Message from the President

majorvsthapa@gmail.com

The All India Gorkha Ex-servicemen’s Welfare Association (AIGEWA) was set in 1950 with a sole aim to utilize grants given by Ministry of Defence for dependants of our ex-servicemen. With our family of Gorkha ex-servicemen now spreading its wings in the entire Himalayan belt from Jammu & Kashmir to the seven sisters of North East India in the past 63 years, it is becoming an uphill task for all our sister associations to reach to the remotest of the corners of the country and help bring families of our mighty warriors into mainstream. I hope this new initiative taken by Mr JP Thapa of making this blog will bridge this communication barrier. With the penetration of internet even in the remotest corners of India and Nepal, I hope now we can reach out to families of the Gorkha Ex-servicemen and help them in any which way we can.

It is generally seen that children of Gorkha ex-servicemen refrain from joining the Gorkha regiment and opt out for private jobs. There can be different reasons for this. Some children and families stay back in their villages while our jawans are serving in the regiment. Back home children don’t get mentors to advise them on careers and some lack proper resources to complete schooling. Our endeavour is to reach to such youngsters, guide them, provide resources and motivate them to carry the family’s legacy forward by joining the defence forces.

We also encourage bright children of our ex-servicemen to do well in other fields and if money is a challenge for them in meeting goals or pursuing other fields, then we tend to bridge that gap. However, it is a great challenge for us as funds are less and deserving candidates are more. My endeavour is to increase Ministry of Defence’s budget allocation for AIGEWA by at least 50 per cent during my tenure. Currently, the Ministry of Defence releases Rs eight lakh per annum for AIGEWA which is hardly sufficient to cater to the needs of thousand deserving candidates spread across India and Nepal. Hence I also request Gorkhas around the world to come forward and help by either donating funds or becoming volunteers so that we can run vocational courses and coaching classes for them.

My personal milestone would be to increase our funds and give an honorarium to volunteers who help AIGEWA to reach out to Ex-servicemen families living in the remotest corners of the two countries and help them to get into mainstream. These donations will also help in expanding the premises of our headquarters in Nayagaon, Dehradun. We aim to construct additional rooms which can be used as a guest house for Gorkha ex-servicemen and their children travelling to Dehradun for different purposes.

Regards                                                                                                                                                                                

Ex-Major VS Thapa

Retired Dy. Inspector General (Prisons) cum Dy. Commandant

General Home Guards, Civil Defence and Fire Services

Himachal Pradesh.