As part of Army’s outreach to its Ex-Servicemen fraternity, Romeo Force organised a rally of Next of Kin of Soldiers and ExServicemen belonging to Rajouri and Poonch districts was organised at Government Degree College, Thanamandi. The event was attended by approximately 167 Veer Naris/ Widows and 1000 Ex Servicemen hailing from various regions from both the districts of Rajouri and Poonch. Besides, more than 50 NOKs of martyrs of units of Romeo Force were also invited on the occasion. Addressing the gathering, Major General PS Bajwa, General Officer Commanding, Counter Insurgency Force (Romeo) highlighted the contribution and sacrifices made by the Veer Naris and Ex Servicemen towards Nation and assured them of absolute support of the organisation. The General Officer also reiterated the resolve of Army to work with the civil administration and locals to bring about and maintain total peace and tranquility in the Region. The rally was conducted in close coordination with state administration and Zila Sainik Board, with focus on redressal of grievances, addressing anomalies in disbursement of pension, land and legal issues of Ex Servicemen and Veer Naris and providing them information about Ex Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). During the event, NOKs and Ex- Servicemen were acquainted with various schemes and welfare programmes run by State/ Central Government. Representatives of SBI, PNB, J&K Bank, Grameen Bank, Insurance departments and other financial departments also explained various schemes run by those banks, especially for Ex Servicemen and their wards. A regaling cultural program was presented by students from various schools of Thanamandi Tehsil. Besides, other informative stalls were also organised for awareness of Veer Naris and Ex Servicemen. Enthusiastic participation of the Veer Naris, Ex-servicemen and the locals particularly the youth and school children who presented a colorful cultural programme during the event was a remarkable indicator of growing peace and harmony amongst the locals, Civil administration and the security forces in the region. Overall, the event was yet another successful accomplishment by the Army to fraternize with Veer Naris and Ex Servicemen and joint effort of ‘AWAM’ and ‘JAWAN’ in maintaining peace and to lay foundation of further development in the region.
