Situated in the interiors of Dibrugarh district in Assam, Kapahua village has not seen much of development. Taking advantage of its backward-ness, ULFA terrorists found this place as a safe haven for transit requirements and were successful in subverting the psyche of the local villagers against security forces.

After observing how the Kapahua villagers are misled by the militants, 181 Mountain Brigade took some initiative and launched operation Samaritan at Kapahua and the surrounding villages.

Brig AK Gulati, Commander, 181 Mountain Brigade appraised the villagers of the growing menace of ULFA and urged them to help the security forces to thwart nefarious activities. The Commander discussed with the villagers the state of educational and medical facilities in the village and asked the villagers to spell out the areas where they required assistance. While the boys requested for pre-enrolment training and guidance to join the Army, girls requested for nurses training facilities.

With the feedback from the villagers of Kapahua, 181 Mountain Brigade started taking up some developmental activities under operation Samaritan to create some infrastructural facilities in not just Kapahua, but surrounding villages also in Upper Assam.

In the light of the request for nurses training from the girls, two capsules on nurses training of 15 days duration each were conducted at 162 Military Hospital, Dinjan. Altogether, 40 girls from interior villages of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts attended the said capsules. During the training programmes, 2 Mountain Division provided free boarding and mess facilities to all trainees. Besides nursing classes, some activities for social and personality development of the trainees were also organised. The trainees were also educated about their rights and duties towards the nation and society. Individual performance and the financial status of the trainees were the criteria for selection. The success of this training has led to numerous requests from girls to conduct more such programmes. A case has already been taken up by 2 Mountain Division with civil and medical authorities in Guwahati for their permission to run a full-fledged nursing course at the Military Hospital.

As part of developmental activities, a medical camp was organised at Kapahua. Army provided six doctors who included two lady doctors, a gynaecologist and a dentist. Free medicines worth Rs 40,000 were distributed during this medical camp. More than one thousand patients were treated at the camp. Thereafter, regular medical camps have been held in upper Assam and free medicines worth 1.36 lakh have been distributed.

To help the aspiring candidates willing to join Army, a special stall was put up at the medical camp for pre-recruitment screening. Initially, the candidates were briefed on the quantitative requirements followed by selection of probable candidates for the recruitment rally held at Dibrugarh. This was followed by a series of screening camps at each of the company columns of the formation across Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. Approximately, 3000 youth were screened, of which 373 were selected for pre-recruitment training from Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. This event consequently enhanced the samaritan image of the Army besides providing employment to the local youth. For mass awareness about recruitment, every company column has been displaying the details of the recruitment schedule on a notice board.

To facilitate more interaction of the local women with the rest of the country, 181 Mountain Brigade assisted the members of Country Women’s Association, a non-government organisation of Tinsukia district by sponsoring the registration amount for their participation in a national seminar on ‘How free are we in free India’ held at Secunderabad.

Besides such programmes, a number of welfare projects under operation Samaritan aimed at infrastructural development in the rural areas have also been taken up. These projects are executed to facilitate these areas to be at par with the rest of the state. The gratitude of the local public is reflected in their whole hearted participation in such projects and other social activities being organised by the Army. The people of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts will ever remain indebted to the troops of 181 Mountain Brigade for their selfless service in not only maintaining peace and tranquility in the area but also for the development in the remote areas.