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CARE TODAY: LEST
WE FORGET
Under Our Wings
Set up in August 1999,
CARE TODAY adopted 30 disabled soldiers for their rehabilitation. We now
take four more soldiers under our wings. Of the total Rs 1.23 crore collected,
about Rs 89 lakh has already been spent. The balance stands committed. While
we will not be able to adopt any more soldiers, we will continue to meet
our responsibilities to the 34 heroes.
JAPENDRA NATH BRAHMA, 13 MECHINF
 During
a cordon and search operation in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir
in May 1999, Japendra Nath Brahma lost his right eye and his hearing in
the left ear in an IED explosion. His left leg was severely injured by
splinters and is likely to be amputated. Released from the army, 35-year-old
Brahma returned home to Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar, Assam, two months ago.
He stays there with his parents, wife and two small children. The former
havildar says he will wait for his compensation from the army and then
see if he can find a government job. Brahma proposes to use the CARE TODAY
support to shift to Gossaigaon town. He has bought some land there and
plans to build a house.
LAKHWINDER SINGH, 10 JAK RIFLES
Lakhwinder Singh was trained to face bullets.
But 21 of them were too many. The injuries sustained during Operation
Vijay in 1999 left Singh paralysed below his waist. "I lay in coma
for 11 months, oblivious of our success in Kargil," he says. When
he woke up to the reality of spending a lifetime in a wheelchair, even
the fighter in him quailed. "But I thought of my old parents and
four-year-old child. I had to live for them," he reasons. Singh has
no money and has studied only up to Class XII. The only earning member
of the family, the 28-year-old naik is doing a computer course in Pune.
He hopes the computer will be a source of livelihood now.
VED SINGH, 29 RASHTRIYA RIFLES
 When
Ved Singh returned to his village in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh
in June, it wasn't the usual homecoming. He was coming home permanently-without
his legs and an arm. During a counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and
Kashmir in May 2000, his truck was blown up by militants. When Singh regained
consciousness 16 days later his stoic reaction was: "If my limbs
are gone, they're gone."
Keen to find a job, Singh, 25, has been told
by the local Sainik Board that there is none available. He has applied
for the grant of a petrol pump in Bhind. He is likely to use CARE TODAY's
support to shift from the village to Bhind town, where coping with his
disability would be easier.
MANIK BARDA, 7 BIHAR REGIMENT
On link duty in the Uri Sector of Kashmir during
Operation Rakshak in February 2000, Manik Barda and two companions were
caught in a blizzard. They were buried under snow for 18 hours before
being rescued. His limbs were severely affected by frostbite. His hands
had to be amputated, as were his feet subsequently. Barda was fitted with
an artificial hand at the Artificial Limb Centre, Pune. He has also been
given special shoes. He left the army in June 2001. He currently lives
in Jamshedpur with his wife Surajmani and two sons: Sumit, 8, and Tarun,
2.
Barda, 38, is yet to decide whether he wants
to stay on in Jamshedpur town or move back to his village, Gadhra, 12
km from Jamshedpur, where his family owns some land. Once he makes up
his mind, he can plan on how to use the CARE TODAY support that is available
to him.
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