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CARE TODAY: LEST WE FORGET
Unwilling To Yield
For every soldier
who lost his life in Kargil two years ago, there are many who will live
with the agony of permanent disability. These are warriors who will never
again do battle for India. The road to recovery has been long and tough
but the heroes have mostly coped well. Under the Lest We Forget programme
launched in 1999, CARE TODAY provided 10 soldiers, and later 20 others,
Rs 3 lakh each to acquire assets that would ease their pain in settling
down to a civilian life. We have already disbursed Rs 73,72,440 of the
Rs 1,22,39,067 that readers contributed to the fund. Cumulative administrative
costs till March 2001 was Rs 10,02,000. These are snapshots of how 15
of the brave soldiers got back on their feet.
RAJENDRA SINGH
2 Rajputana Rifles
 The
ex-lance naik has been able to build a new life for himself and his family.
CARE TODAY built a handpump and bought a tractor for Singh who lost his
left foot to a landmine at Tololing in June 1999 during the Kargil war.
Singh has recently been employed by ONGC in Dehradun and is in the process
of shifting his family to the valley from his home in Sikar, Rajasthan.
SUNIL KUMAR LIMBU
1/11 Gorkha Rifles
 Though
he lost the use of his lower limbs after spine injuries at Kargil in July
1999, he is still with the army. CARE TODAY built a toilet/bathroom, extended
his house in Dehradun to accommodate a growing joint family, and helped
him buy a small plot adjoining his house. CARE TODAY's assistance and
retaining his job in the army have aided the hero in overcoming the trauma.
RAMESH KUMAR
8 J&K Light Infantry
 Paralysed
waist downward by a bullet that slammed into his spinal cord in February
1999, the wheelchair-bound soldier has had a hard time after his discharge
from the army in June 2000. He is yet to receive his dues or his pension
from the army, so his only comfort has been a two-room house in Jammu
purchased with CARE TODAY's support.
 MOHAMMED
ASAD
18 Garhwal Rifles
During shelling in the Drass sector in June 1999,
the sportsman-soldier lost his left arm and spent nearly a year in hospitals.
He is working in Delhi as a telephone operator but wants a proper job.
He is happy that the shop CARE TODAY bought for him at Najibabad in Uttar
Pradesh provides an alternative.
MAHENDER SINGH
13 Kumaon Regiment
 Singh
occasionally drives the tractor CARE TODAY bought for him. Remarkable
for a soldier who lost the use of his left arm and leg in Operation Meghdoot.
The tractor earns him up to Rs 15,000 a month and he is a contented man.
KRISHAN KUMAR YADAV
18 Grenadiers
 Soon
after he lost his left leg in a mine blast on Tiger Hill in June 1999,
Yadav also lost his zeal for life. But CARE TODAY encouraged him, first
by building a toilet with a water connection at his house and later supporting
him in the purchase of a commercial plot at Gurgaon, Haryana. He now has
an oil agency and looks upon his real estate as a useful investment.
 SURESH
KUMAR
2 Engineering Regiment
Frostbite while serving in siachen cost Kumar
his legs. CARE TODAY partly financed his new house in a more accessible
area in Meppayur, Kerala. Kumar runs the depot tea stall at the MEG Centre
in Bangalore and wants to get married soon.
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