BOMDILA, 1 Jun: Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday joined the 2 Arunachal Scouts in celebrating the battalion’s 10 years of service to the state and the nation, here in West Kameng district.
The 2 Arunachal Scouts was raised on 1 June, 2013, at the Umroi (Meghalaya) cantonment under Col Neelesh Anand Pagulwar. The infantry battalion was inducted to the 4 corps zone on 8 March, 2014, with its headquarters in Bomdila.
Congratulating the battalion on completion of a decade of service to the nation, Khandu hailed it as “flag bearers of Arunachal Pradesh in the Indian Army.”
“Arunachal Scouts is very close to our hearts as the battalion’s name itself raises the feeling of oneness. This is our battalion. This is Arunachal’s battalion,” he said.
The CM remembered his late father Dorjee Khandu, who as the then chief minister of the state had passionately pursued the central government to raise a unit in the Indian Army specifically for Arunachal Pradesh, “in the line of the Ladakh Scouts and the Kumaon Scouts.”
“When the 1 Arunachal Scouts battalion was raised in 2010, my father had proudly attended the raising ceremony in Shillong. His dream for facilitating the youths of the Northeast, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, to join the Indian Army in large numbers was fulfilled,” he said.
The CM added: “As a legislator of a constituency (Jang-Mukto) that sits in the Tawang sector along the Indo-Tibet border, I have always had respect and confidence on the Indian Army.
“At least once a year, I make it a point to visit the border outposts of my constituency, especially the Mago-Chuna sector. Besides meeting the people there, I always take time out to spend some quality time with the jawans posted along the border,” he said.
He said that the presence of youths of Arunachal and other northeastern states donning the Arunachal Scouts insignia makes him “swell with pride.”
Khandu lauded the Army units posted in Arunachal “for their bonding with the civilian population,” and said that “the people of Arunachal Pradesh, who are born patriots, have immense respect for the Indian Army and thus bond with them well in every sphere.”
“Here, no civilian programme – be it a music festival, indigenous festival, health camp, or any sporting event – is complete without participation of the Army. Likewise, no programme of the Army is complete without participation of the civilians,” he said.
Informing about the Centre’s Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) to transform all villages along the border, the CM sought cooperation of the Indian Army and the central armed paramilitary forces (CAPF) “for its successful implementation.”
“The Indian Army and the CAPFs like ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles are posted all along the border. Their cooperation will be of utmost importance in implementing the ambitious VVP of the central government,” he said.
For the convenience of the troops posted in high terrains, Khandu assured that “all efforts are being made to ensure connectivity in both road and telecommunication sectors.
“While roads are reaching all remote outposts, more than one thousand 4G towers are being installed all along the border. We are also constructing about 50 small hydropower projects in the outposts under the Border Village Illumination Programme,” he said, adding that “several are already functioning and providing power to the nearby villages as well as Army units posted there.”
He informed that “the state government is pursuing with the central government to strengthen the Arunachal Scouts with more companies, besides raising an ITBP unit specifically for Arunachal Pradesh.”
He requested the Army and the CAPF units posted in the state to provide training to local unemployed youths to prepare them for recruitment drives, including those under the Agniveer programme.
Among others, MLAs Phurpa Tsering, Kumsi Sidisow, Dorjee Wangdi Kharma and Dongru Siongju, besides 5 Mountain Division GOC Maj Gen Ajay Kumar Singh, 311 Brigade Commander Brig Nikhil Deshpande, 311 Brigade Deputy Commander Col Anil Kumar, 2nd Arunachal Scouts Commander Col Bhaskar Pandey, 77 Brigade Deputy Commander Col RKN Maney, and the DCs of West Kameng and Tawang districts attended the celebration. (CM’s PR Cell)
