Brief History of All India Gorkha Ex-Servicemen's Welfare Association
AIGEWA is a prestigious organisation of
all Gorkha Ex-Servicemen in all over India. The Organisation had come into its
first existence on 26 Nov 1950. This was formed actually for the proper
administration of Rs.40 Lac corpus money received from Post War Reconstruction
Fund in 1947. In fact the Post War Reconstruction Fund was created by the
British India Govt. on 3 April 1942. When the great World War II had broken
out. It was made for the Welfare and rehabilitation of thousand of those Indian
Soldiers and Gorkha Soldiers of Nepal who had fought for the British in the
World War II right from beginning to its end from 3 Sep 1939 to 8 Nov 1945.
British India Govt. knew that one day the War would came into its end and after
completing their service several of those soldiers have to go back to their homes.
Hence for their welfare and rehabilitation a fund was created known as “Post
War Reconstruction Fund” (PWRF) in April 1942. In this “Post War Reconstruction
Fund” (PWRF) the Govt. every month contributed Rupees two for each combatant
and one rupees for non combatant. Consequently World War II ended on 08 Nov
1945 when America’s plane dropped two powerful atom bombs on Japanese busy
cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki causing huge destruction of human lives. The
whole amount accumulated in the PWRF during the 6 Year World War II were as
under: -
(i) Army - Rs.19,35,24,000.00
(ii) Royal Indian Navy -13,31,000.00
(iii) Royal Indian Air Force
-11,84,000.00
Total -Rs.19,60,39,000.00
Govt. decided to with hold 20% of PWRF
as corpus money for the welfare of other Indian Ex-Servicemen in future and
rest of the shares were distributed to various provinces and Indian state for
their troops. During these period our neighboring countries like Burma, Pakistan,
Srilanka, Nepal were considered as provinces and states like Gwalior, Hydrabad
etc. of local Rajya/ Zamindars under BritishIndia rules.In the process, amount of Rs.54
Lacs came into the shares of Nepal and this entire amount were being sent to
Nepal without retaining any share for the Gorkhas who had settled in India.
Despite sacrificing their valuable lives in the battle field of World War II,
legitimate rights of Indian Gorkhs were ignored. Having found such injustice
some of elite Indian Gorkhas like Ari Bahadur Gurung, Bar- at – Law
(Darjeeling) then member of Parliament (Lok Sabha of Independent India), Dilip
Singh Thakur, New Delhi, LR Josse, MLA Calcutta, Shri Dhan Singh Thapa, New
Delhi, Sheel Chand Thakur, New Delhi etc. unitedly came forward to protest against
this issue.
Not only this they also formaly formed an organisation called as
“Indian Gorkha Ex-Servicemen’s Welfare Fund” (IGEWF) which was later on became
the mile stone in formation of AIGEWA.Through this IGEWF, they put forward
the strong demand of PWRF shares for Indian Gorkha Ex-Servicemen also.
Ultimately Govt. of Nepal agreed to offer Rs.10 Lacs out of their shares and
Govt. of India also provided Rs.30 Lacs more. Thus the amount of 40 Lacs
were made as corpus money for the welfare of IGEWF. But the Govt. advised Shri
Ari Bahadur Gurung, MP to form an organisation in all India basis for the
administration of Rs.40 Lacs corpus money with a better way. So in the
mean time All India Gorkha Ex-Servicemen's Welfare Association (AIGEWA) was
formed on 14 Feb 1951 as per the Govt. order and registered as S-476 of 1950 and
recognized by Govt. of India, Min of Defence letter No. (Copy enclosed) Under the direction of the Min. of
Defence the first meeting of IGEW Fund was held on 20 Mar 1951 in which AIGEWA
finally formed.
This meeting was inaugurated by Shri Ari Bahadur MP at the
Constitution Hall of Parliament House, New Delhi in the presence of Shri Himat
Singh Jee, Minister and Shri HM Patel, ICS then Deputy Defence Secretary and 10
representatives of Gorkha Ex-Servicemen (GESM) of Assam Shillong, Darjeeling,
Dehradun, Bhagshu, Dharamahsala, Nautanwa, Shimla, New Delhi. In this meeting
Shri Ari Bahadur Gurung was elected AIGEWA’Singh first President, Shri LR
Josse, MLA, Vice President and Shri DS Thakur, General Secretary. It is also worth mentioning here that
in the meeting Govt. of India, Min of Defence clarified that they will not deal
the affairs of Gorkha Ex-Servicemen’s living in all over India. Hence the Govt.
instead authorized AIGEWA to make recommendation to the Min of Defence for the
smooth administration of Indian Gorkha Ex-Servicemen’s Welfare fund set up
under Govt. of India letter No.27-8B(124)/49/I/1267/D(AG) dated 14 Feb 1951.
This is the historical facts regarding the formation of AIGEWA for which all
Indian Gorkha Ex-servicemen should feel proud of it.
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