At a time when the nation is mourning over the death of 25 CRPF personnel, killed in a Maoist ambush in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, a very touching gesture has come from the IAS Officers Association.
In a unique initiative, the country’s elite administrative service officers will adopt families of the martyred soldiers of the defence forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). This is a first of its kind move from the IAS Officers Association. The association represents all members of Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
The official twitter handle of IAS Officers Association tweeted:
Officers of Indian Administrative Service to Adopt a Family of the Martyred Soldiers of the Defence Forces and the CAPF. #IAS pic.twitter.com/HMovoEj185
— IAS Association (@IASassociation) April 28, 2017
“It would be in the national interest that the civil servants proactively contribute in this endeavour,” Indian Civil and Administrative Service (Central) Association said in a statement.
“It is proposed that each member of the Indian Administrative Service adopts one family of a martyred soldier. The family may preferably from the state to which the officer belongs and will be serving for a large part of his or her career. It would be appropriate that the IAS officers adopt one family of a martyred soldier in their first place of posting as Subdivision magistrate,” the association said.
“Senior officers, or those from state civil services, can also adopt such families voluntarily,” it said.
The associations have further asked the officers to provide support and assistance to the families of the martyred soldiers in the following ways:
- Oversee and ensure that all dues of the martyred soldiers be paid to the dependents.
- Ensure that the children of the martyred soldier continue getting good education.
- Mentor and guide the children of martyred soldiers so that they can pursue their career of their choice.
- Provided benefits to the martyred families from various schemes being run by the government – Skill India, Start-up India, Digital India etc.
- Provide adequate medical help when any member of the martyred family is seriously ill or injured.
“We are requesting state governments and the central government to issue the necessary instructions in this regard to all concerned so that this arrangement gets institutionalised at the earliest,” the IAS Officers Associations said.
Earlier, cricketer Gautam Gambhir had pledged to bear all the education related expenses of the children of the 25 CRPF jawans martyred in Sukma.
According to available data, the death toll of the Army soldiers stood at 64 in 2016. In the same year, 65 security personnel were killed by Maoists. This year so far, 54 security personnel have been killed in Maoist ambush.
