New Delhi, March 29
Sanjeev Rana, a social worker who has made memorials in North India in memory of soldiers killed in action, now plans to expand his initiative across the country.
Rana, who is the national coordinator of the campaign “Eek Eint Shaheed Ke Naam”, says, “We have made six such memorials in North India so far and now plan to do the same in other states too.”
“We do not take any funds as donations. We follow the contributory model to erect memorials. A donor can donate bricks or cement, or provide labour,” said Rana, who was born in Chandigarh.
“To ensure accuracy in our work, we coordinate with local Sainik Boards,” he said.
The campaign was started from Kurukshetra and the first “Martyr Memorial” was built in Pehowa, followed by another one at Anthedi and third at Indri (Karnal). Two have been made in Himachal Pradesh — Bilaspur and Mandi. The sixth has been raised in Samba, Jammu and Kashmir.
The one at Samba is in memory of Colonel Narayan Singh, who was in the 7th Jammu and Kashmir State Forces and held back the rebels for two days in October 1947. The demand for a memorial was made by the Colonel’s 79-year-old daughter Sharmistha, said Rana.
He said his organisation was also repairing houses of slain soldiers’ families. The organisation has planted 140 trees in memory of 140 soldiers in educational institutions in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Rana recollected that when he started the campaign in June 2017, then Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki donated a brick. Then President of Ram Nath Kovind, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, then Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat and Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya made donations, he said.
Many senior military officers, 30 IAS officers and international players have contributed to the cause over six years.