Sitharaman pays tribute at Rezang La War Memorial

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday visited the famed Pangong Lake and a war memorial in Chushul near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China where she paid tributes to the fallen soldiers.

Advertisement

On the last day of her four-day visit to the northernmost Union Territory of the country, the Finance Minister laid wreath and paid tribute to the soldiers who laid down their lives in the service of the nation at the Rezang La War Memorial at Chushul, a 'Vibrant Village' in Eastern Ladakh.

The war memorial was constructed in 1963 in the Chushul plains, at an altitude of over 15,000 feet, right at the border to honour the troops of Charlie Company of 13 Kumaon Regiment, who on November 18, 1962, had defended Rezang La and the surrounding areas located at over 16,500 feet on the Kailash ranges in Eastern Ladakh. The renovated Rezang La War Memorial at Chushul was dedicated to the nation on November 18, 2021.

The Minister also visited the project site for National Large Solar Telescope (NLST), located near the Pangong Lake in Merak at an altitude of around 4,200 meters. NLST is a proposed ground based 2-m class optical and near infra-red (IR) observational facility and the site provides significant periods of high transparency. Dr Annapurni Subramaniam, Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), was also present during the visit.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by chairman of the Kargil Hill Council, Mohd Jaffer Akhnoon, met the Finance Minister. During the meeting, Akhoon presented a comprehensive memorandum outlining several key developmental and infrastructural demands concerning the Kargil district.

The memorandum emphasised the urgent needs of the region and sought the Ministry’s intervention in key sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, governance and tourism. The key demands presented included upgradation of the existing 100-bedded district hospital to a 200-bedded hospital to address overcrowding and inadequate facilities.

He also requested the Finance Minister for establishment of a super specialty hospital or a ‘Mini AIIMS’ to provide advanced and affordable healthcare services locally. The memorandum further called for the immediate operationalisation of the sanctioned engineering college with full faculty and infrastructure support.

It was urged that funds allocated to hill council be made non-lapsable to ensure efficient utilisation and multi-year planning. A financial package of Rs 150 crore was sought to clear long-pending compensation claims for land acquisition and infrastructure development.

Considering Kargil’s strategic and geographic constraints, the chairman called for runway expansion and immediate commencement of civil air operations.