The ‘band of brothers’ who get military veterans and widows their dues

Ranjit Kaur’s daughter approached the NGO for help, and they responded. (Express)

Today, it is the turn of Ranjit Kaur to have got her long pending dues after the death of her husband, Havildar Prem Singh Puri of Corps of Signals, many years back. In ill health herself and not fully in her senses, Ranjit Kaur did not even possess any documentary evidence to prove that she was the widow of the havildar as she had left the marital home way back in 1973.

The daughter of Ranjit Kaur approached the NGO for help and they responded.

“We sent our teams to look for Havildar Prem Singh Puri and learnt that he had died about 14 years back. However, with persistent efforts we managed to locate his service documents and took up this case with the Army in September 2021,” said Lt Col SS Sohi (retd), president of the cell. He added that the NGO had also requested the director of the Sainik Welfare Punjab and the Zila Sainik Board of Mohali for some financial help for Ranjit Kaur but in vain.

Lt Col Sohi said that Maj Gen J S Bainsla, general officer commanding of the division at Allahabad, also played a crucial role in helping the widow get her pension. “Now, she has got Rs 18 lakh arrears with effect from 2007 and the regular pension of Rs 16,000 per month, and will get free medical, CSD canteen and all other facilities of an ex-serviceman. Her unmarried daughter will also get the pension later,” he says.

The NGO is the prime example of tri-service cooperation for the welfare of veterans. Among the volunteers are Col D Nain, Col Manmohan Singh, Capt Gurmeet Singh, Capt RS Bhatti, Capt Makhan Singh, Subedar Jaswant, Chief Petty Officer Parkash Singh, Sergeant Rashpal Singh, Master Warrant Officers Joginder Singh, S N Ojha and a civilian Om Parkash.

The volunteers have been sitting on benches in parks from wherever the CSD canteen has been functioning in Mohali. This is their third location in the past 22 years. Many times, they had fallen foul of the officials who run canteens and the Zila Sainik Board and been denied entry or seating arrangements on the premises, but they soldier on regardless.

“We have helped around 400 ex-servicemen and veterans till date get their pensionary dues and also got several rules which were to the detriment of the veterans changed. We have been helped in this regard by the record offices of the three services and service headquarters too,” said Lt Col Sohi, who started the NGO.

A veteran of the Bihar regiment, Lt Col Sohi said the NGO charges just Rs 20 towards documentation from those who come to seek help from them.

“Many officials think we are pesky and we trouble them needlessly. But we help those veterans and kin of veterans who get no help from the officials or who are incapable of seeking help due to health conditions. And we do not mind getting called names as long as people like Ranjit Kaur get their due,” said Lt Col Sohi.

Lt Col Sohi said he was first a Bihari and then a Punjabi. “Ek Bihari sab par bhari,” he said laughing.