The State government has issued orders for including three senior officers of the armed forces on the panel constituted to establish a war memorial in the State capital.
The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command (Army), Pune; the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, Kochi; and the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command, Thiruvananthapuram; have been included in the committee formed to decided on the structure and construction of the memorial.
The committee is headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue).
The project has been dragging till now, although land was identified at Akkulam two years ago. The project found a mention in the Governor's policy address to the State Assembly on February 18 where it was mentioned that the initial works were under way.
A senior official of the Sainik Welfare Department, Government of Kerala, said the soil tests on the land had been completed.
The project was originally conceived in the 1990s when the Union government asked States to establish war memorials. Although the State government issued orders transferring 1.15 acres of land to the Sainik Welfare Department at Shangumugham, this plan was later dropped due to a land-related dispute.
