Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman visits army's Western Command headquarters

Chandigarh: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday visited headquarters of the Indian Army’s Western Command at Chandimandir Military Station near Chandigarh. She and also attended a function at Himachal Pradesh’s Kasauli. [caption id=“attachment_4019069” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of India’s defence minister Nirmala Sitaraman. AFP[/caption] At the headquarters of Western Command, she was briefed on the operational preparedness, administrative issues and ex-Servicemen affairs by its chief, Lt Gen Surinder Singh, an official statement said. Sitharaman appreciated the efforts of the Indian Army and Western Command and expressed her complete confidence in its immense operational might. She also lauded its contribution in all spheres including assistance to civilian administration especially during the recent past. She also laid a wreath at Veer Smriti and also planted a sapling. The Defence minister spent some time interacting with Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (ORs) of units billeted at Chandigarh. Later, the minister attended an event at Kasauli where she granted eight out of 13 Cantonment Boards under the Western Command certificates of being open defacation free. Sitharaman presented ODF certificates to the members of the Cantonment Boards including their (CEOs) and Presidents of Kasauli, Dagshai, Subathu, Jutogh, Dalhousie, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ferozepur. During her speech, the Minister congratulated Defence Estates Department for achieving ODF in eight cantonments. She also expressed her satisfaction that all the Cantonment Boards will be ODF by 15 December. She also announced an amount of Rs 15 crore towards a multi-level parking at Kasauli bus-stand. This was a long felt requirement and is expected to fetch positive result in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as well. The ceremony was attended by the Member of Parliament Virender Kashyap, Director General Defence Estates Jojneshwar Sharma, Lt Gen Surinder Singh, Principal Director Defence Estate SC Kaushik, Directors of Defence Estates, Western Command and other officials of Indian Defence Estates Service.