Close to 2,000 veterans attend rally in Kodagu

It was a day of celebration for Army veterans from Kodagu and neighbouring areas who showed up in large numbers braving rain to listen to Chief of the Army Staff General Dalbir Singh at rally, on his first visit here after assuming charge, on Saturday.

At a gathering of close to 2,000 veterans, General Singh said the Army had plans to build regional hospitals for veterans as it was found that falsified bills were being submitted by empanelled hospitals.

“We have proposed to build 10 regional hospitals, of which four or five have been cleared and the rest will follow,” he said.

He said there was no shortage of funds for veterans, but it was the delivery and procurement mechanisms that had to be fine tuned.

General Singh also spoke about a tie-up with the National Skills Ministry where teams from the Ministry would visit Army units and provide certification for eligible Army staff. “We have identified many skill sets which can be certified and this will help those who retire get jobs,” he said.

On the issue of One Rank One Pension, he said a judicial commission which is set to visit 20 locations to interact with ex-service men will begin with its first visit to Chandigarh next week.

Earlier, the Army chief paid a visit to the memorial park for Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and ‘Sunny Side’, the residence of late General K.S. Thimayya. General Singh promised to provide tanks and other possible war trophies for the memorial park.

He announced several initiatives for Kodagu region, which has historically sent several youngsters to the armed forces. General Singh said a recruitment rally would be held here in 2017.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Avinash Bhat / Madikeri – August 06th, 2016