Ex-servicemen taken care through mission Vijay-II

Lucknow, May 2: As part of efforts to develop corporate- social responsibility, project Healing Touch - Mission Vijay-II has been launched by a Rotarian to help ex-servicemen of the Indian Army to earn a sustainable livelihood after their retirement.

''Mission Vijay II is an effort to provide self employment opportunities to our soldiers who have defended our frontiers and not its our turn to help them defend their future'', says Mukesh Anand, the person behind the entire project.

Talking to mediapersons, Mr Anand said the project launched as an aftermath of the Kargil war in 1999 has, till date, helped 1410 ex-servicemen to earn their living through companies like PepisCo, Apollo Tyres, ICICI, Castrol, IOC, Hero Honda and Tata Motors.

He said PepsiCo has benefited ex-servicesmen by providing them with a stable and high sources of income in their new roles as distributors, sub-distributors, salesman or as trolley vending distributors.

Similarly other companies have given some sort of source of income to these ex-servicemen to earn their livelihood.

Claiming that there are about 2.42 lakh ex-servicemen in UP alone who need some sort of financial help after their retirement, Mr Anand said the goal of project Healing Touch is to reach out by 2012 to nearly two lakh ex-servicemen and to the enxt of kin of soldiers in the country who have given their lives for their country.

UNI