New Delhi, January 15
An impressive parade showcasing the competency of the world’s second largest military and bestowing of the Sena Medal to 19 Army personnel in recognition of their gallantry marked the Army Day celebrations today.
Among the 19 recipients of the Sena Medal, three were presented with the honour for the second time, including Capt Sanjay Arya of 8 Gorkha Rifles, who received the award posthumously.
Out of the 16 other personnel who received the honour for the first time, five — Major Lalit Kumar of Mahar Regiment, Sub Khem Raj of 1 Para Unit, Nk Raj Kumar of 13 Punjab Regiment, Sep Ngawang Tenzing of 15 Assam Regiment and Rfn Amit Thapa of 3/1 GR — were conferred the medal posthumously.
The other awardees of the Sena Medal included Major Neeraj Shukla of 9 J-K Rifles, Capt Inderpreet Dhillon of Army Service Corps (both for the second time), Col Anubir Singh Chahal of 16 Jat Regiment and Maj Lalit Kumar of Mahar Regiment.
Major Harmanjeet Lidder of 10 Para (SF), Major Sudeep Kumar Mishra of Engineers, Lt Ashuthosh Kanwar of EME and Ram Lakhan Singh of Armoured Unit also received the Sena Medal.
Hav Soundhar Marimuthu of 12 Madras Regiment, Naik Jai Kumar of Artillery Unit, Lance Naik Kundan Singh Rathore of Kumaon Regiment and Lance Naik Ram Binay Sharma of Artillery Unit were also conferred the honour.
Army Day is observed every year on January 15 to commemorate Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa’s taking over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from Sir Francis Butcher, the last British commander, in 1949.
In an impressive parade in which tanks and the latest weaponry took part along with a flypast by helicopters, various units marched in perfect unison as Chief of Army Staff Gen J.J. Singh took the salute in the presence of the other two service chiefs — Chief of Air staff Air Marshal S.P. Tyagi and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash.
India’s indigenously built missiles Agni-I and II were the main highlights of the parade. The Prithvi missile, Arjun tank and air defence weapons were also displayed.
Addressing the parade, Gen J.J. Singh said bringing down infiltration levels and successfully demonstrating “the humane face of the Army” — especially after the October 8 killer quake in Kashmir — were the key achievements of the force in the past one year.
“We have been able to scale down the level of infiltration and deal a deadly blow to insurgents to such a level that the present terrorist-Army casualty figures is at a ratio of 8:1,” the Army chief said.
Listing some of the welfare measures being adopted for its personnel, Gen J.J Singh said all those who had completed 10 years of service in the Army would be paid a pension equivalent to that received by a Naik while those completing 20 years would be given a Havildar’s pension.
“This will be implemented under the Career Progression Scheme already put in place by the government,” Gen J.J Singh said, adding that a pilot co-operative scheme for the welfare of retired Army personnel would be launched this year in seven areas of the country.
Gen J.J Singh also presented citations to those units of the Army which had rendered exemplary service in peacetime operations in the past one year.
Meanwhile, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee have extended their best wishes to all members of the Army, ex-servicemen and their
families.
