Nathowal panchayat to build memorial for martyrs from village

Ludhiana: Less than a fortnight after The Times of India highlighted the lack of a memorial for a Kargil martyr in Nathowal (Faujiyan Da Pind), the local panchayat passed a resolution recently to build a memorial for martyrs of the village and other infrastructure on the panchayat land after the Income Tax department came forward to support them.
On July 26 on Vijay Diwas (anniversary of Kargil war), The Times of India had carried two news stories — ‘No memorial for Kargil martyr’ and ‘Few takers for army in Faujiyan Da Pind’ — highlighting the issues related to Faujiyan Da Pind (Nathowal). After news reports, the income tax department had approached the village panchayat and expressed interest to help them develop a memorial, after which they met departmental officers on Tuesday.
Ex-serviceman Balbir Singh (the husband of the female sarpanch) had attended the meeting and said the income tax department officer had approached them after TOI carried news stories on their village, but they had to come with a delegation, and so they went to the I-T department on Tuesday. He added that during the meeting, the I-T officers assured them full financial support for the construction of a memorial in the name of martyrs of their village, and a multi-purpose hall for the village.
“As we have to provide land for the project, we passed a resolution in the panchayat, wherein we decided to give one acre of land on Dhoorkot Road for it. We, along with income tax department officials, will lay the foundation stone for the project around the evening of August 14,” said Balbir Singh. Another villager, Manpreet Singh (a former sarpanch) said the memorial would be a great gift to the village, ahead of Independence Day. He added they would also be able to inform the present and future generations about the contributions of the village to the country.
Meanwhile, the income tax authorities said they were happy to start the project with the help of villagers. “After news stories in TOI, we had contacted the villagers for building some infrastructure for the village. In the meeting with villagers yesterday, we decided to start a project for the construction of a memorial, a multi-purpose community hall, and a mini-stadium, which will be named after the Kargil martyr Naik Surjeet Singh, in whose name there was no memorial in the village,” said Binay K Jha, chief commissioner income tax for Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu & Kashmir. He added they would also rope in people from industry to support the project, and ensure proper care was taken of the infrastructure built in the village. He added that at the inauguration ceremony of the memorial, they would honour Veer Naaris (the widows of martyrs).