Around 25 families of martyrs and 75 war veterans from Apshinge military village, Satara district, were felicitated on the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at the Shanmukhananda hall, Sion, on Monday.
They were felicitated by the Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha, and by General Officer Commanding Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa Lt General HS Kahlon along with his wife Harkiran Kahlon who presented the families of martyrs with a cash award of Rs 2 lakh each and mementos.
The Apshinge village was also conferred with the 'Shanmukha Shaurya Ratna' award which carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.
"This military village of 350 families with a population of around 3,000 has at least one member in the army or in the allied forces. More than 1,650 villagers have served in the Indian army till now. During the first World War, 46 men from this village sacrificed their lives in the battle fields. It had martyrs also from the 1962 China war, Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971," said Dr V Shankar, president of the Sabha.
Since children from the village are given training in the schools itself for military services, Shanmukhananda Sabha is planning to set up a state-of–the–art gymnasium for the children who want to join the defence forces. Apart from this, they will redevelop the existing school building, and build a community hall with office facilities for the army men, announced Shankar.
A “Vijay Sthamb” or war memorial at the entrance to the village is a poignant memorial with names of the villagers who fought and died in several wars.
The name “The only military village in the country” was given by the British for their contribution to the armed forces.
Every year on Independence Day, Shanmukhananda Sabha has been felicitating the martyrs' families of those who laid their lives while on duty.
Also, around 75 students of the Sabha music school and 75 orphanage children also participated in the event, displaying several talents in the form of music and dance.
