Tura, December 12: A Mega Ex Servicemen (ESM) Rally was organised by Headquarters 101 Area, Indian Army and Rajya Sainik Board, Meghalaya at Tura on 12 December 2023.Smt Agatha K Sangma, the Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Tura Constituency graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.
Speaking on the occasion, she expressed her gratitude for the services rendered by the defence forces. She said that many personnel retire at a young age and the government has initiated many schemes like the CM Elevate and Promotion and Incubation of Market Driven Enterprises (PRIME ) wherein these personnel can upgrade their skills as well as utilise the resources to hone their entrepreneurship.
She also said that the Government of Meghalaya is actively exploring the possibility of setting up a Sainik School in the state. She also complemented the record offices of 58 Gorkha Training Centre and the Assam Regiment Centre for actively ensuring that the ex servicemen of Meghalaya faced very minimal pension related issues.
Colonel Gautam Rai the Director of the Rajya Sainik Board Meghalaya said that the rally in Tura has been organised so as to mitigate the trouble faced by the ex servicemen and their families living in Garo Hills.
He said that it will be his endeavour to ensure that all the ex servicemen and their families get all the support that they require to ensure that their post retirement life is as hassle free as possible.
The rally at Tura was attended by Ex Servicemen, Veer Naris, hailing from Meghalaya. A mega Ex-servicemen Rally was recently conducted by Headquarters 101 Area, Indian Army and Rajya Sainik Board, Meghalaya on 24 November 2023 at 58 Gorkha Training Center, Happy Valley, Shillong.
The rally at Tura benefitted a large number of veterans in Tura and was aimed at ex-servicemen, war veterans, disabled soldiers and war widows to express solidarity and demonstrate that they remain inseparable members of the Armed Forces fraternity even post retirement.
The event had amenities of Unit Run Canteen Counters, Medical Camp and Grievance Cells by Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Zilla Sainik Board (ZSB), and ICICI with an aim to address variety of issues and assist the ex-servicemen and their families.
Emphasis was given to address pension and SPARSH (System for Pension Administration (Raksha) related issues as also awareness about the numerous benefits by ECHS, Army Welfare and Education Society (AWES), and the Central/State Government.
SPARSH is an initiative of the Ministry of Defence which aims at providing comprehensive solution to the administration of pension to the defence pensioners in line with the vision of the government of India of Digital India, Direct GV Benefit Transfer (DBT) and “Minimal Government, Maximum Governance”.
Senior officers from the Armed Forces and other civil dignitaries attended attending the rally. The Mobile Medical Unit (MMU ) with all the basic medical facilities which was flagged off by the Shri Conrad K Sangma on 17 November 2023 was also at hand to serve the personnel. The rally provided an interactive platform to mitigate issues related to pension, medical, healthcare, re-employment and redressal of grievances.
