MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government today decided to award a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 to those persons who were jailed during the Emergency period for more than a month.
A Cabinet sub-committee also decided to pay monthly pension of Rs 5,000 to those who remained behind bars for less than a month during the Emergency, an official release said.
The decision to grant pension is a government gesture to honour these persons for their struggle to fight for democracy during the 21-month Emergency period from 1975 to 1977.
Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat were present at the meeting.
The committee also decided to pay monthly pension of Rs 5,000 to widows of those who had served more than a month in jail and Rs 2500 for the widows of those who had served less than a month in jail, the release said.
The government has fixed certain criteria for eligibility and a decision would be announced shortly, it said.