After Pulwama, states announce massive hike in payments to families of slain soldiers

Madhya Pradesh to now give Rs 1 crore, up from the earlier Rs 10 lakh, while Maharashtra has increased its ex-gratia amount to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 3 lakh.

Mortal remains of CRPF jawans who lost their lives in Pulwama terror attack | PTI Photo | Manvender Vashist

New Delhi: In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack last week that killed 40 CRPF men, many state governments have announced a substantial increase in their ex-gratia payments to the families of the slain security personnel hailing from their states.

Madhya Pradesh, which used to give Rs 10 lakh, has increased the amount to Rs 1 crore, while Himachal Pradesh has increased the amount to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, and Maharashtra has hiked it to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 3 lakh.

Other states that have increased the amounts include Rajasthan (Rs 50 lakh from Rs 28 lakh), Kerala (Rs 25 lakh from Rs 5 lakh), Uttarakhand (Rs 25 lakh from Rs 10 lakh), Odisha (Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh) and Punjab (Rs 12 lakh from Rs 5 lakh).

Some states, however, have made no changes. Bihar will continue to give Rs 11 lakh, while the amounts for West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh will also remain at Rs 2 lakh and Rs 43 lakh respectively.

The ex-gratia amount given by the home state is one of the components that a slain soldier’s family receives, apart from the ex-gratia given by the Centre, and by the state where the incident took place.

Modalities to be completed

The increase in the ex-gratia amount requires an amendment to the existing notification, and has to be notified by the states to the Centre. This also means that once the amount is notified, it gets fixed and will be paid to personnel’s families in the future.

“Every state has its own policy to decide the sum of compensation that is to be disbursed to the families of personnel killed in action. This time, they decided to increase the amount substantially, which is a great initiative,” a source in the CRPF said.

“Although the chief ministers of all these states have announced the increased amount, we are still waiting for a formal amended notification from the states,” the source added.

“We always request the states to increase this amount, as it is the least they can do to honour the martyrs. While some states are very active and supportive, some are very laid back. Sometimes the families have to run from pillar to post to get this amount.”