A second career, proper medical facilities and education of their children are the major problems that haunt a service personnel once he is retired, said Major General E J Kochekkan, General officer-in-charge of the four southern states.

Speaking at the Ex-servicemen rally held in Mangalore on Vijay Diwas (In memory of the 1971 victory over Pakistan), he urged the ex-servicemen to make use of the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) medical scheme available to them and the basic and higher education facilities offered to the children of service and ex-service persons by the Army properly.

Maj Gen Kochekkan later listened to the various woes of the ex-servicemen.

Deputy Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao, IGP (Western Range) A M Prasad and Joint Director of Department of Sainik Welafare and Resettlement Dr Prakash were present on the occasion and stayed on to listen to the woes of the veterans. The rally provided a forum for the ex-servicemen to convey their views and requirements to the district administration and the Army authorities. It also provided latest information and advice on various rehabilitation and resettlement schemes.

The rally, first of its kind in Mangalore in 20 years, started at 8.30 am went on till 4 pm at Padua High School ground. A wreath laying ceremony was held at the war memorial in Kadri Hills in the morning. As many as 10 needy widows of ex-servicemen were given monetary grants and all the ex-servicemen above 80 years of age were given cash gifts on the occasion.

Various stalls belonging to ECHS and Army placement mode, CSD canteen, Defence pension dispensing office, Department of Sainik Welfare and Resettlement, recruitment organisation and others were set up at the venue for the convenience of the participants of the rally. A team of expert doctors ran a medical camp at the venue.

'NO LAND'

Allotment of land to ex-servicemen is one of the major problems addressed by the district adminsitration due to the non-availability of land in the urban areas, according to Deputy Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao. Instead they can be provided cash, and other helps to purchase private land, he suggested.

But Maj Gen Kochekkan disagreed on the grounds that it is not a viable option. Instead, he urged the district administration to provide the Army some land at Government rates on which they can build apartments for the soldiers and ex-servicemen. Another issue of relatives grabbing the land of serving soldiers when they are away was also addressed on the occasion. The IGP assured that suitable measures will be taken and the safety of the soldiers’ property will be ensured at any cost.

FAILURE IN RECRUITMENT

Two recruitment rallies — one of Air Force and another of Army — conducted in the district recently were failures due to poor response from the public. The DC opined that the ex-servicemen can help in this context by training interested people to face the rallies. The IGP urged them to motivate the youngsters in their neighbourhood to join Army and also inform them about the requirements for the same. Maj Gen Kochekkan urged them to make use of the resources and old question papers to train the youngsters. The DC also suggested the Ex-servicemen to train people to become security guards in the background of rising demand for security men with more and more industries coming up in the city and surroundings.