Agniveer Ajay Kumar, The Indian Army has responded to Rahul Gandhi’s claim regarding Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The Indian Army has rejected the claim of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in which he said that the family of Agniveer Ajay Kumar, who lost his life during duty, was not paid compensation. The Army said on Wednesday that out of the amount payable to Agniveer’s family, Rs 98.39 lakh has already been paid. The total amount will be around Rs 1.65 crore.
The clarification from the Army came after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi shared a video of Ajay’s father on Twitter in which he allegedly said that he had not received any money. He had alleged that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lied inside Parliament about financial assistance being provided to Agniveer’s family in case of his death. Rahul Gandhi said that Rajnath Singh should apologise to Parliament, the country and the Army.
Questions were raised in Lok Sabha regarding Agniveer Yojana
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had raised questions about the Agniveer scheme while participating in the discussion on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha last Monday. He had claimed that the Modi government does not give martyr status to Agniveers and they are not given compensation. On this, Defense Minister Singh had accused Rahul Gandhi of misleading the House and said that the family of Agniveers who sacrifice their lives while protecting our borders or during war is given financial assistance of Rs 1 crore.
The answer given by the army
The Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) said the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The allowances due to a martyred hero should be paid to the next of kin of the deceased soldiers, including Agniveers, at the earliest. “Some posts on social media have revealed that the next of kin of Agniveer Kumar, who lost his life in the line of duty, has not been paid compensation,” he said. “Agniveer Ajay Kumar was cremated with full military honours,” the Army said in the post. Out of the total amount payable, Rs 98.39 lakh has already been paid to the family of Agniveer Ajay. Ex-gratia and other benefits of about Rs 67 lakh applicable as per provisions of Agniveer Scheme, the rest of the amount will be paid shortly after police verification,” it said. It said the total amount would be around Rs 1.65 crore.
Agniveer’s family will get this much compensation
The Defence Minister’s Office later posted on Twitter that the Indian Army is committed to the welfare of Agniveers. According to officials, the amount paid in Ajay Kumar’s case includes Rs 48 lakh as insurance from the Government of India, Rs 50 lakh as insurance from financial institutions under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and an additional amount of Rs 39,000. They said the remaining Rs 67.3 lakh will be paid after due process. This includes Rs 44 lakh ex-gratia, Rs 8 lakh Army Welfare Fund, about Rs 13 lakh of remaining salary till completion of tenure and Rs 2.3 lakh of Service Fund.