Armed with the roses of goodwill
The Indian Armys Sadbhavana programme

Tsewang Rigzin


The deployment of the Army for the last five decades in Ladakh has gone through several stages, and the Army has touched every aspect of Ladakhs life, economy, employment and the environment. The Army has not only guarded the country from external invasion but has also played vital roles in empowering and developing the people of the border regions through various programmes such as the Government of India funded Sadbhavana project. The Army, realising its role and potential as an extended arm of the nation, together with genuine concern for its fellow countrymen of this inaccessible region, has launched Operation Sadbhavana with an aim to integrate the populace of Ladakh region into the national mainstream, is what the Army says.



The Army for the last five years has helped uplifting the inhabitants of the border areas through Sadbhavana programmes by providing quality education, growth opportunities and trainings.

One of the many initiatives under Operation Sadbhavana has been to electrify some villages that are otherwise not electrified. About 100 villages are being electrified with micro-hydel projects. Steps to tap wind energy are also being taken. The endeavour is to electrify all villages in Ladakh by end of the year 2005, say Sadbhavana officials. The micro-hydel projects (MHP) would be handed over to the local village administration for future maintenance. The Army hopes that in the near future MHPs will also be used in flourmills, cotton combing, lathe machines, welding machines, and air reservoir for filling of air in vehicle tyres.

Tyakshi and Patsathang are two villages in Turtuk region to the north of Leh on the Indo-Pak border, where people are happier with the Army services than the civil administration and the local Hill Council. Our leaders come and make promises during elections but they have not helped us as compared to other villages. The Army is our lifeline, lamented the leaders of these two villages. They have a Sadbhavana high school with 125 students. The Army has electrified their villages. Besides this many villagers are employed as porters not only the people, but also their donkeys work as porters. Donkeys in Turtuk area have a record of earning up to 1,000 rupees a day.

The Army has opened 16 Army Goodwill Schools with an aim to provide equality education to needy students. These schools follow the CIBS syllabus and provide free uniforms, transport, meals, books and free medical services. However, educationists are of the opinion that the Army could have helped strengthen local education more if it had helped the existing government schools rather than opening parallel schools. Over a period of time a large number of women, over 3000, have been trained in various Women Empowerment Centres (WEC). Some of them are said to have been absorbed in various Sadbhavana ventures as teachers and some have started their own ventures. In this era of information technology the Army has set up computer centres in different Sadbhavana centres of Leh and Kargil where young women learn basic computer skills. Besides this, the Army has provided computers to many school libraries. Between 2000 and 2005 the Army treated almost three lakh patients at their different hospitals in Leh, Hunder, Turtuk, Dras, Kargil, Darchik and Achinathang, in addition to occasional health camps at various remote locations.

A release from the 14 Corps says that a 24-year old Prem Lal had suffered 9 percent burns in September last year after a stove accident and it was nearly impossible to save his life but an Army medical team at Kargil saved him and he is on the road to recovery and rehabilitation.

Losing her first child at birth and pregnant with her second child, Ayesha Bano of Kargil had developed complications. She was rushed to the Army Hospital at Dras in February 2005 where a team of Army doctors operated on her and saved both the mother and baby girl. There is a record surge in number of patients reporting to Army Medical Aid Posts and Field Ambulances, says an Army release.

The Army also says that it is undertaking relief operations against threat of avalanches and landslides. When it snowed heavily in winter of 2005 in Ladakh, the Army established relief camps in Khumbathang in Suru Valley to coordinate relief and provide aid to the civil administration in the areas of Kargil, Dras, Batalik, Padum and Muskoh Valleys. People of Nubra valley, who are sometimes stranded due to heavy snowfall causing closure of Khardong pass, are sometimes flown free of cost in Army planes. Even though they are not deployed there, the Army helps Zangskar too, especially in severe winter when the region is cut off by heavy snowfall the army and air force provide helicopters to serious patients and stranded passengers.

The Sadbhavana programmes have indeed helped the people along the border areas to feel proud of being Indians. Such programmes can keep boosting the spirit of patriotism among them if things to not turn out short-lived. Social activist Sonam Wangchuk wrote in 2002, Officers keep on changing every two years and with them often the priority also changes. This might be acceptable with machines and tanks, but when dealing with human lives and sentiments of so many people in sensitive border areas, its a thin line between Sadbhavana (good will) and Durbhavana (ill will)

The change of Gen Arjun Ray, GOC, who started the Sadbhavana programmes, seems to have changed the priority of the Army. The people of Turtuk areas complain that pace of the Army programmes has not matched the hopes generated by Gen Ray. Under Charkha-Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship for Peace & Development, 2004-05


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