By Lt General M K Das 

 

 

RECENTLY, General Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) stated that the Army will play even greater role in nation building in the future. The statement of the COAS has lot of relevance for the nation in general and the Indian Army in particular. Indian Army is already engaged in a large number of activities towards nation building. These activities are besides the flood relief, disaster management, rescue operations and any type of civil aid when sought by the local administration. The stellar contribution of the NCC is also not being covered in this piece. The aim of this article is to highlight some of the key nation building activities already being executed by the Army. Let us start from the border areas. Most of the border and remote areas have been connected by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Led by competent officers of the Corps of Engineers from the Army and ably supported by the General Reserve Engineers Force (GREF), this organisation constructs roads and bridges in the inaccessible border areas, be it in Ladakh, Sikkim or Arunachal Pradesh. Recently, BRO connected the strategically important all- weather 298 km long road from Manali to Leh on the Kargil- Leh highway.

 

It should be noted that such roads improve the livelihood in the adjoining villages, besides creating an ecosystem for the tourists. As of now, the BRO is engaged in 140 projects in 19 States, three UTs and neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Myanmar. Next is ‘Operation Sadhbhavna’ which means goodwill projects undertaken by the Army in the border areas. Army caters for separate budget for this project which improve the life, habitat and sustainability of the local people, be it in J&K or the North-East. Under this noble project, Army runs schools, hostels, medical health care and empowerment of the local people. A large number of villages are being illuminated with the solar lights, as was recently done for Dabbi village near the Line of Control in Poonch district. Under my command in 2004, I recall that my unit constructed a wooden bridge over a fast-flowing stream in a remote village in Kokrajhar district of Assam. Such a goodwill activities genuinely win the hearts & minds of the people. Under Namami Gange programme, one Territorial Army (TA) battalion has been raised at Prayagraj. This specialised unit has played a key role in cleaning the Ganges over a large stretch of this holy river.

 

This TA unit is commanded by a Colonel rank officer of the Army and has a mix of serving and ex-servicemen executing this pivotal project. In addition, nine Ecological Task Force (ETF) battalions of TA are engaged in tree plantation, soil conservation and other specific environment related projects in the hills, mountains and desert terrain. My regiment also has one ETF located at Samba, near Jammu and this force has planted trees over lakhs of trees in the last three years. During my visits, I noticed a major go green drive under their watchful concern. The military cantonments and military stations located across the country remain most clean and well-maintained areas in their respective locations. There are 62 cantonments and more than two hundred military stations which serve as green lungs for the environment. The cantonments are being disbanded and are being converted exclusively into military stations under the full control of Army. The civilian areas, which are inhabited by the local public will be merged with the local municipal bodies. Thus, the Army is progressively handing over the green belt to the local administration, in the larger national interest. It is expected that such areas will act as role model for the local municipalities in estate management and housekeeping.

 

Army has also undertaken a massive initiative in the rejuvenation of ponds and water bodies in their respective stations in the last two years. Army utilised its own engineering equipment and dozing effort to bring to life a huge number of dry ponds, create new ponds/water bodies and ensure their sustenance. I was personally involved in ensuring the success of this noble project in the military stations and cantonments located in the six States of UP, MP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh as GOC Madhya Bharat Area. The contribution of the Army in the field of education is indeed laudable. Army runs hundreds of schools called Army Public School and Army Pre Primary School across the length and breadth of the country. These schools provide quality education at low fees to the ward of defence personnel as also to the local children in huge numbers. Over a period of time, these schools have built State of the art infrastructure and ensure well rounded growth of the students.

 

Then, a large number of military stations have specialised schools for the differently-abled called Asha Schools where children from civilian fraternity are also permitted. In addition, a large number of Army Public Schools have adopted poor schools in their vicinity as part of the Vidyanjali initiative of the Government. Army also motivates the youth to join Army through regular training camps and ‘Know Your Army’ campaigns. Special focus is on empowerment of women and girls. In fact, a large number of women entrepreneurs are being encouraged by the Army. There has been great impetus on technology in the recent years. A large number of start ups have been supported by the Army and our success in the development of drone technology is one shining example of self-reliance. All in all, the Indian Army has lived up to its reputation of a silent but spectacular driver in the nation building exercise.