Patiala, December 7
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said that a defence university would be soon set up here as the Prime Minister , the Defence Minister and the chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy had agreed in principle to establish the same.
Capt Amarinder Singh, who presided over the Punjab State Ex-servicemen rally, said the state government had already sent a detailed proposal to the Centre. Patiala was
chosen for setting up the university, the first of its kind in the country, as the Union Government had decided to set it up in the National Capital Region (NCR) in which the city fell.
Addressing a press Conference, the Chief Minister, said the government had been pursuing the project because Punjab had the requisite infrastructure and defence background to house the university.
The university was likely to be set up on the campus of the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Moti Bagh, as about 90 per cent of the sports activities, had already been shifted to NIS, Bangalore.
He, however, said either the local NIS should be made fully functional or should be utilised for the defence university after shifting the remaining sports activities and infrastructure to Bangalore.
Capt Amarinder Singh said he would take up the matter connected with the return of historical weaponry and other relics to the SGPC and the Sikh reference library with the Defence Minister as these were taken by Army personnel after Operation Blue Star.
He announced a grant of Rs 11 lakh on the occasion of Armed Force Day. He also disbursed s 7.5 crore, out of the total of Rs 15 crore among 145 families of martyrs killed in various Army operations. The
remaining sum would be disbursed after March 31.
Lt Gen Daljeet Singh, GOC in-C, Western Command, impressed upon the ex-servicemen to participate in social activities and play, a positive role in society.
