AFVOA Newletters of Year 2004

Page 32 of 153 regiments have ensured that their personnel and their dependants are compensated for the hardship they have suffered during British rule. 28. The Freedom Fighters pension is quite substantial - in addition to the Central Govt; the State Govts also give both cash and other benefits. 29. The case had to be approved by the Deputy Prime Minister, in his capacity as the Home Minister. The MHA has asked the MOD to forward the names of the personnel involved. There were about 80 personnel affected but only 41 are in India, the rest being in Pakistan. Out of the 41, probably only a dozen may be alive. Two of them Hav Kochuvareed and Sigmn Neelakanthan Nair from Kerala have filed cases in the High Court. They will now get the freedom fighters ‘Samman Pension’ and other benefits such as free rail travel in AC II, medical facilities etc. 30. The case relating to this was taken up by Maj Gen (Retd) VK Singh, who single handedly handled the entire affair to fruition. The email ID of Maj Gen VK Singh is – vinay4299@hotmail.com 31. The above information has been sent by Brig CS Kamboj VSM, who may be contacted at cskamboi@sancharnet.in Persistent appeal 32. Cdr SR Prasad made an appeal that is not new to our ears, for every Secretary of the AFVOA has made the same appeal at least once every meeting. Once again an earnest request is made to the members to kindly let the Committee know at least 24-48 hours in advance of the meeting of their attendance or non-attendance. The issue is that the quality of the response to this appeal has a direct bearing on the quality of the dinner that is served at our meetings. It is our sincere and fervent appeal to every single member to go back in time and recollect our Services ethos of responding to RSVPs etc. It is not that we cannot accommodate genuine last minute inclusions, but problems arise when the actual attendance exceeds the confirmations by hundred percent. ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ ˵ A junior manager, a senior manager and their boss are on their way to a meeting. On their way through a park, they come across a wonder lamp. They rub the lamp and a ghost appears. The ghost says, “Normally, one is granted three wishes but as you are three, I will allow one wish each” So the eager senior manager shouted, I want the first wish. I want to be in the Bahamas, on a fast boat and have no worries. “Pfufffff, and he was gone. Now the junior manager could not keep quiet and shouted “I want to be in Florida with beautiful girls, plenty of food and cocktails. “Pfufffff, and he was also gone. The boss calmly said, “I want these two idiots back in the office after lunch at 12 35 pm” Moral of the story is: “Always allow the bosses to speak first” Next Meeting Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses ~ George Washington Carver 33. The next meeting of the Association will be at our usual venue. Only this time it will