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No ulterior motive behind attending ex-servicemen rallies: Army Chief | (Haryana): Clearing his position about attending
ex-servicemen's rallies under the aegis of Army Headquarters, Chief of Army Staff
General V.K. Singh today exhorted veteran soldiers to take up the case of one
rank one pension (OROP) with their elected representatives, so that the required
Rs.1300 crore to implement the OROP can be arranged by the government. The Army
always endeavors to reach out to its veterans through such rallies, addressing
multifarious welfare schemes, including pension adalats and health exhibitions
etc. Addressing an ex-servicemen's rally at the Palra Stadium in Haryana's Jhajjar
district, General Singh repeatedly tried to clear the purpose of holding these
rallies, as doubts had been cast over the timing and locations of the army chief
holding contact programmes by none other than Lt. General (retired) Raj Kadyan,
the president of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement. In last two months, this is
the second ex-servicemen rally to be held in Haryana, the home state of General
Singh. The first was held at Gurgaon. Questioning the timings of these rallies
in March, April, May and that too most of it in Haryana, Lt. General Kadyan said
that though the army chief is the father of the ex-servicemen community, but it
is difficult to avoid the inference that this is happening after he lost his age
row case. "Army Chief should have been doing this all along in his tenure. Now,
there is an impression that he is doing all this because he lost in the Supreme
Court... All his contacts with ex-servicemen have started after February 10. If
it was a continuing effort before and after that, it would have been a better
signal," he told a leading English daily. Dispelling the rumours about these rallies
having any other motive other than the welfare of ex-soldiers, General Singh said:
"Through these rallies, we are taking all steps to bridge the gap between the
army and the ex-servicemen, and sort out the problems faced by them." "In less
than two years, we have tried to take forward the demands of the ex-servicemen
with the government. OROP requires Rs.1300 crore for implementation, and I urge
the ex-servicemen to ask their public representatives to take up this matter with
the government," the army chief further said. General Singh also mentioned about
a toll-free helpline number to receive complaints of ex-servicemen and ensure
their speedy resolution. During his visit to Palra, which also happens to be village
of Victoria Cross recipient Captain Umrao Singh, General Singh failed to find
time to lay a wreath on the statue of the brave soldier. Umrao Singh was the only
non-commissioned officer in the Royal Artillery or the Royal Indian Artillery
to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Second World War. Nearly 7000 ex-servicemen
of five districts participated in the Palra rally.
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