In a gesture to honour the gallantry medal winners of the armed forces, the Government has doubled their allowance, with the recipients to get the benefit from August this year. The last such revision of allowances took place in 2012. The armed forces had time and again urged the Government to increase the allowance.
The latest directive issued earlier this week will now see the highest gallantry medal winner in war, Paramvir Chakra, getting Rs 20,000 per month from the present slab of Rs 10,000. Similarly, Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry medal, will now be entitled Rs 12,000 up from the current Rs 6,000.
The second highest war time medal Mahavir Chakra will now carry a monetary allowance of Rs 10,000, up from Rs 5,000, Kirti Chakra Rs 9,000 as against existing Rs 4,500, Vir Chakra Rs 7,000 up from Rs 3,500, and Shaurya Chakra Rs 6,000 up from Rs 3,000. Similarly, gallantry medal for Army called Sena Medal will have an allowance of Rs 2,000, up from Rs 1,000 and similar slab for Vayu Sena Medal (IAF) and Nau Sena Medal (Navy), officials said on Wednesday.
The notification also stated that the widow of a medal winner will get this allowance till her death. In case, the award was conferred posthumously to a bachelor, his mother or father will get the allowance. If the awardee was a widower, his son will get the allowance till the age of 18 or unmarried daughter as the case may be, they said.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday discussed with the officials the issue of cap of Rs 10,000 on educational allowance for children of martyrs. This cap promulgated as per the 7th Pay Commission recommendations came into force since July this year leading to disquiet among the Services. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Minister of State for External Affairs General (retired) General VK Singh also criticised the cap and urged the Gover-nment to remove the ceiling.
Prior to the July order, there was no ceiling on the Government funding the education of children till their graduation including MBBS and B Tech. The Government was footing the Education Bill since 1971. Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Sunil Lanba also wrote a letter to the Defence Ministry on Tuesday urging the Government to remove the cap. Apprised of the sensitivities attached to the issue, Sitharaman sought more details about the issue, officials added.
There are about 3,500 children of martyrs entitled to Government funding and the total expenditure is not more than Rs 4 to 5 crore a year. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said there was a “misunderstanding” on the issue and the Defence Minister had assured that addressing the problem was a priority.