TS announces Rs 5 cr for col’s kin; Wife to get land & job

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government on Friday announced `5 crore financial aid to the family of Colonel B Santosh Babu, who died in the recent face-off between India and China at Galwan Valley on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The State government also decided to provide a Group-I job and a house site to Santosh Babu’s wife Santoshi.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would visit the martyr’s residence to hand over the cheque to the family and the government would stand by them, an official press release stated. The Chief Minister said the government would also provide `10 lakh to each of the 19 Armymen who died in the border skirmish. Rao will hand over the money to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. He further said the entire nation should support the soldiers guarding the country at the borders and governments should instill confidence in martyrs’ families by supporting them. 

Though the Union government will support the martyrs’ families, State governments should also provide complete help and aid, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said. Even as the financial situation is bleak due to the novel Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown, the State governments should cut other expenditure and spend on the welfare of sainiks, he said.