Khairyat Patrol – An initiative of the Indian Army for the people living in remote areas along Line of Control

Khairyat Patrol – An initiative of the Indian Army for the people living in remote areas along Line of Control

RAHI KAPOOR

In an endeavour of the Indian Army to assist the local populace residing in the remote Villages of Poonch District, *’Khairiyat Patrols’* are being conducted on regular basis. In this initiative a team of Army Doctors along with paramedical persons visits villages which are located in the border areas. These areas are  devoid of any basic medical facilities and are dependent on assistance from the Army from time to time. Indian Army has been assisting the locals of these villages whenever they have asked for help. However, with this initiative, it is the Army which will reach out to the deprived locals.

Indian Army is embroiled 24/7 in its main task i.e to guard the nation from any external threat. In addition to this the army also goes beyond its charter to provide assistance and various services to locals living in rural areas near the Line of Control. *Poonch District* in particular has various villages along the Line of Control like Gulpur and Khari Karmara which have bourne the brunt of max ceasefire violation initiated by Pakistan.

While interacting with the locals, Indian Army felt that one of the prime requirements is that of medical support. As per the locals the nearest hospital is far away and is not suitable to go there for meager ailments as most of the patients are old and the process is time consuming. Acting on the pulse of the locals, *Sarla Battalion* under the aegis of *Krishna Ghati Brigade* has started with the initiative of *Khairiyat Patrol* wherin, a team of paramedics along with an Army Doctor moves in these villages and provides them with basic medical support to include free consultation and medicines. In addition Army also utilizes its ambulance services to ferry any passenger to District hospital Poonch if the need so arises.

According to an Army official, this initiative was undertaken several months ago and the overwhelming response received has encouraged the Army to continue with this in other areas as well. Sarpanch of one of the Villages, MrAsad Hussain Shah and all villagers thanked the Indian Army for this novel initiative. He further said that Army has been providing assistance to his village for very long and this latest initiative has surely helped the villagers in a big way. The Sarpanch was quoted saying “It would be impossible for us to survive without the assistance from the Indian Army”.