India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.
Rahul Gandhi once again got into a controversy over Agniveer. He once again alleged that martyr Ajay Kumar’s family did not receive any compensation. The Indian Army denied this, calling the allegation false. The Army issued a statement saying that martyr Agniveer’s family has received about one crore rupees so far. Two days ago in the Lok Sabha too, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the government was making false statements about the Agniveer scheme. Rahul had said that Agniveers neither get the status of a martyr, nor pension, nor any compensation. And as proof, Rahul Gandhi gave the example of martyr Agniveer Ajay Kumar of Punjab. He said that he had met Ajay’s family and the family told that they did not receive any compensation. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh stood up in the House at that very moment and interrupted Rahul for misleading the House, clearly said that if any Agniveer is martyred in an army operation or while protecting the country on the border, then his family gets about one crore rupees. But on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi once again accused Rajnath Singh of lying and released a video in which he posted a video of martyr Agniveer Ajay’s father, who is seen saying that he did not get anything from the government. Referring to this video, Rahul Gandhi said that now the Defense Minister should apologize to the country for lying.
As soon as Rahul Gandhi’s video surfaced, it became a big issue. The army issued a statement, told the whole story, said that the family of martyr Agniveer has already received about one crore rupees. Apart from this, about 67 lakh rupees more will be given after the paperwork is completed. Therefore, it is not right to say that the Defense Minister said the wrong thing in the Lok Sabha. Now the question is what is the truth of this matter? Did the martyr’s family really not get any compensation? Did the Defense Minister lie? The person whose statement Rahul showed in the video is Charanjit Singh, the father of Agniveer Ajay Kumar. Charanjit Singh is a resident of Ramgarh Sardara village in Ludhiana. Charanjit Singh’s son Ajay Singh had joined the army as an Agniveer and was martyred in a landmine blast in Rajouri on January 18 this year. Since Rahul Gandhi used the martyr’s father as a shield to prove his point right and Rajnath Singh’s statement wrong, the army issued a statement and put the whole truth in front. The statement said that so far, Rs 98 lakh 39 thousand has been given to the family of martyr Agniveer Ajay Kumar and Rs 67 lakh 30 thousand more is yet to be given. This amount will be given as soon as possible after the formal paperwork is completed. The army informed that Agniveer was martyred on 18 January and after that in less than a month his family had received Rs 50 lakh as life insurance amount. This amount of fifty lakh was credited to Ajay’s mother Manjeet Kaur’s account on 13 February. After this, on 10 June, Rs 48 lakh 39 thousand was also credited to Ajay’s mother’s account under the army’s own insurance policy. In this way, a total amount of Rs 98 lakh 39 thousand has been given to the martyr’s family.
India TV has the documentary evidence of the information given by the army in its statement. According to the documents we have received, after the martyrdom of Agniveer Ajay Singh on January 18, ICICI Lombard Insurance Company paid Rs 50 lakh to his mother Manjit Kaur on February 13. A claim was filed on January 24 by martyr Ajay’s family for the payment of this insurance policy. The insurance company received all the documents on February 12 and on February 13, the company approved the payment under the insurance policy. This insurance policy is a part of the Defense Ministry’s Agniveer scheme, in which the Defense Ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with ICICI Lombard. Under this, Rs 50 lakh is given to the nominee of an Agniveer who is martyred during the war or on the border. Apart from this, the army also gets a separate insurance for every Agniveer. Ajay’s family was paid Rs 48 lakh under this army insurance policy on June 10. The document for this has also been released by the army. This amount was transferred to the State Bank account of martyr Ajay’s mother Manjit Kaur. The army also informed that Ajay’s family will get about 67 lakh 30 thousand rupees more. This includes ex-gratia or lump sum amount of 44 lakh rupees from the army. Ajay Singh’s family will get 8 lakh rupees from the Army Welfare Fund. Ajay Singh’s family will also get the money for his remaining service salary. This amount will be around 13 lakh rupees. Apart from this, Ajay’s family will also get 2 lakh 30 thousand rupees from the Service Fund. Overall, martyr Agniveer Ajay’s family is yet to receive 67 lakh 30 thousand rupees more from the army. In this way, Ajay’s family is to receive a total amount of one crore sixty five lakh 69 thousand, out of which 98 lakh 39 thousand has already been received. Apart from his parents, martyr Ajay has six sisters in his house.
Ajay’s father Charanjit Singh said that Rahul Gandhi had come to his house on 29 May before the elections. By that time the family had received Rs 50 lakh. After this, another Rs 48 lakh was received in June. A total of about one crore rupees have been received. Charanjit Singh said that he does not know whether this money has been sent by the Central Government or Rajnath Singh, but the money has been received. Agniveer Ajay’s sister Bakhsho Kaur also said that she has no complaints with the army. After the martyrdom of her brother, the army stood with the family all the time. The last rites of the brother were performed with full military honours, the family was helped. Whenever there was a need, they got help with just one phone call. Four things are clear about the case of martyr Ajay Singh. First, everyone should have a feeling of sympathy and respect for the family of Agniveer martyr Ajay. This family has sacrificed its only son for the country. Secondly, no price can be put on this sacrifice, nor can it be. It can never be measured in terms of money. Thirdly, whatever help is being given to the family of martyr Ajay, it should be considered as the country’s gratitude towards this family. There is no doubt that this family has received an amount of about one crore rupees, some amount is still pending. Fourthly, the sacrifice of a soldier for the country should not be a matter of politics. It is unfortunate that the amount of compensation given to the martyr was discussed in the Parliament.
It seems that the people who informed Rahul Gandhi, told him that the family has not received the compensation amount. When Rajnath Singh informed Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament that one crore rupees have been given, even then he was saying that the family members are telling something else. But today when the statement was issued by the army, when and how the compensation of one crore rupees was given, it was told, then everyone should trust it. What to do for the martyr, how much compensation to be given, what kind of assistance to be given to his family, this is the work of our army and no one should raise any question about it. The trust and faith that people have in the minds of our army, should not be affected in any way. History is witness that for the security of the country, the brave soldiers and officers of our Army, Navy and Air Force made countless sacrifices, who knows how many brave soldiers were martyred for the country and our country will always be indebted to them for this sacrifice and self-denial. (Rajat Sharma)
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