Chief of Army Staff Gen. Dalbir Singh is slated to visit Karnataka on Friday and Saturday. He will inaugurate a rally of more than 1,000 veteran soldiers and war widows in Madikeri on Saturday.

The General took office in July 2014. This will be his second visit to the State after the Aero India held in February 2015.

A statement from the Ministry of Defence said the rally would be a platform for thousands of ex-servicemen and war widows from the area to air their grievances directly to top Army officers. The rally is expected to benefit over 4,700 ex-servicemen from the region.

Former soldiers and widows form a sizable population in and around the Kodagu region. The district has also produced a large number of past and present service personnel.

Also present will be top Army brass including Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat, Southern Army Commander; Lt. Gen. Jagbir Singh, General Officer Commanding, Dakshin Bharat Area; Major General K.S. Nijjar, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub-Area, and other senior military and Rajya Sainik Board officials.

The event will include a medical camp, pension clinic, canteen service, stalls of the Army Welfare Education Society, the Army Welfare Placement Organisation, the Army Veterans’ Cell, Aadhaar Card Registration and bank loan facilitation.

The Army Chief, along with his wife Namita Suhag, who heads the the Army Wives Welfare Association, and Madhulika Rawat, regional president of the association, will facilitate the veer naris.

“The focus of the rally will be to resolve anomalies in disbursement of pension, land and legal cases being confronted by the veterans and veer naris. It will re-touch the lives of retired army personnel and arrange benefits of various welfare schemes of the Government and Army at a single venue.”

Homage to two heroes

After the rally, the General and senior officers are slated to have a Sainik Bhoj with the gathering. The gesture is to reaffirm the Army’s solidarity with its retired fraternity and reassure it that the government and the Army remain sensitive to their needs, the statement said.

Gen. Suhag will also pay homage to two former Army chiefs from the State – Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa at the Cariappa Memorial Park and visit ‘Sunny Side’, the former home of the late General K.S. Thimayya.

The rally has been organised by the Karnataka & Kerala Sub-Area.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities. Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – August 04th, 2016