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Armed Forces Veterans’ Day: Well-being of veterans is govt’s duty, says Rajnath Singh
Commemorating the 7th Armed Forces Veterans’ Day in Dehradun, defence minister Rajnath Singh said: “Every soldier of today is a respected veteran of tomorrow. It is our duty to ensure their well-being and satisfaction.”
Dehradun/New Delhi: Taking care of veterans is the government’s responsibility, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.
Commemorating the 7th Armed Forces Veterans’ Day in Dehradun, the minister said: “Every soldier of today is a respected veteran of tomorrow. It is our duty to ensure their well-being and satisfaction.”
Due to the selfless devotion and sacrifices of the armed forces, the country’s citizens feel safe and can walk with their heads held high, Singh said. “Our brave soldiers have made a huge contribution to transforming India’s image across the world to that of a powerful and respectful nation. You are the assets to the nation. We sleep peacefully because you are awake at the borders,” he said.
“Pensions, medical and other facilities that the country gives you are very small ways of showing respect to you… The entire country owes a debt of gratitude to the war veterans,” he added.
The Armed Forces Veterans Day is celebrated on January 14 every year. It was on this day in 1953 that the first Indian Commander in Chief of the Indian Army – Field Marshal K M Cariappa, who led Indian forces to victory in the 1947 war – formally retired.
This year, the event is being celebrated at nine locations — Juhunjhunu, Jalandhar, Panagarh, New Delhi, Dehradun, Chennai, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar and Mumbai – by the three Service Headquarters.
To mark the occasion, Singh in Dehradun launched the ‘Soul of Steel Alpine Challenge’, a joint adventure sports initiative of the Indian Army and CLAW Global. He also flagged off “Road to the End”, a 460 km long car rally as part of a joint expedition by the Indian Army and CLAW. The rally is expected to reach its destination in the Garhwal Himalayas near Niti Village in Chamoli district in the next three days.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan also attended the rally.
Singh dedicated a ‘Shaurya Sthal’ in Dehradun Cantonment to the armed forces and paid floral tributes to soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation.
In the national capital, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande addressed a gathering of ex-servicemen, saying the Indian armed forces is highly professional and counted among the best in the world.
He asserted that inspired by the contributions of veterans, all the three services of the armed forces are “ready to face any challenge” in a formidable manner.
He also said the government has announced a long-pending demand of One Rank One Pension (OROP) for the armed forces’ veterans. “But there were certain issues, so there were delays. It has been approved by the government in December and the payment of the arrears and other things will start very soon,” he said.
The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the revision of pension of “armed forces pensioners/family pensioners under OROP with effect from July 1, 2019”, according to the defence ministry.
Pension of the past pensioners would be re-fixed based on an average of minimum and maximum pension of defence forces retirees of the calendar year 2018 in the same rank with the same length of service, the ministry said.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari and Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar shared the dais with the Army chief during the celebrations at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi.
The Navy chief, in his address, said the armed forces of today are a product of the efforts, visionary leadership, aspirations and selfless efforts put in by “each one of our veterans”.
He said the Navy would like to assure everybody that it will leave no stone unturned in carrying forward the legacy of the veterans. “We have inducted the first batch of Agniveers, which also includes women, and that is a bold, transformative step and which will contribute to making the Navy future-proof,” he said.
The IAF chief also extended greetings to the veterans on the occasion.
“From its humble origins, the IAF has carved out a reputation of being a formidable aerospace in the region today. This has been made possible only through the vision, hard work, and selfless service rendered by our veterans over the years,” he said, adding, the
“sterling contributions” made by the veterans have always been a guiding force.
(With agency inputs)
