Agniveer’s death: Martyr’s family seeks better edu, sports facilities in village

Our Correspondent

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Jan 21

Despite their own critical financial position, parents and sisters of Agniveer Ajai Singh have demanded better education and sports facilities for the youth of the region.

Singh was killed in a landmine blast in Naushera Sector in Jammu and Kashmir last Thursday and is survived by his old parents and six sisters.

The family lives in a two-room house and the youngest sister Anjali Devi, had to drop out from college after the second semester of BA as the family could not pay fees for continuation of studies. Poonam Devi (now married) is the only one among the seven siblings to have completed graduation, but she too could not get a job. All other sisters are yet to pass Class X. Rechristening of the Government High School sports stadium in name of the martyr and upgradation of the existing dispensary to 25-bed hospital are among the demands of the family besides expedition of implementation of facilities the family is entitled to.

Payal SDM Dr Poonampreet Kaur, who has been convening all events since the tragedy, said the family had given a memorandum to her in the presence of military officer Major Aravind on Sunday during a meeting facilitated by the SDM at their residence.

The intention behind the meeting was to explain formalities for availing facilities from the Indian Army and the Punjab Government, besides showing solidarity with the family who had lost their only son and brother of six sisters.

“Having learnt about problems normally faced by bereaved families in such cases we appealed to Major Aravind to spare some time to sit with the family,” said SDM Dr Poonampreet Kaur appreciating that the officer explained almost all aspects of the facilities to be provided by the Indian Army according to the Agniveer Scheme. Aravind had also agreed to leave a ministerial army official to help the family in preparing files for availing eligible facilities.

The SDM claimed the details of documents and testimonials required for availing facilities from the Indian Army and the Punjab Government were explained so the family gets its due as soon as possible.

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