Memorial gate in tatters, govt refuses funds for repair

Family of martyr Dinesh Kumar Rana has been moving from pillar to post for the past five years for the repair of the memorial gate constructed in his memory. Dinesh had sacrificed his life in Kashmir while fighting terrorists in 2001.

On the request of the villagers, the state government constructed a memorial gate in his native village Khera 20 km from Palampur which was inaugurated in October 2003 by the then Kangra Member of Parliament and former minister Chandresh Kumari. However, after the construction of the memorial gate, the state government has failed to take up its repair work and maintenance in the past twenty years. Eventually, the gate is on the verge of collapse now.

Dinesh's younger brother, who recently retired from the Army, told The Tribune that family members, including his mother, approached the local MLA, ministers and the Chief Minister but till date no funds had been released by the government. Officers told the family that there was no budget for the repairs of such monuments. Then the family requested the Language and Culture Department but in the past two years, no funds were released either to the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra or the Public Works Department. Disheartened, the brother of Dinesh, says now he would not request for the repair of the gate anymore. Villagers and ex-servicemen have pitched in with the funds to take up the repair work.

Dinesh was serving in the 23 Phase Artillery Battalion in Udhampur. On August 15, 2001, his unit was deputed in a forest in the Kathan area of Jammu and Kashmir to neutralise terrorists. He lost his life in the encounter after killing two terrorists.