KHAIRENITAR, March 24: Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Prabhu Ram Sharma has said the Army Welfare Fund is dedicated to the betterment of lives of former army personnel.
At a programme organized by the Nepalese Army’s No 3 Brigade at Khairenitar today, CoAS Sharma made his intent clear that he wanted to see the Nepalese Army being able, active and self-reliant.
"Although the aspirations and expectations of the beneficiaries are unlimited, the Nepalese Army has been optimizing its limited resources and is effortful to uplift the living standard of the beneficiaries," said Sharma.
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It may be noted that Sharma in April 2022 had informed that the Army Fund, established in 1975, had Rs 63.97 billion as of mid-January of the same year.
Lieutenant General Saroj Pratap Rana lauded that the contributions and discipline maintained by the former army personnel had further glorified the organization.
The Fund's Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Tandul shared that the 32,773 former army personnel and their families had been running various projects with the concessional loan worth over Rs 7 billion provided in collaboration with the Nepal Investment Mega Bank under the NA-run welfare-based programmes.
Nepal National Former Army Association’s President Digambar Rana shared that the NA-run welfare-based programmes had directly and indirectly helped increase socio-economic status of ex-army men and their families.
The programme was attended by 6,400 former army personnel from Gorkha, Lamjung and Tanahun districts.
On the occasion, wheelchairs were distributed to physically-disabled persons while single women and former army personnel were feted. Similarly, small and medium enterprises' entrepreneurs were also honoured in the event.
