MINUTES OF SOUTH ZONE MILITARY VETERANS MEET AT BANGALORE ON SUNDAY, 27 JUNE 2010.

Subject: MINUTES OF SOUTH ZONE MILITARY VETERANS MEET AT BANGALORE ON SUNDAY, 27 JUNE 2010.

MINUTES OF
SOUTH ZONE MILITARY VETERANS MEET HELD AT BANQUET HALL,
VIDHAN SOUDHA, BANGALORE ON SUNDAY 27 JUNE 2010
EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE
WE the Veterans of Karnataka wish to place on record our sincere thanks and expression of our gratitude to Dr VS Acharya, the Hon’ble Home Minister of Karnataka, Capt Ganesh Karnik, MLC and Deputy Chairman NRI Forum Karnataka for all their help, assistance & unstinted support to the Ex-Servicemen. We are also thankful & grateful to Col CR Sundar, CEO & MD, JAWAN TV and Mrs Sundar for being so very gracious to extend total coverage to the South Zone Ex-Servicemen Meet and to Brig MS Parthasarathy for excellent photographic coverage.
1. Colonel SS Rajan, the Convenor of the South Zone Military Veterans Meet in his opening address welcomed Ex-Servicemen (350-400) who had gathered from the four Southern States and also those from Delhi and the States of J&K, Maharashtra, Assam, Meghalaya & Tripura; and said that The South Zone Military Veterans Meet has been called with following aims:
(a) Strengthen IESM by spreading IESM far & wide, to all States, right down to Dists, Taluks and small towns & villages.
(b) Adoption of a Federal Structure. The Indian Ex Servicemen Movement (IESM) is an All India Federation of Ex Servicemen's organizations; and, an Umbrella Body and hence it is strongly recommended that we adopt a Federal Structure, ie. be a true Federation, with each State having its own IESM set up, viz. IESM Kerala, IESM J&K, IESM Gujarat, IESM Punjab, IESM Nagaland, etc.. Each State shall be encouraged to throw up its leadership and be financially independent to cater to the requirements & needs of the respective State IESM.
(c) Adoption of Uniform Membership Fees. Whether one is a retired General or a retired Sepoy, after retirement, all are referred to Ex-Servicemen. That being so, it is felt that irrespective of ranks, there ought to be one uniform Membership Fees for Ex-Servicemen. And, considering the need to increase our membership strength in terms of lakhs, it is recommended that we have a uniform Membership Fee of just Rs.10 for one & all. In so far as Donations are concerned, it would be totally voluntary and left to individual Ex-Servicemen, as to the amount they wish to Donate. Donations can never be made compulsory and clubbed with Membership Fees.
(d) To integrate, encourage & motivate Veterans coming from the States of the North East to join the mainstream and set up IESM in their respective States. They would be requested, to organize celebration of Kargil Diwas, in respective States, to start with, on 26 July2010.
2. The Meet was chaired by Veteran Lt Gen SK Bahri and presided by Veterans Lt Gen NSI Narahari, Vice Admiral Barin Ghose, Maj Gen HK Kapoor, Rear Admiral BR Vasanth, Maj Gen MC Nanjappa, Maj Gen Satbir Singh, Air Cmde MK Chandrasekhar, Brig JS Narasimhan and Naik Naidu.
3. Dr VS Acharya, the Hon’ble Home Minister graced the Meet and was gracious to say:
(a) The Govt of Karnataka is committed to take care of the welfare & well-being of the Ex-Servicemen residing in Karnataka.
(b) He would call for a meeting of the Home Ministers of the four southern states to discuss & deliberate on points concerning Ex-Servicemen welfare and jointly take up the points with Union Govt.
(c) Take up the matter regarding issue of Corrigendum to PPO by the PCDA (Pension) with the Central Govt.
4. The Hon’ble Home Minister then had a cup of Tea with the Ex-Servicemen. The Tea was hosted by the Govt of Karnataka.
5. The Chairman and Presiding Officers of the Meet and a number of Veterans, viz. Maj Gen Satbir Singh, Vice Chairman IESM, Gp Capt VK Gandhi, Gen Secy IESM and all State, Dist & City Convenors present addressed the gathering and expressed their views.
6. Col Martin Khongmen from Meghalaya, Maj Biren Borgohain from Assam and Maj Prafulla Kumar Sinha from Agartala expressed their happiness at being invited for the Meet and pledged to spread IESM in their respective states in the North East.
7. Veteran Vice Admiral Barin Ghose, a member of the 4th and 5th Central Pay Commission and an authority on Military Pension, gave an illuminating talk on the evolution of Military Pension and the rules that ought to be governing the grant of Pension to the personnel of the Defence Services.
8. The Veterans assembled from the four Southern States and J & K, Assam, Meghalaya & Tripura, after due discussion & deliberation and based on consensus, resolved to:
(a) Adopt a Federal Structure, viz. IESM Kerala, IESM J&K, IESM Karnataka, IESM Nagaland, etc. having a unified Command Structure with existing IESM central at its helm. The MoA of respective State IESM would incorporate the clause that 20% of receipts on account of Membership fees would be sent to the IESM Central.
(b) Adopt a uniform Membership Fee of just Rs.10 for all Veterans, irrespective of ranks.
(c) Go all out to increase the membership strength of IESM in terms of lakhs.
9. Once the membership fee of Rs.10 was accepted, over 300 Veterans (incl 138 Veterans who were present at the Meet itself) were enrolled as Members.
10. Donation. It was also heartening to note that a sum of Rs. 55,000 was donated during the Meet by Veterans as per details given below:
(a) Lt Gen SK Bahri- Rs.5000
(b) Rear Admiral Anonymous- Rs. 12,500
(c) Col Madhu Sudan Kapoor- Rs.25,000
(d) JC-115730 Sub Shiva Shankaraiah- Rs. 5000
(e) Naik Naidu of The Madras Sappers- Rs.7,500
11. Respected Gen SK Bahri, who chaired the Meet, in his summing up appreciated the conduct of the Meet and urged one & all Convenors present to go all out for a Membership Drive to enroll One Lakh members by 31 Dec 2010; and was very gracious to announce a Donation of Rs. One Lakh as a reward and an incentive & motivation to achieve the target; to which all Veterans present stood up and pledged that they would achieve the target by 31 Dec 2010.
12. Gen Bahri greatly appreciated the kind gesture of the Govt of Karnataka in making available the Banquet Hall in the Vidhan Soudha for the Ex-Servicemen Meet; and also the visit by the Hon’ble Home Minister of Karnataka and his commitment to the cause of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
Col SS Rajan
The Convenor of the South Zone Military Veterans Meet
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