 Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 21: The Central Govt Pensioners' Welfare Association, Jammu (CGPWA) mourned the demise of its founding President, Kewal Rattan Gupta, IBS ( R) former Chief Engineer of AIR-DD who passed away at his Gandhinagar residence in the wee hours of today. He was the surviving founding member of the Association.
Gupta was 98 and was survived by his wife, Smt Krishna Gupta, three sons and two daughters and 95 year old brother Amrit Lal Gupta. He was not keeping well for some time and the end came in sleep.
He was cremated at Shastri Nagar Cremation Ground this evening. President Kuldeep Khoda and other members of CGPWA laid floral wreaths at his mortal remains. Many
He along with other eleven founding members including founding General Secretary late V P Sharma founded the Association on 31st July, 1994 at the lawns of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir Gandhinagar. The saplings planted by these visionaries have grown into a vibrant Association with about 380 members.
Kewal Rattan stood first in Punjab University in graduation in 1947, a rare thing to happen in Jammu and as the news spread, Maharaja Hari Singh called him in the palace and straight away appointed as Asstt engineer of the newly established Radio Kashmir Jammu. As he belonged to a humble family, he had to borrow kurta pajama and Saffa from one of his relatives to present himself in proper attire before the Maharaja. From there he rose to the rank of Chief Engineer, Radio Kashmir, Jammu and retired in 1985. He has been participating in the meetings and functions of the Association. His last public appearance was at a camp organised by the SBI & CGPWA in Jammu Cantt in November 2023 for preparing Digital Life Certificate through face recognition technology introduced by Pension Deptt. , Govt of India for generating Life Certificate of pensioners
At a condolence meeting, rich tributes were paid to the late Gupta. Kuldeep Khoda recalled his laudable contributions along with other founding members in establishing this Association 41 years ago and remained a pillar of strength for all of us till he breathed his last.
Dr Ashok Bhan said that the passing of K R Gupta marked the end of an era in the formation and growth of CGPWA. He was the last Surviving pillar of this vibrant association of former civil servants.
K B Jandial said that it was always inspiring to listen to him of various twists in his life and the vision he had for the growth of lively and assertive association of pensioners who are repository of knowledge, wisdom, and fortitude to address the problems of the pensioners.
J K Vaid described him as an embodiment of humility and true Dogra by his conduct and practice. He was an eloquent speaker.
Other who paid tributes to Er K R Gupta included BR Kundal, Ashok Angurana, B R Sharma, Pramod Jain, Prem Gupta, Dr Sudarshan Kumar, B K Raina, V K Sambyal, U Pachnanda, SC Sharma , SD Swatantra, Yoginder Kaul, C L Banal, Ashok K Gupta, Nisar Ahmad, Rajinder Gupta, Kamal Saini, Er. Vinod Sharma, Farooq Ahmad, O P Sharma V K Ghai, Sunil Sharma. S C Uppal, H N Raina, B B Magotra, V K Zadoo, Hemant Sharma, Vijay Kotwal & Smt Sudesh Raj. |
