New Delhi: The Indian Army on Wednesday rejected claims in social media posts that no compensation has been paid to the relatives of Agniveer Ajay Kumar, who lost his life in the line of duty, and said the family has already received 98 .39 rupees. lakh of the amount due.
The total amount will be around Rs 1.65 crore, it said in the "clarification" that came after leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi shared on X a video purportedly of Kumar's father, who claimed that he did not had received any money.
Gandhi cited Kumar's case to allege in his post that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh "lied" in Parliament on the issue of compensation to the families of martyred Agniveers and demanded an apology for it.Singh, while intervening when Gandhi was speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's speech in Lok Sabha, he said on Monday that an Agniveer who lays down his life in the line of duty receives compensation of Rs 1 crore.
In a post on 'X', the Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information stated that the Indian Army "salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar" and underlined that emoluments owed to a fallen hero are promptly paid to the next of kin. of deceased soldiers, including Agniveers.
"Certain social media posts have revealed that no compensation has been paid to the family members of Agniveer Kumar who lost their lives in the line of duty," he wrote. "It is emphasized that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar .The last rites were performed with full military honours. Of the total amount due, Agniveer Ajay's family has already received Rs 98.39 lakhs," the army said. he said in the post.
“Ex-gratia benefits and other benefits worth approximately Rs 67 lakh, as applicable under the provisions of the Agniveer Scheme, will be paid in final settlement of the account soon after due police verification.
"The total amount will be Rs 1.65 lakhs approximately. It is once again emphasized that emoluments due to a fallen hero are promptly paid to the family members of the deceased soldiers including the Agniveers. #IndianArmy," he added.The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, 2022, provides for the recruitment of young people between 17 and a half and 21 years old for only four years, with the provision of retaining 25 percent of them for 15 more years. That same year, the government expanded the upper age limit to 23 years.
In his video message on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi said that he had stated in his speech in Parliament that protection of truth is the basis of all religion.
"In response, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, before Lord Shiva's photo, lied to the country, its armed forces and the Agniveers about compensation," Gandhi said in the video. He referred to the father's alleged statement from Ajay Singh that Rajnath Singh made the statement that the families of the martyrs had received compensation of Rs 1 million, but his family had not received such assistance.
Gandhi said the defense minister had "lied" to martyr Ajay Singh's family, the armed forces and the country's youth, and should apologize to them.
Gandh's fresh attack came after Rajnath Singh refuted the opposition leader's claims in the Lok Sabha about the Agnipath military recruitment plan. The Congress leader on Monday criticized the Agnipath short-term military recruitment plan and He claimed that the government does not even grant them "shaheed" (martyr) status and that no compensation is given to their families if they are killed in action.
The Union minister had asked Gandhi not to mislead Parliament and also asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to delete the former Congress president's claims about the Agnipath scheme.
Intervening, the Defense Minister said: "I would like to humbly request the leader of the opposition not to try to mislead Parliament. Regarding the Agniveer plan, direct communication was established with many people, 158 organisations, their suggestions were taken, then this was presented the Agniveer scheme. This scheme was introduced after a lot of thought." "And I would also like to make it clear that these types of schemes are operational in many countries. It is in the United States and in the United Kingdom. People there have no objection. Without understanding the Agniveer plan, without getting adequate information about it... to mislead the House in this way, it cannot be considered appropriate," the minister added.
After Singh's rebuttal, Gandhi said, "Rajnath Singh has an opinion and I have an opinion, but the Agniveers know the truth. The Agniveers know what they have to face."
Sharing Rahul Gandhi's video, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that when she raised the Agniveer issue from the opposition side, the BJP government "lied" in Parliament. "The BJP is insulting the sacrifice of the families who gave their children for the country by telling lies. Is this the nationalism of the BJP? The prime minister should apologize to the public for lying to the country and insulting the martyrs," he said. in a Hindi post on X.
The total amount will be around Rs 1.65 crore, it said in the "clarification" that came after leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi shared on X a video purportedly of Kumar's father, who claimed that he did not had received any money.
Gandhi cited Kumar's case to allege in his post that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh "lied" in Parliament on the issue of compensation to the families of martyred Agniveers and demanded an apology for it.Singh, while intervening when Gandhi was speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's speech in Lok Sabha, he said on Monday that an Agniveer who lays down his life in the line of duty receives compensation of Rs 1 crore.
In a post on 'X', the Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information stated that the Indian Army "salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar" and underlined that emoluments owed to a fallen hero are promptly paid to the next of kin. of deceased soldiers, including Agniveers.
"Certain social media posts have revealed that no compensation has been paid to the family members of Agniveer Kumar who lost their lives in the line of duty," he wrote. "It is emphasized that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar .The last rites were performed with full military honours. Of the total amount due, Agniveer Ajay's family has already received Rs 98.39 lakhs," the army said. he said in the post.
“Ex-gratia benefits and other benefits worth approximately Rs 67 lakh, as applicable under the provisions of the Agniveer Scheme, will be paid in final settlement of the account soon after due police verification.
"The total amount will be Rs 1.65 lakhs approximately. It is once again emphasized that emoluments due to a fallen hero are promptly paid to the family members of the deceased soldiers including the Agniveers. #IndianArmy," he added.The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, 2022, provides for the recruitment of young people between 17 and a half and 21 years old for only four years, with the provision of retaining 25 percent of them for 15 more years. That same year, the government expanded the upper age limit to 23 years.
In his video message on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi said that he had stated in his speech in Parliament that protection of truth is the basis of all religion.
"In response, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, before Lord Shiva's photo, lied to the country, its armed forces and the Agniveers about compensation," Gandhi said in the video. He referred to the father's alleged statement from Ajay Singh that Rajnath Singh made the statement that the families of the martyrs had received compensation of Rs 1 million, but his family had not received such assistance.
Gandhi said the defense minister had "lied" to martyr Ajay Singh's family, the armed forces and the country's youth, and should apologize to them.
Gandh's fresh attack came after Rajnath Singh refuted the opposition leader's claims in the Lok Sabha about the Agnipath military recruitment plan. The Congress leader on Monday criticized the Agnipath short-term military recruitment plan and He claimed that the government does not even grant them "shaheed" (martyr) status and that no compensation is given to their families if they are killed in action.
The Union minister had asked Gandhi not to mislead Parliament and also asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to delete the former Congress president's claims about the Agnipath scheme.
Intervening, the Defense Minister said: "I would like to humbly request the leader of the opposition not to try to mislead Parliament. Regarding the Agniveer plan, direct communication was established with many people, 158 organisations, their suggestions were taken, then this was presented the Agniveer scheme. This scheme was introduced after a lot of thought." "And I would also like to make it clear that these types of schemes are operational in many countries. It is in the United States and in the United Kingdom. People there have no objection. Without understanding the Agniveer plan, without getting adequate information about it... to mislead the House in this way, it cannot be considered appropriate," the minister added.
After Singh's rebuttal, Gandhi said, "Rajnath Singh has an opinion and I have an opinion, but the Agniveers know the truth. The Agniveers know what they have to face."
Sharing Rahul Gandhi's video, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that when she raised the Agniveer issue from the opposition side, the BJP government "lied" in Parliament. "The BJP is insulting the sacrifice of the families who gave their children for the country by telling lies. Is this the nationalism of the BJP? The prime minister should apologize to the public for lying to the country and insulting the martyrs," he said. in a Hindi post on X.
