Army chief Deepak Kapoor is suffering from hearing impairment after exposure to the heavy booming sound of artillery guns during a demonstration on anti-terror operations in the United States in July last year.
The disability, which puts him in a low medical category, will fetch him 20 per cent extra pension after his superannuation in March, army sources said. Kapoor became aware of his hearing impairment after he underwent examination at the Army Research and Referral Hospital in November last year.
The sources said the General visited the hospital after he experienced difficulty in hearing in his left ear. Kapoor told the doctors that he had been experiencing problems in hearing in the left ear ever since his visit to the US in July last year. He said that it could be because of exposure to the booming sounds of small weapons and gunfire during a demonstration by US troops on anti-terror operations. Kapoor himself had fired from a few weapons during the demonstration.
The Army chief had also told the doctors that he was unable to discriminate spoken words, following which he was advised to use a hearing aid in his left ear.
Doctors also diagnosed that Kapoor was "fit for release from service" in the medical categorisation 'H-2', which denotes a low medical category where he cannot continue in service. No other Army chief has ever been so categorised during their tenure, sources said.
