirmed casualties from mines/victim-activated IEDs and ERW in 2010, the Monitor identified 137 casualties in nine incidents thought to have been caused by command-detonated IEDs. In each of the identified incidents, casualties included security forces, either police or members of the army. These casualties were not included in the annual total.[2]

The cumulative number of casualties in India is not known. Between 1999 and 2010, the Monitor identified 3,014 victim-activated mine/IED and ERW casualties in India (1,050 killed; 1,964 injured).[3]  Nearly 50% of these casualties were civilians.[4]

Victim Assistance

Total number of survivors is unknown but is at least 1,964.

Assessing victim assistance needs

No efforts were made to assess the needs of mine/ERW survivors in 2010. In 2011, the Indian census included an increased number of categories of disabilities to enumerate a more accurate count of all persons with disabilities. The information collected was to be used in the allocation of government resources. There were no questions included as to the cause of disability.[5] India’s online national disability register, Punarbhava, continued to collect information from persons with disabilities to include in a national disability database and to facilitate the provision of disability certificates enabling people to become eligible for services.[6] The disability register does not collect information about the cause of disabilities resulting from an accident, nor does it attempt to assess the needs of persons with disabilities.[7]

Victim assistance coordination

India does not have any specific coordination mechanisms or national plans for mine/ERW victim assistance. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s (MSJE) coordinates assistance for all persons with disabilities by regulating physical rehabilitation services and various disability funds, and developing and implementing India’s legal framework as it relates to disability.[8] The MSJE’s Central Coordinating Committee develops and monitors the implementation of disability-related policies and services.[9]

In December 2010 at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, India stated that “mine victims are assisted with rehabilitation inter alia through financial compensation employment and health care including by providing prosthetics.”[10] In its Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Amended Protocol II Article 13 report for the period from September 2010 to December 2010, no details of this assistance were provided.[11] India stated that reporting on the protection of the civilian population from the effects of ERW was not applicable for India in its CCW Protocol V Article 10 report.[12]

Survivor Inclusion

Associations of mine survivors were included in the consultative process to draft the national Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill.[13] There were no reports of their inclusion in other disability coordination or planning mechanisms. The MSJE’s Central Coordinating Committee includes representatives of disabled persons’ organizations.[14]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2010[15]

In 2010, a violent and volatile security situation persisted in various rural and remote areas of India including Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, and Nagaland. An upsurge in violent protests and clashes for several months that occurred mid-year increased the demand for victim assistance and at the same time restricted access to these services.[16] Few efforts were identified to address the increase in demand. The scarcity of services and trained staff in rural areas, where most mine/ERW survivors are based, the cost of transportation, accommodation and treatment, and other ongoing obstacles continued to prevent many survivors from accessing assistance.[17] There were some initial efforts within civil society to support survivors in applying for government benefits, most especially compensation. Most survivors had not seen concrete results by the end of the year.[18]

The violence in India continued to impact the provision of ongoing medical care for survivors and others in affected areas by damaging infrastructure, limiting physical access, and disrupting supply chains. [19] During the upsurge in violence in the Kashmir Valley, the Indian Red Cross increased its efforts to evacuate more than 600 people wounded in the violence, including mine/ERW survivors, to referral hospitals in the region. The ICRC continued to provide training in the treatment of weapon wounds and first aid.[20]

Just one government-run regional rehabilitation center, the Composite Regional Center in Jammu, is located near mine-affected areas. It provides services and prosthetics free of charge.[21] There were approximately 200 government-run physical rehabilitation centers throughout the country; however these services were concentrated in urban areas.[22] The ICRC continued to support two other rehabilitation centers in Jammu and Kashmir, including the cost of transportation and accommodation associated with treatment, though there was a significant decline in prosthetics production during the year. It also supported the opening of a rehabilitation center in Nagaland.[23]

Psychosocial support for survivors continued to be limited in 2010. MSF offered psychosocial care in Kashmir and began conducting home visits in the region to provide psychological assistance to those wounded by the upsurge in violence during the year.[24]

While many survivors were reported to be receiving a monthly disability allowance, this was considered insufficient to live on.[25] While the government has repeatedly stated at international meetings that mine survivors and families of those killed by mines are entitled to compensation,[26] most survivors have not been successful in applying for compensation.[27] Between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2009, the government paid out just 29 compensation claims, three to the family members of fatal casualties and 26 to survivors of mine incidents.[28]

In May 2010, the government agreed to pay INR1.2 million (US$26,287) in compensation to a survivor from Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir who was injured in an antipersonnel mine incident in 2002.[29] This settlement was only reached after what has been described as an “epic legal battle” which received the support of two national NGOs, the Control Arms Foundation, and the Human Rights Law Network.[30] Despite an order by the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Defense to pay the settlement in March 2011, the compensation had not been received as of August 2011.[31] No other information on compensation cases was available from the government for 2010.

There were no known economic inclusion initiatives targeting or inclusive of mine/ERW survivors in 2010.

India’s Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 protects the rights of persons with disabilities. However, discrimination remained pervasive, especially in rural areas.[32] Throughout 2010, efforts were underway to align the act with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Following extensive consultations, the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill was finalized in June 2011. The new bill does not include explicit mention of mine/ERW survivors, though survivors associations were included in the consultation process to draft the Bill.[33]

Legislation requires that all public buildings and transportation be accessible for persons with disabilities though accessibility remained limited with few exceptions.[34]

India ratified the CRPD on 1 October 2007 and it entered into force in May 2008.