CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said his government was formulating a policy to award a one-rank promotion for any defence or police personnel from Punjab who win a gallantry award in war or in peacetime.
If any such personnel wish to join the Punjab Police, their service and bravery would be given due recognition, said Amarinder, while pipping the stars of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) on the uniform of Kargil war hero Satpal Singh.
Interestingly, Satpal finds mention in Captain Amarinder Singh’s book A Ridge Too Far - War in the Kargil Heights.
The policy to be drafted by his government will leave no scope for such injustice, Amarinder said, making it clear that it would cover police gallantry award winners, including JCOs and NCOs, in addition to those from the defence forces.
He said his government was committed to the welfare of soldiers and ex-soldiers, whose sacrifices to the nation and its people could not be allowed to go unrecognized. He said he had been pained on hearing that Satpal was working as a senior traffic constable and wanted to give the dignity and respect that the
brave soldier deserved.
On Friday, the 20th anniversary of the Kargil War, he had ordered double promotion for Satpal, lamenting that the valiant soldier had not been given due recognition at the time of his recruitment into Punjab Police by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government in 2010.
Satpal Singh, who joined the Punjab Police after his discharge from the Army, was posted in Drass sector during Operation Vijay. Part of the team that helped the Indian Army capture Tiger Hill, Satpal killed Captain Karnal Sher Khan of the Northern Light Infantry and three others. Sher Khan was later conferred the Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan’s highest gallantry award, on the recommendation of the Indian brigade commander who vouched for his bravery on the icy heights.