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.