26th September 2016 02:39:36 Hours
Sri Lanka Army according a fitting tribute to the Paralympics - 2016 Bronze Medal (Javelin Throw) winner, Corporal Dinesh Priyantha Herath (retd) of 3 Gajaba Regiment was promoted to the rank of Sergeant with immediate effect and was lavishly rewarded on Thursday (22) during a special felicitation ceremony that took place at the Army Commander’s office secretariat.
Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, Commander of the Army who expressed his happiness over his victory soon after his achievement in Paralympics - 2016 invited him to his office this morning (22) and congratulated him on his remarkable achievement after offering his best wishes, together with a rank promotion, cash gift and the construction of a new house.
A cash cheque to the value of Rs 1.5 million, provided by the Army Sports Fund, was gifted by the Commander of the Army to the medalist as an appreciative token and a fillip to his dedication to sports at first during the meeting.
Similarly, the Commander, highly taken up by his achievement as a disable War Hero in the world event, in an exceptional move, promoted him to the rank of Sergeant, although the medalist remains a retiree after battle casualties in Kilinochchi during the humanitarian operations in the year 2008.
On the same occasion, Lieutenant General De Silva instructed the Directorate of Veterans Affairs and the Directorate of Welfare to take steps to erect a new house for him in his own land, for which the Army were to allocate another grant of Rs 1.5 million through the Commander’s fund. For this project, Army Engineers and soldiers would voluntarily offer their labour by way of construction, the medalist was told by the Commander of the Army.
During the brief interaction, the Commander opined that Sergeant Dinesh could be able to represent the Paralympics 2020 since he is still young. He also shared a couple of views with the spouse of the medalist on the same occasion.
Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Sumedha Perera, Chairman, Army Disable Sports Committee, Major General Channa Goonetilleke, Director General Sports, Major General P.M.R Bandara, Director Sports, Brigadier G.J.A.W Galagamage, committee members in Sri Lanka Federation of Paralympic Sports, Brigadiers J.R Ampemohotti and Brigadier Rajeev Wickremasinghe were associated with the occasion at the Commander’s office.
