The funds of the Uttarakhand Soldier Rehabilitation Board should be used exclusively for the families and widows of ex-servicemen, said the Governor of Uttarakhand KK Paul while undertaking a review meeting on Thursday.
In the meeting, which was being held after a gap of three years, the Governor said that to increase the income of the board, judicious use of its land bank should be made. He emphasised growing of commercial cash crops in the land of the board and advised that expertise of the Pantnagar Agriculture University cab be taken for it.
The Governor ordered the reimbursement of Rs5 crores to the board from the State Government. This amount was provided by the board for under construction Sainik School of Jakholi in Rudraprayag district from its account. He said that the leases of the agriculture and the forest land of the board should be renewed.
The Governor said that arrangement of sale of the products made by the widows of the armed forces personnel should be made. He suggested that a free counter for such products should be made available in the government exhibitions and fairs. In the meeting the decision for increasing the scholarships given by the board was also taken.
The board was set up in the year 1945 and to fulfill its objectives a land consisting of 482.785 acres agriculture land and 940.143 acres forest land was provided to the board. To make best use of the resources available to the board, the Governor constituted a committee headed by Principal Secretary Agriculture, Ranvir Singh. This committee would submit its reportin two months. In the meeting discussions on implementation of decision taken in the last meeting held on April 05, 2013 took place. The issues of budget, income expenditure of previous years and management of the land banks were also discussed in the review meeting.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Shatrughna Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), S Ramaswamy, ACS Ranbir Singh, Secretary Sainik Kalyan Anand Bhardhan, Secretary Governor Arun Dhoundhiyal, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Uttarakhand Sub area, Major General S Sabbharwal and Director Soldier rehabilitation Brigadier K B Chand were present in the meeting.