Families of martyrs face neglect

Chandigarh, January 28
The country and Punjab paid homage to its martyrs on Monday, but for many families of martyrs in the state this Republic Day too remained one of promises unfulfilled. Their future hinges on a date for the past five months.

Around 200 families of military personnel stand to gain through government jobs in case the government amends its honour and gratitude policy to cover all servicemen declared battle casualties pre-January 1, 1999. The policy till now covers post-January 1999 battle casualties only.

It has been five months since Defence Services Welfare Minister Kanwaljit Singh announced that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had acceded to the demand of ex-servicemen to take all soldiers killed in action in anti-terrorist operations within the ambit of its honour and gratitude policy.

Capt Kanwaljit had himself proposed the change following a representation from the affected families in April last year. He had proposed that the government go by the battle casualty enlisting done by the defence authorities while adjudging such cases.

The Chief Minister’s approval came in August, 2008, post which the Department of Personnel asked the Defence Welfare Department to amend a certain notification. It was objected to by the affected families, which claimed this would not help them, but only result in a status quo.

Gurnam Singh, a government servant at Patiala, told The Tribune that his sister-in-law Raj Kaur, whose husband Mohinder Singh had been killed in 1995 during Operation Rakshak, was anxiously waiting for the amendment to the policy, which would make her eligible for a government job.

Similar is the case of Harjinder Kaur of Jai Jawan Colony in Patiala whose husband Lance Naik Raghbir Singh died in anti-insurgency operations in Assam in 1992. Harjinder says she has a grown-up son, who is yet to get a job, and another one who is studying in plus II.

Patiala-based Notary Sukhwant Singh Ghumman, son of late Major Sukhdev Singh who was killed in action in 1979, claims the government’s policy is flawed not only because it is selective in its coverage, but also because it does not recognise bravery during peace time. While dependents of wartime gallantry award winners of Paramvir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra and Vir Chakra are eligible for government jobs, peacetime gallantry award winners who died fighting militancy were not eligible for the same. Sukhwant’s father had been awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh said he would have to check on the status of the file with regard to the case. With the model code around the corner, it might be touch and go for the families, which definitely do not want to wait for another Republic Day to remind the nation of their plight.
Families of martyrs face neglect