Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approves 4-fold increase to families of battle casualties

New Delhi, Oct 5
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a four-fold hike in assistance to the next of kin for all categories of battle casualties from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.
The amount will be granted under the Army Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (ABCWF).
In a statement, the ministry said, "Earlier, there was a provision of financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the battle casualties which are fatal, 60 per cent and above disability, battle casualties invalided out due to disability and Rs 1 lakh to disability less than 60 per cent. It was in addition to liberalised family pension, financial assistance from Army Group Insurance, Army Welfare Fund and ex-gratia amount."
The ABCWF was instituted in July 2017 and was implemented with effect from April 2016. It was set up under Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW) after a large number of people offered to provide monetary assistance to the families of battle casualties following an incident in February 2016 at Siachen where 10 soldiers were buried in an avalanche.
This fund was set up in addition to the various existing schemes for the welfare of next of kin of battle casualties and their children.
In addition to the assistance under the ABCWF, the already existing monetary grant includes ex-gratia for various ranks ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 45 lakh and Army Group Insurance ranging from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 75 lakh, officials said.
Rajnath Singh, as home minister in the previous government, had launched 'Bharat ke Veer fund' to assist families of paramilitary personnel killed or injured in action. IndiaToday.in