Palampur: On the 18th Kargil Vijay Divas, tributes were paid to the brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the Kargil war and other militancy operations in the country.

Palampur: On the 18th Kargil Vijay Divas, tributes were paid to the brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the Kargil war and other militancy operations in the country.

A number of official functions was held in different parts of the district to pay tributes to the martyrs in the last two days. However, most of the families of martyrs did not attend the functions.

Martyrs and their families are a neglected lot in the district as in the past eighteen years, state governments have failed to keep their promises.

In the Kargil war and other militancy operations with Pakistan, the Kangra region had lost a large number of youths. Even in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Kangra has lost its soldiers fighting Maoists.

It is a sad state of affairs that most of the projects in memory of soldiers killed in the Kargil war and other militancy operations have been left halfway by governments for want of funds and other official bottlenecks.

There is no agency in the state to maintain the statutes of martyrs. In Palampur town, statues of Captain Bikram Batra and Major Som Nath Sharma present a sorry picture. In the absence of regular cleaning, both the statues have gathered dust.

The statue of Captain Vikram Batra is in the worst condition. “I am deeply hurt. I request the government to hand over the stature to me as I cannot see the statute of late son in the present state,” GL Batra, father of the martyr, told The Tribune.

Though the Chief Minister had announced that the statue would be maintained by the state government, no state agencies such as the municipal council, PWD or the local administration are ready to look after these on the pretext that they have no funds.

Balwan Chand, Palampur SDM, said funds for the maintenance of the statues of martyrs were released by the Department of Language and Culture.

He said a detailed estimate for the release of funds had been submitted to the Director, Language and Culture, a year ago by the Kangra Deputy Commissioner, but till date, no funds had been sanctioned. He said earlier, the local MC was looking after these statues at its own expenses, but in the absence of funds, it also seemed helpless.