Dear Editor,
4 July 2017 was ill-fated and petrifying day for Nada Umbing’s wife and also the mother of two small kindergarten children and with another inside her womb when she received the unfortunate news of an Advance Helicopter 305 lost near the forest area of Sagalee, Papum Pare district which was deployed to lift the stranded passengers from Sagalee to Itanagar due to landslide. The debris of the chopper were found two days later.
Lt. Nada Umbing was part of the rescue mission team along with Wing Commander Lt. M.S. Dhillon, Flight Lieutenant Lt. P.K. Singh and Flight Engineer Sergeant Lt. Gujjar. These brave soldiers without a second thought dared the inclement weather and airlifted most of the stranded passengers. While doing this they all lost their valuable lives They are no less than a martyr and are to be highly esteemed and honored.
We appreciate the Government of Arunachal Pradesh for honouring these brave hearts IAF personnel appropriately including monetary support.
However, it is bitterly saddening that Lt. Umbing who was very much part of the rescue mission is still to receive what he deserves respectfully and honorably for sacrificing his life. Without hesitation he complied with the call of duty to save the lives of many people stranded due to landslide. Least Lt. Umbing deserves is an equal treatment for losing his equally valuable life along with three IAF personnel who were given ex-gratia of Rs.50 lakh each. While for police employee of the State Government and our own son of the soil for his sacrifice, pittance Rs.50000 only was announced as an immediate relief. His family is still running from pillar to post for an appropriate respect and treatment. This we feel is not just disregard to the departed soul but an insult to our own men who died in the line of the duty and apathy of the government towards his family survivals. When a victim of fire, flood, and road accident get Rs. 2-5 lakh as an immediate personal relief, it would be very inapt for a Government not granting respectable and sufficient relief ex-gratia to a government servant in the line of the duty. Personnel with extra-ordinary courage who sacrificed their life saving other valuable lives should be respectfully treated in all aspects.
The official statement of HCM issued in this regard in one of the daily, “The brave personnel were on a mission to rescue people stranded due to floods/landslide by airlifting them to safer locations. People are shattered by the death of their saviors“ speaks volumes of these four members who put down their lives which need to be recognized appropriately. Lt. Umbing deserves similar sensitivity and honour in all forms from the State Government likewise in many incidents where many police personals of equal or above rank are treated after they lost their lives on duty, and the way people of Sagalee respected and mourned the death of such brave heart on 12 July 2017 to say the least.
Apatani Career Guidance Forum (ACGF), considering the immeasurable loss of a valued life of men in uniform and an end of short but meaningful career of a person who served the State and lost his life while doing so and on whom his family were solely dependent, appeal the State Government to sympathetically look into the matter seriously and grant respectable ex-gratia amount at the earliest possible time and a compensatory job to his bereaved wife appropriately so that his poor family can sustain their life respectfully with dignity, his children get proper education and people continue their trust and confidence in the Government. Such steps can be an inspiration for many aspiring candidates to join police forces to serve people and the state. ACGF also feels and believes that there are no technical hurdles, which will impede such consideration by the Government as Lt. Nada Umbing was on official duty and tragically he lost his life in uniform.
Yours,
Pura Sambyo,
Chairman
Dr.Nani Tamang Jose,
General Secretary,
Apatani Career
Guidance Forum