AFVOA Newletters of Year 2006

Page 25 of 77 various developments in general and in particular, those for the veteran community. He also mentioned that on assuming command of the Formation he had instructed his Staff that all possible help should be extended to the AFVOA whenever approached. He summed up his talk with a request to the President to come forward with proposals if any, regarding welfare of retired officers’ community. 31. The President expressed his gratitude to the GOC for his benevolence and the good words he had for the AFVOA. As a goodwill gesture Mrs. Chitkala Govindaswamy handed over a bouquet of flowers to Mrs. Sivasankar. The President then requested the Patron, Lt Gen C Sundara Rao to say a few words. 32. The Patron thanked the GOC for all the help being rendered to the AFVOA and suggested to him that a case be taken up during the Civil Military Liaison Conference for exemption of property tax to all Ex-Servicemen. He then wished the GOC gets promoted and takes over higher responsibilities soon. 33. After the vote of thanks by the Secretary lunch was announced. All the Serving as well as the Retired officers with their families enjoyed the tasty spread laid out by our caterer, Shri Naresh Maharaj as they interacted socially. It truly turned out to be a meeting worth remembering. The meeting concluded at 1330 hrs. Matters Military 34. Encouraging Signs. The HINDU dated 04 Apr 2006 brought out a news item titled, “ Army reaches out to veterans” . The contents being encouraging we reproduce the same for those who may not have read it. “ In a symbolic act, the Army has decided to refer to its former colleagues as ‘veterans’ instead of calling them retired servicemen. It has also decided on a slew of measures to enhance interaction with them.” “Calling them veterans may not mean much in material terms but it symbolizes the fact that we have not severed our ties with them after retirement. This change in nomenclature is part of our ‘Hearts first and reaching out approach’ in resolving all issues relating to veterans,” said Army spokesperson SK Sakhuja on Monday. “Adjutant General AS Jamwal, the Army’s senior most officer in-charge of personnel issues, has been visiting major cantonments meeting former servicemen and their dependants, and widows. Officers have been asked to visit the smaller establishments to listen to grievances and explain the post-retirement benefit schemes such as the group insurance and health scheme.” “The new approach is being implemented in the wake of private studies by former army officers indicating that while soldiers are among the youngest to retire from government service, their life expectancy is also the lowest.” “Part of the reason is the low additional income due to agrarian crisis. Another factor cited is the lack of interaction and the feeling that after retirement they have been left in the lurch.” “To ensure that former soldiers do not die unsung, the Army will soon launch an assured decent last rites scheme under which it will pay for funeral expenses.” 35. World Health Day-2006. MH, Chennai had organized a Veterans’ Health Care