By OUR STAFF REPORTER
MUSSOORIE, 16 Dec: Landour Cantonment Board celebrated Defence Estate Day, here, today. The Chief Guest on the occasion was famous writer and Padma Bhushan awardee Ruskin Bond, who along with Col BK Shukla and Cantonment Vice-President Mahesh Chand, jointly inaugurated the programme by lighting the ceremonial lamp. On the occasion, Ruskin Bond was also felicitated with a memento by officials of the Mussoorie Cantonment. Six workers of cantonment were also felicitated on the occasion for the good work done by them. The ‘Badri Kedar Sanskrit Kala Samiti’ presented a cultural programme, which enthralled the audience present.
Ruskin Bond said that he had been living in the cantonment area for the last 34 years and did not forget to write about cantonments in his books. He said the entire nation was proud of the security personnel deployed on the frontiers of the country, due to which each and every person felt secure and safe. He extended Vijay Diwas congratulations and urged the youth to work hard to achieve their goals and never to lose hope.
Pushpa Padiyar, Member of the Cantonment Board, said that the Defence Estate Department was established by the British to preserve the records of the estate in 1926 and, since then, Defence Estate Day was observed around the country on 16 December. The main objective of the day was to bring the civilian population closer to the armed forces and create better interaction among them.
Present also on this occasion were Cantonment Council Member Sushil Agarwal, Chandrakala Sayana, Ramesh Kanaujia, Jagjit Kukreja, Avtar Kukreja, Rakesh Agarwal, Manorajan Tripathi, Paramjeet Kohli, Dhanendra Pundir and Narendra Padiyar. Sunil Panwar with staff members of the cantonment council were present on the occasion.