DEHRADUN: Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Bipin Rawat, during his three-day Uttarakhand visit, went to his ancestral village in Saina, Pauri Garhwal, on Sunday.

This was his first visit to his native village after taking over as CoAS in 2016. Bharat Singh Rawat, his paternal uncle who retired from the Army at the rank of havildar, told TOI on Monday, “It was an emotional moment for all of us in the family and also a matter of great pride. After all, someone from here has become the Army chief of India.”

Saina is approximately 70 km from Kotdwar and still has no road leading to the village. General Rawat had written to the government earlier regarding construction of a road as one has to walk for about a km from the main road to reach Saina.

Kotdwar sub divisional magistrate, Rakesh Tiwari, who accompanied Rawat to Saina, said, “When the General took over as the Army chief, he had written to the government regarding the construction of a road leading to the village as one still has to walk for about a km to reach the village. We have got the sanction for the road and work will start soon.”

Rawat stayed in the Garhwal Regimental Centre and left on Monday evening after interacting with veterans in Kotdwar.

Talking to them, he said, “Migration is taking place in the hills because of absence of good education. Locals, including families of defence personnel, are moving to the cities. We are planning to construct 250 houses in Kotdwar for soldiers’ families so that they can educate their children here and do not have to worry about accommodation.”

Bharat Singh said, “The villagers were very happy to see and interact with him. He also said that some kind of development work should be taken up in the village to curb migration. Although he stayed for only a few hours we were very happy to see him.”