The bi-annual meet of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) was inaugurated by Mrs Roopa Padmanabhan, President AWWA in New Delhi. The Regional Presidents of AWWA from various commands also participated in the meet.

In her inaugural address, Mrs Roopa Padmanabhan informed that the funds collected for the victims of Gujarat earthquake shall soon be distributed to the Army personnel who lost their property and suffered major damage in the tragedy. Henceforth, upto Rs 10,000 will be sanctioned from AWWA as one time grant to any affected individual in any natural calamity.

The corpus fund for the Asha Schools run by the association for special children will be raised further in order to make them self-sustaining. She also announced that the grant of Rs 5000 from AWWA which was so far paid only to the widow, will now be extended to the next of kin.

AWWA Journal-2001, dedicated to ‘Empowering Women’, was also released by Mrs Roopa Padmanabhan at a function held at the Defence Service Officers Institute, New Delhi.