NEW DELHI: Initiating a big welfare move on Saturday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has given in-principle approval to enhance monetary assistance to next of kin of battle casualties from existing Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in its communique said, “Rajnath Singh has given in-principle approval to the enhancement of monetary assistance to Next of Kin (NoK) of all categories of Battle Casualty (BC) from Rs two lakh to Rs 8 lakh. The amount will be granted under the Army Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (ABCWF).”
At present, financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh was given to battle casualties in case of death and also to those sustaining 60 per cent and above disability besides to several other categories. Rs 1 lakh financial assistance to soldiers with less than 60 per cent disability.
The assistance is given in addition to liberalised family pension, financial assistance from Army group insurance, Army Welfare Fund and ex-gratia amount. The ABCWF — instituted in 2017 — was set up after a large number of people offered to provide monetary assistance to the families of battle casualties following an incident in February 2016 at Siachen, wherein 10 soldiers were buried in an avalanche.
It was implemented retrospectively with effect from April 2016. This fund is in addition to the various existing schemes for the welfare of NOK and children of battle casualties in the form of additional ex gratia. The already existing monetary grants include ex-gratia (central) for various ranks ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 45 lakh and Army Group Insurance ranging from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 75 lakh.
Previous help
Rajnath Singh in the previous government, had launched ‘Bharat Ke Veer fund’ to assist families of paramilitary personnel killed or injured in action