Army to have old age homes for ex-servicemen
Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh said here on
Sunday that the Army would run homes for elderly ex-servicemen, who do not have
anyone to look after them in their old age.
“We have prepared a new scheme under which we will open
old age homes in every Command. The first such experiment is being tried out
near Chandigarh in Panchkula where we are setting up the first such old age
home. We shall see how we can run it,” General Singh said at a veterans rally.
Not a free service
The Army Chief said that it was not possible to run such
facilities for free, but the ex-servicemen who wished to live in these homes
could use their pensions to pay for the services.
General Singh was particularly appreciative of the
efforts of the West Bengal government for its role on matters related to
ex-servicemen welfare.
“In matters of ex-servicemen welfare, the State
government has a special role. I wish to say that the Indian Army has received
all cooperation from the West Bengal government in these matters,” said General
Singh, who served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) in charge of Eastern
Command before he took over as the Chief of Army Staff in May last year.
He recalled his meeting with Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee before he left for New Delhi to assume office.
Mamata love for Army
“I had noticed she [Ms. Banerjee] has a special love and
concern for the Indian Army. You must have noticed that this is why the West
Bengal administration and its officials have a special consideration for us,”
he said.
Despite General Singh’s high praise for Ms. Banerjee,
there have been differences between her government and the Army over the
project for the beautification of the River Front in Kolkata.
On being asked to comment, General Singh said: “On the
issue of land, there are some orders from the Central government and we cannot
deviate from them.”
He, however, said that the GOC of Bengal Area Lieutenant
General A. K. Chowdhury was coordinating with the West Bengal government on the
matter.
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