ARMY NOT FOR BUILDING BRIDGES, SAYS AMARINDER
Wednesday, 01/11/2017
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CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Am arin der Singh has criticised the central government’s unprecedented decision to rope in the Indian Army for rebuilding the Elphinstone bridge and two other suburban train stations in Mumbai as “deplorable and an admission of the failure of the government and the Indian Railways”.
The army’s job is to train for war and protect the country’s borders, not to build bridges and clean the roads, Amarinder said in a statement on Tuesday, warning against serious implications of such misuse of the Indian armed forces by utilising their services for non-emergency civilian jobs.
“Whatever the urgency, it does not merit such a decision, which would have adverse longterm implications as it could encourage the civilian authorities to seek army help for major civilian works every time they find themselves ill-equipped to handle an infrastructural challenge,” he added.