Kendrapara: The district administration has drawn accolades for its decision to set up a memorial for Kargil war martyr Sachidananda Mallick at Kandiahaat in Rajkanika block.
District Collector Samarth Verma Monday visited Kandiahaat along with Rajkanika BDO and other officials the site for the memorial tower.
Verma discussed with the villagers how to raise resources for building the martyr tower, foundation stone for which was laid some 18 years ago. The Collector also discussed with Kendrapara MP Anubhav Mohanty to sanction Rs 20 lakh from his MPLAD fund for this purpose.
The Collector also urged the MP to work for the development of the place and set up a children’s park. The children’s park may be named after the war hero, suggested Verma.
Notably, Sachidananda Mallick had joined in the Army as a sepoy in 1989. Later he was promoted to the post of Lance Naik and died in the Kargil war at Trash Sector June 28, 1999. Mallick was the fifth Odia to be martyred in the Kargil war. The war hero made the locality proud by making the supreme sacrifice for the motherland and has become an inspiration for several youths of the region.
Erstwhile Kendrapara Collector Nrusingha Mohapatra had attended the funeral of the martyr and presented Rs 2 lakh as compensation to Mallick’s wife along with a letter of appreciation from the then Chief Minister Giridhari Gomango.
Although 18 years have passed since the incident, but the proposed martyr tower for Sachidananda at Kandiahaat police outpost remains a pipedream, thanks to the callous attitude of the district officials and the lack of political will of the local leaders.
Once the martyr’s tower is built, it would remain a source of encouragement for several youths to make supreme sacrifices for the nation, said Maheswar Kar, secretary of ex-servicemen’s Association of Kendrapara.
PNN