Keshav Narhar Bapat, one of the oldest living retired railway guards, has turned 100.
After a stint in the Army, Bapat, a resident of Bhusawal in Maharashtra, joined the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR), now called as the Central Railway, in 1951 and retired around 42 years back.
He turned 100 years' old on November 21 and the Central Railway has now decided to double his pension amount from this month as a "goodwill gesture", CR's Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar said on Monday.
CR officials felicitated Bapat with bouquets, sweets and a greeting letter from Bhusawal Divisional Railway Manager Vikas Kumar Gupta on Saturday.
"When our personnel department officials reached Bapats home to wish and greet him on his 100th birthday, his family members were surprised and thanked us for the visit," Sutar said.
According to CR officials, Bapat joined the GIPR in 1951, which in the same year got converted into the Central Railway. He retired as a guard around 1978.
The officials said Bapat's family members told them that he was in the Army before joining the GIPR.
He fought in the World War II and went to many countries during the battle. After taking voluntary retirement from the Army,he joined the Railways, where he worked as a train guard, the officials said.
