The most honoured citizens of the country are those who opt for the noblest of professions. This coveted honour goes to none other but the soldiers in or out of olive green. In or out of service, they have learnt to walk the earth with heads raised high because to them the country comes before everything else. Their life and work infuse in our coming generations the spirit of patriotism, bravery and dedicated service. A grateful nation holds them in highest regard.
The Governor and the Chief Minister honoured the 75th meeting of the J&K Rajya Sainik Board at Jammu by their presence and by addressing the Ex-Servicemen on issues pertaining to their welfare and of their families. Our State is counted among the leading States in the country that produce the finest soldiers, many of whom have won laurels on the battlefield. In war and in peace, our soldiers, both acting and retired, have brought glory to our history and to our nation. The Head of the State as well as the Head of the Government both spoke with warmth about their deep desire of utilising the special expertise of the ex-servicemen profitably in their interests and in the interests of the society. Generally they remain in good health which enables them to pursue other activities and thus support their standard of living. However, the Government has not been oblivious of its role in providing opportunities of gainful re-employment of ex-servicemen to augment their income. One useful suggestion coming from the Chief Minister was that of promoting cooperative units endeavours by the ex-soldiers as it had vast scope of re-employment. In many states in our country, some special branches of economic activity have been fully or partially reserved for the ex-servicemen. It is observed that these cooperative units are working efficiently and have won the goodwill of the people in general. In the State of Delhi, the ex-servicemen are running cooperative transport network which has now fairly widened its operational field touching the States of Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal and Punjab. In other states, ex-servicemen’s cooperatives are running dairy units and supply of milk and milk products. This industry is also of fairly good reputation and has provided employment to a large number of ex-servicemen. It should be possible for our Government also to conduct a survey and examine what areas could be identified for allocation to the ex-servicemen to run the cooperative units.
The suggestion of the Governor that a mechanism of proper counselling would be useful in facilitating the ex-servicemen to pursue a gainful employment is also of much significance. There could be joint counselling centres run jointly by experts from civil and army organizations and providing adequate information to the ex-servicemen and their families about the ventures they could try and the possibility of running some cooperative units within the body of local ex-servicemen. The potential hidden in retired soldiers has to be developed in right direction to provide them employment and welfare to the families.
Rajya Sainik Board has established Sainik Bhawans at various towns in the State. The status of these Bhawans and their activities including acquisition of land for raising Sainik colonies came up for discussion and the Governor emphasized that these Bhawans have to remain in excellent condition as these facilitate regular interaction among the functionaries of the Sainik Board. The importance of State Sainik Bhawans has also increased in view of extraordinary conditions that prevailed in the state during past two decades. The good thing is that there is perfect coordination between the Kendrya Sainik Board and the State Sainik Board which helps in planning projects connected with the welfare of the ex-servicemen and their families. Part of the meeting was consideration of financial affairs of the Sainik Board conducted under the chairmanship of the Governor. One significant outcome of the meeting is that it has been resolved to revitalize the Sainik Welfare Department on the basis of the Central Government High Level Committee.
We are hopeful that the sizable number of ex-servicemen and their families in the State will find the activity of the Sainik Board highly useful to promote their welfare and well being as important constituents of social structure. Presence of the Governor, the Chief Minister and almost all top bureaucracy of the State administration besides senior retired officers from the forces in this significant meet will give it the proper status and power to work towards multi-sided welfare of the fraternity of soldiers, who have hung their boots and taken to civilian lifestyle.
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