Now,the ex-servicemen community visiting the city on short trips has a reason to cheer. Their long standing demands have been heard and the much- awaited rest house at the Department of Sainik Welfare (DSW) in Ghorpadi has taken off after it received the nod from the Army commander,as well as the Defence Estates Office (DEO). The foundation stone of the rest house was laid on Thursday by the DSW authorities. The existing rest house on the DSW premises is insufficient due to the heavy inflow of ex-servicemen from far-fledged destinations on short visits,mostly to avail the medical facilities the city offers. Retired Maj Milind Tungar,deputy director,DSW said,The foundation stone was laid by the DSW director. The new facility will be roughly the size of the existing rest house and will accommodate around 80-90 ESM at a time. The new facility will come up adjacent to the existing rest house. The rest house,inaugurated in 2004,can accommodate 75 ESM in 24 rooms. The number of occupants on a given day crosses 150,including mothers and widows of ESM. The state governor approved of the new rest house on May 20,2008. A plot adjacent to the existing one was identified and permissions were sought from the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) by the DSW. But over the years,the proposal had been doing the rounds of offices of PCB,DEO and Southern Command headquarters. The cost of the project has now escalated to Rs 3.5 crore from Rs 2.8 crore in 2008. In July,the PCB had rejected the proposal of the rest house,citing pending approval of the Army commander. On December 4,2012,DEO G S Rajeswaran wrote to PCB,You are requested not to accept the proposal for new construction,unless the previous unauthorised construction is regularised. But,the DEO gave an option saying,Both proposals of regularisation and new construction may be simultaneously processed to save time,keeping in view the welfare of ex-servicemen. The ESM community had been pressing for long for the proposal. They complained of unhygienic conditions and shortage of sanitation facilities. The Indian Express in August had reported the sorry state of the rest house. The news report was followed by the Army commanders nod and a No Objection of the DEO. The rest house might take another two years to complete. But,we are happy that the project has taken off, said Prakash Bhame,an ex-serviceman.
