Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, the Honourable Chief Minister of Haryana, at Bahadurgarh, Haryana. General Dalbir Singh, Chief of Army Staff was the Guest of Honour during the event. Lieutenant General KJ Singh Western Army Commander was also present apart from large number of Veterans & Veer Naaris.
The project is being executed by Army Welfare Housing Organization and aims to provide low cost housing. This housing project has been named in the memory of Late Major Rajiv Joon, recipient of Ashok Chakra and Shaurya Chakra, who had attained martyrdom fighting militants in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir. On this occasion, his brother Paramjit Singh Joon was felicitated by the Chief Minister of Haryana.
The event was followed by an address of the Veterans Rally by the Chief Minister of Haryana and the COAS. Gen Dalbir Singh announced that the residential project at Bahadurgarh would be pitched at a very low cost for the benefit of JCOs and Other Ranks. He praised Late Major Rajiv Joon for setting a sterling example of bravery and sacrifice. Gen Dalbir Singh thanked the Haryana Chief Minister for all the assistance provided for the project and added that the Chief Minister had granted dispensation in construction which permitted construction of about 500 dwelling units instead of 400 planned earlier. COAS also brought out that a similar dwelling project was being planned at Karnalfor which land has been promised by the Chief Minister. While addressing the veteran community, he highlighted that 14 January was being celebrated as ‘Veterans Day’ and urged veterans to visit Directorate of Indian Army Veterans (DIAV) in Delhi to get their grievances addressed. He brought out that plans were afoot to operationalize Regional Veterans Hospital under each Command. He also informed that the Army had planned setting up an education complex and the Haryana Government was allocating land at Sonepat for the same. Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, added that over 3000 Ex Servicemen will be inducted into Haryana Police and that a Sainik School was also being raised at Matanhail, apart form other schemes and welfare projects by the government.
A plethora of activities for the benefit of Veterans & Veer Naaris were also organized at the venue. Numerous stalls were put up to cater to the requirements of ‘Veer Senanis’, which included a Joint Forum of Indian Army and Civil Agencies to address important issues related to the veterans, Skill Development, Indian Army Veterans Self Help Counter, Zila Sainik Board and Army Welfare Placement Organisation. Medical Camp was also organized as part of the event with various Medical specialists in attendance. More than 3000 ex servicemen and Veer Naris attended the event.