Ludhiana: He is the only member of the Indian Air Force to earn the nation’s highest military honour, yet five decades after Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon took to the skies for the last time, his native village is still fighting to get his name on the school gate.Despite a fresh push from the village panchayat, the legendary pilot remains officially “grounded” by a silent education department. The residents of Issewal have a singular claim to fame: they are the neighbours and kin of a a Param Vir Chakra (PVC) winner Flying Officer. Despite Sekhon’s status as a national icon, the Govt Senior Secondary School in his birthplace remains officially nameless, leaving a community frustrated. It tried recently to rectify the oversight, passing a formal resolution to rename the institution the “Shaheed Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon Govt Senior Secondary School”.Gurpreet Singh, the sarpanch of Issewal said: “We completed the procedure and sent the resolution to the education department months ago. We are still waiting for a response. The villagers want this; the govt should act.” The sentiment is shared by Sekhon’s family. His nephew, Amardeep Singh, who guards his uncle’s PVC medal at his home in Ludhiana, called the renaming a “long-pending demand” that would finally honour the 1971 war hero in his own soil.Educational IdentityFor the students and veterans of Issewal, the change is more than symbolic. Currently, diplomas and mark sheets bear the generic title of the village school. “It would be an honour to have his name on our documents,” said one Class-X student. “His name is on one of the school gates, but it isn’t official yet.”Subedar Gurmail Singh (retd), a 79-year-old resident, believes the name change would serve as a permanent recruitment tool. “It will motivate students to join the armed forces when they see that bravery recognised every day on their school building,” he said.A History of NeglectThe school was a middle school in 1969 and was upgraded following the 1971 war. Gurcharan Singh, 67, a retired bank officer, noted that resolutions have been passed “many times” since the 1970s with no result. Ironically, a school in Rurka — the village of Sekhon’s mother — was named after the officer shortly after his death. Residents in Issewal, his actual birthplace, say they have had to fund their own memorials, including a commemorative gate at the village entrance, due to a lack of state-funded development.boxKey Milestones: Local EffortSept 2021 | The Indian Air Force unveiled a memorial for Sekhon at the Issewal school to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1971 victoryInfra Gaps | Local leaders claim no major projects, such as a stadium or sports complex, have been built in the war hero’s memory despite his national statusCommunity Funding | The memorial gate at the village entrance was financed entirely by contributions from villagers, rather than govt grants.
