Saturday 19 December 2015

Rallying for ex-servicemen - The Hindu

 
Be it a sweltering day or a foggy dawn, when it comes to endurance, the Madras Sappers stands out.
Late Wednesday, after pedalling over 1,000 km across nine districts, the 6th Engineer Regiment of the Madras Engineers Group of the Indian Army arrived here.
 
Their 10-day-long expedition commenced on December 8, to mark the 235th reunion of the Madras Sappers, as it was called in the late 18th century, when it came into force.
 
And to add purpose to the expedition, the troopers consisting 17 jawans, two officers, and a junior commissioned officer, marked the journey by meeting with ex-service persons, and their children, to hear their grievances.
 
According to Lieutenant Prashant More, the rally was to solve the grievances of ex-servicemen and their dependants, even as they celebrated the long history of the engineers wing.
 
“There are issues of pensions, and old age allowances, with nominees of dependents. The troopers interacted with the family members at the respective Collectorates. The grievances would be personally carried forward to the Commandant, Madras Engineers Group for redressal.”
 
“We rode during the day, despite the humidity and took night halts owing to safety considerations. To avoid dehydration, we took breaks after every 12 km,” says Lieutenant Prashant More of the 6th Engineer Regiment.
 
Starting off from Tirunelveli, the cycle rally covered Koilpatty, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Dindigal, Karur, Namakkal, Salem, and Krishnagiri. It will culminate at Bengaluru.
 
This is the Golden Jubilee year for the regiment. Similar expeditions were carried out in the other three southern States too, said Lt. More.
 
“When we commenced our cycle rally, the other rallies were flagged off from Belgaum, Thiruvananthapuram, and Vishakapatnam the same day,” he said.
 
On Thursday, District Collector T.P. Rajesh, as the president of the district Sainik Board, joined them.
 

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