Gagandeep Singh
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, November 26
It is going to be a year tomorrow since Lance Naik Kulwinder Singh of Gakhlan village got martyrdom, the widow of the soldier is still waiting for the fulfilment of promises, including naming of the village school after the soldier and constructing a gate in his memory, made by government representatives.
Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, Rajbinder Kaur, wife of Lance Naik Kulwinder Singh, said: “During the bhog ceremony, the demand was raised by residents of the village to construct a gate in the memory of the martyr and naming a school after him. Government officials assured to provide funds for the same. However, it is going to be one year, nothing has been done in this regard.”
She claimed that an NRI body of the area also promised to provide an equivalent amount of what the Punjab Government would give. I have received Rs 9 lakh from the Punjab Government, but nothing has been given by the NRI organisation so far.”
“I have been provided with a job of a Class IV employee in the office of the Deputy Commissioner after 10 months of promise,” she said.
The woman, who had studied till Class XII and cleared a certificate course in stenography, said she had applied for a clerical job.
“I had contested my claim for at least a Class III job on compassionate grounds but the state government refused to accept my plea. Later, I got an appointment as a peon with the relief and resettlement branch,” she said.
Mohinder Singh, the sarpanch of the village, said: “In the presence of Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, and MLA Sarwan Singh Phillaur, the panchayat demanded for the construction of a village gate in the memory of the martyr and naming a school after him that was accepted by them.”
Representing 5 Sikh LI, Kulwinder Singh was one of the three Army personnel to be killed in the encounter last year.