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CARE TODAY
LEST WE FORGET
Building
Dreams Rebuilding Lives
CARE
TODAY buys a tractor for a disabled soldier and helps another purchase
land and build a house in his native village
Phool
Chand
2 Rajputana Rifles
Rifleman
Phool Chand was part of the first wave of Indian soldiers that attacked
Tololing in the Kargil sector on the night of June 12, 1999. As they moved
up the mountain, a land-mine blast near him severed a part of his right
leg. He lay there till morning and was rescued only after Tololing was
taken by the Indian forces. Today, he is out of the army with a 60 per
cent disability and no compensation as yet except a prize of Rs 25,000
from a local newspaper.
Back home
at Sikar in Rajasthan, Chand, who is just 23, is eager to get on with
life. Hailing from a traditional Jat family, he was the only one in the
family to join the army. Though his teenaged wife Gita Devi plans to take
up a job after completing her studies, the soldier in Chand refuses to
resign to a semi-retired existence. To restart his life, Chand needed
to purchase a tractor-which he has just done with a contribution of Rs
2,84,150 from care today. He proposes to use the tractor to till his own
land as well as to hire it out to other farmers. "It's one good way
to earn a living," he says.
Janbir
Singh
118 Field Workshop EME
Lance Naik
Janbir Singh was injured when his three tonner, which was carrying ammunition
from Kargil to Batalik, was hit by a Pakistani shell on May 22, 1999.
Of the 12 people in the truck, two died on the spot while all the others
suffered serious injuries. Singh's right hand was severed at the elbow,
and he sustained splinter injuries on his right leg and hip as well. He
regained consciousness after around four days in a Srinagar hospital,
and was later treated in Kirkee, Pune and Delhi. He was awarded a Sena
Medal in January this year and was boarded out of the army on June 25
after 14 years of service.
The battle
for his life was a breeze compared to the battles he, his wife Bimla Devi,
and their three children (a girl aged nine and two boys of seven and three)
are facing today. The severity of his injuries ensured that recovery wouldn't
be easy. Worse, he has not received any compensation from the army yet.
Without his working hand, even the simplest of tasks is difficult for
Singh. The shrapnel injuries on his leg make walking on an uneven surface
difficult and painful.
Singh had
sought care today's help to buy land so that he could build himself a
house at his village, Rithoj. That has now been done: Rs 1.5 lakh was
given to him and Singh is using this money to purchase a plot of land
along the main road. Once he gets possession of the land, he will start
building his house on it, for which he will receive another Rs 1.5 lakh
from care today. "At least one of my worries is over," he says.
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How
can Non-Performing Assets of companies be cleared? By recovering what
you can, writes INDIA TODAY Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in
