PM dedicates his Diwali to the Soldiers
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has dedicated this year’s Diwali to the soldiers and his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, he had also spent Diwali with a visit to the border posts situated in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, while meeting the soldiers on duty.
“They say you should celebrate your Diwali with your people and that is the reason why I have come here to celebrate this year’s Diwali with you all,” he told the soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police or ITBP at the Sumdo forward post in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur, close to the border with China.
“We the people of India sleep peacefully just because you guard our borders,” he said.
Narendra Modi’s first Diwali as a PM
The Prime Minister had celebrated his first Diwali since the time he came to power in 2014 with the soldiers posted in Siachen, and the year 2015, he celebrated it at the India-Pakistan border situated in Punjab.
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Amidst the increased hostilities with Pakistan that have further resulted in deaths of seven soldiers in the last one month, the Prime Minister has called on citizens to remember their service.
He also spoke about the One Rank One Pension or OROP scheme, which is a longtime demand of the forces that was further approved by the government this year.
“After I became the PM, and decided that I had to do (implement) it… It was not at all possible for the government to pay in one go, so I have requested the ex-servicemen to accept it in four installments.
Nearly, Rs. 5,500 crore has been further paid as the first installment,” PM Modi said.
He has also slammed the previous governments that “did not know” about the OROP and keeping it hanging for a time span of 40 years and allocating as little as Rs. 40 crores.
