Troops get a home away from home

Maj. Gen. K.S. Sethi inaugurates the residential complex in Guwahati

Armymen serving in Assam have a reason to feel elated.

A residential complex for 212 married army personnel — Jintu Vihar — was inaugurated by Maj. Gen. K.S. Sethi, GOC 101 Area on February 7. The complex, located at Narengi Cantonment in Guwahati has been named in honour of late Capt. Jintu Gogoi who lost his life during the Kargil War in 1999.

The project has been executed by the Directorate General Married Accommodation Project, which has been established to execute all such projects for the armed forces across the country.

“In the past, most of the junior commissioned officers and other ranks in the army preferred to keep their families at home because of the security provided by the joint family system. This also enabled them to look after their old parents, agricultural interests and ancestral property back home. However, with social change gradually taking roots even in rural areas and conversion of the joint family into a nuclear family system, more and more soldiers want to bring their families to the areas they serve in,” Sethi said.

To provide recreational facilities to children, a playground and recreational parks have also been planned as part of the project.

For the first time in such a project, a large number of ornamental and fruit trees have been planted in a planned and co-ordinated manner. 

A modern sewage and treatment plant has also been created as part of the project.

Women power

Under the aegis of Red Horns division, a project — Women Empowerment and Self-Reliance — was undertaken by the 21 Mountain Division under Operation Sadbhavana in and around Bartari village in Kamrup district.

Inaugurated by Maj. Gen. Chander Prakash, GOC 21 Mountain Division on February 9, the project will benefit about 20 to 25 women directly.

Around 300 people attended the function. Four looms were handed over to the beneficiaries besides raw materials worth Rs 20,000.

Prakash said the project was aimed at generating employment for the women and exploiting local talents for weaving, thereby providing economic growth, self-sustainability and market for the women in and around Bartari village. Traditional fabrics like gamocha, mekhela chador and eri garments, will be woven by the beneficiaries.

“It will also be an additional step in making a peaceful Assam. More such initiatives will be undertaken by us,” Prakash added.

Joint effort

A Sadbhavana Sammelan was organised on February 5 at the battalion headquarters of 34 Assam Rifles of 9 Sector under HQ IGAR (South) in Thoubal district. Several non-government organisations took part on the occasion.

Officials of the 34 Assam Rifles interacted with the representatives of NGOs and exhorted them for a joint fight against terrorism in Thoubal.

The NGOs expressed their happiness on the conduct of the battalion, as there has not been a single case of human rights violation in the area. They also promised to work in close co-ordination with the Assam Rifles.