Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that honouring the soldiers is paramount as respecting the armed forces is respecting the nation. He said this at an event held as part of the State foundation day celebrations here on Monday.
The first session of the event saw discussion on challenges and changing aspects of national security. Former vice chief of army, lieutenant general (retd) AS Lamba, lieutenant general (retd) OP Kaushik and former RAW chief Alok Joshi participated in the session.
The second session saw discussion on internal security and training and modernisation of security forces. Indian Military Academy (IMA) commandant lieutenant general SK Jha, former IMA commandants lieutenant general (retd) GS Negi and lieutenant general (retd) KK Khanna along with director general (law and order) Ashok Kumar participated in this session.
The Union Minister of State for Transport, general (retd) VK Singh also attended the event. The CM said that Singh had a deep bond with Uttarakhand.
Many natives of Uttarakhand live in Singh’s Lok Sabha constituency.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that a nation where soldiers are not respected cannot progress.
To achieve national progress, the morale of the soldiers also needs to be boosted.
More than 70,000 army soldiers presently hail from Uttarakhand.
The contribution of Uttarakhand is the form of soldiers it the most in the nation. He suggested that the state government can make proper use of retired soldiers which will also help in the state’s progress.
Earlier, the CM said that strength is worshipped and the nation which has a strong army is respected in the world.
Referring to the abrogation of article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he said that implementation of the article had caused various issues in that region.
With its abrogation, the people and the State are now moving ahead towards real development.
Rawat said that the welfare of soldiers is a top priority for the state.
To resolve issues of serving and retired servicemen, the State Government has made the additional chief secretary and additional district magistrate nodal officers at the state and district levels respectively.
The State is also providing Government jobs to one family member of martyred military and paramilitary personnel according to their qualifications.
On the occasion, the CM also presented an appointment letter to Swati Bhatt, the widow of martyr deputy commandant Bhagwati Prasad Bhatt. Vidhan Sabha speaker Prem Chand Agrawal and IMA commandant lieutenant general SK Jha also expressed their views on the occasion.