By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 12 Jan: The 8th edition of the annual Shaheed Memorial Cricket Tournament hosted by UPES to pay tribute to the martyrs of Indian Armed Forces and financially support their families concluded today.
Commencing on 28 December, 2021, the tournament was organised to remember and support the family of Subedar Ajay Singh Rautela, who lost his life fighting for the nation at Poonch in 2021.
At the presentation ceremony, Dr Sunil Rai, VC, UPES, Dr Veena Dutta, Registrar, UPES, and Sharad Mehra, Chairperson, HERS, presented the family of the soldier a cheque of Rs 2.51 lakhs raised through the tournament.
Under project NAMAN, UPES has also decided to extend more support to the families of the martyrs. Besides raising money through the Shaheed Memorial Tournament, UPES Vice Chancellor Dr Sunil Rai announced that the varsity would support the elder son of martyr Subedar Ajay Singh Rautela by providing him an appropriate job, while the younger son has been promised free education at UPES School of Engineering.
Sharad Mehra, Chairperson, HERS, also announced a cash award of Rs 21,000 to each player of the UPES cricket team.
Paying tribute to Subedar Ajay Singh Rautela, Dr Sunil Rai said, “It is our privilege to be supporting the family of such courageous soldiers because of whose sacrifices our nation is so great. Aiding their family is our small way of remembering the martyrs and their contribution to the country. We are honoured to be able to support the dependants of Subedar Ajay Singh Rautela.”
The final match of the tournament was played today between UPES and DG Health. UPES won the match by 163 runs. The UPES team played consistently well with Abhinav Bisht winning Man of the Match and Best Batsman and Bhanu Pratap Singh winning ‘Most Impactful Player of the Tournament’ awards.
There were 18 teams from various Uttarakhand state departments that participated in the tournament to support the cause such as ESIC, Sachivalya, Agriculture, Income Tax, PWD, DG Health, Sachiwalya Dangers, Peyjal, Jal Sansthan, Education Sports, School Education, Education Ministerial, Chief Education, UP Irrigation, MDDA, Physical Education UK and Basic Education.