On Monday, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha made serious allegations against the Central Government regarding Agniveers. Referring to the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the army personnel have been trapped in the Chakravyuh of Agnipath. No money was given for pension to Agniveers in the budget. However, the Defense Ministry has termed Rahul Gandhi’s claims as a bundle of lies. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also said that Rahul Gandhi is creating confusion about Agniveers.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Finance Minister will talk about the misconceptions created by the Leader of the Opposition regarding the budget while responding. He said that the issue of national security is a sensitive issue. Efforts are being made to mislead the country regarding Agniveers associated with the army. The Defence Minister told the Lok Sabha Speaker that whenever you order, I am ready to give my statement regarding Agniveers.
Rahul Gandhi said that the Defence Minister had earlier said that the family of a martyred Agniveer was given a compensation of Rs 1 crore. He said that the martyr’s family was given insurance, not compensation. This is true. No one can deny this.
On Rahul Gandhi’s claim, top sources in the Defense Ministry say that an amount of Rs 1 crore is provided to the family of any Agniveer who loses his life while serving in the army. This includes an insurance amount of Rs 48 lakh. Agniveer does not have to pay any kind of premium for the insurance amount. Apart from the insurance amount of Rs 48 lakh, an ex-gratia amount of Rs 44 lakh, a service fund package of about Rs 11 lakh and salary for the remaining period of service are also paid. In this way, the amount given to the family of any Agniveer is more than Rs 1 crore.
However, earlier this month, the Army had clarified that Rs 98.39 lakh was paid to the family of Agniveer Ajay Kumar, a 23-year-old youth who died in a landmine blast near the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on January 18.
Tags: Agniveer, Rahul Gandhi
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 29, 2024, 23:49 IST