The visit was kept secret till the prime minister’s choppers landed at Sumdo.
by Ashwani Sharma
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday celebrated Diwali with jawans of ITBP, Indian Army, and Dogra Scouts –serving at forward posts of Indo-China border in Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
The prime minister landed at Chango, near Sumdo —a base camp of the Indian army and ITBP in Lahaul-Spiti and later traveled to Sumdo in Kinnaur district, where he spent 15 to 20 minutes with jawans and distributed sweets.
#WATCH Jawans raise ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ slogans with PM Modi in Kinnaur(HP) #Diwali http://pic.twitter.com/2u2TcRxSgr — ANI (@ANI_news) October 30, 2016
The visit was kept secret till the prime minister’s choppers landed at Sumdo. “We had no information about Prime Minister‘s visit although there were media reports about him celebrating Diwali with ITBP jawans in Uttrakhand,” said Chief Secretary V C Pharka when contacted.
The jawans
greeted the prime minister with slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram' on his arrival, charging the atmosphere of the two districts – Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti.
Modi addressed the jawans and army personnel praising their valour and bravery. “Because of you who guard our borders, people sleep during the night. If you are not their on the borders, people can’t sleep,” he said .
He also referred to NDA government‘s decision on One Rank,One pension (OROP) recalling that it was one of his first moves on assuming the charge of Prime Minister. “When I asked for the file, I realised the liability was not Rs 200 or Rs 500 crores. It was Rs 10,000 cr. I consulted the army officers suggesting if they will agree, if I propose to pay the arrears in four installments. I compliment the army officers who agreed and now the payments of the arrears were being spent /deposited in installments, ” he said.
On his return, Modi stopped at Chango village – the largest populated village of Kinnaur.
Ramlal Markande, a former BJP minister said the army officers had invited the local villagers at Prime Minister’s desire to meet them. Around 25 people including some women met him on roadside and offered a Himachali cap to Modi, which he happily accepted.
Prime Minister extended Diwali greetings to the villagers and discussed agriculture related issues.
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