The week long 15th Indian Ex-Servicemen Welfare Organisation in Nepal (IEWON) Conference ended Sunday and the seven member delegation headed  by Lt. Gen V K Dua, returned to India, the Indian Embassy said.

During their visit to Nepal, the delegation called on the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Royal Nepalese Army General Pyar Jung Thapa and the Defence Secretary, Mr. Madan Prasad Aryal  and also interacted with a large number of senior officials of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal.

Issues related to the welfare of the Government of  India pensioners were discussed, prominent amongst them being the setting up of a Pension Paying Office at Butwal akin to the ones already

existing at Pokhara and Dharan.

The delegation also visited the Pension Paying Offices at Pokhara and Dharan to review their functioning and interact with the pensioners. Large pensioner rallies were conducted at both locations, which were attended by thousands of pensioners.

The 15th IEWON conference ended on a positive note and finalised the framework for execution of welfare schemes and projects for the financial year 2003-2004 for benefit of our 115,000 Government of India pensioners living in Nepal.