Indian Army cares for its bravehearts

We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.

Braveheart Late Sub Gandhi Ram Rajbongshi of Assam Regt hailing from Mangaldoi in Darrang District lost his life while serving the nation along the northern borders on 18 December 2000, leaving behind his wife Pabitri Rajbongshi along with a 15-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. The complete responsibility of upbringing of the family was onto the shoulders of Pabitri Rajbongshi who took on this responsibility as a challenge and acted as an iron lady. She single-handedly raised both her children and helped them pursue their education in the best of schools and colleges possible. Subsequently in the year 2011, her elder daughter Geetanjali got married while her son was still undergoing schooling. In 2018, again a tragedy struck this brave lady of Assam when her son met with a bike accident on 13 June 2018.

The injuries sustained by her son Gagan Rajbongshi were severe and he was hospitalised for over a month for undergoing various minor operations and also facial re-constructive surgery. The total cost of his treatment was around Rs 12 lakh. Pabitri Rajbongshi, as strong as ever, again took over the responsibility of the family and helped her son by providing him the best medical treatment possible. The family wanted to claim the medical expenditure from government but was unable to receive any financial help as they were not registered and availing the ECHS facility.

At this time of need, the Indian Army rose to the occasion, in accordance with its commitment to ensuring welfare and social security of veterans and “veernaris”; the local Indian Army unit en- sured release of one-time grant of Rs 5 lakh from Army Central Welfare Fund (ACWF) to help and support Pabitri Rajbongshi. This reflects the bond which still exists within the organisation, always looking after the ones who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation and never ever forgets their sacrifice.