Pittance for bravehearts

Pranjal Bhuyan / TNN / Mar 19, 2008, 01:26 IST

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A Param Vir Chakra winner gets just Rs 1,500 per month as monthly allowance.

PUNE: A winner or the Param Vir Chakra, the country��s highest gallantry award, or his dependent receives a sum of Rs 1,500 per month as monthly allowance from the government.
In the case of the Ashok Chakra, the highest peace-time gallantry award, the allowance is Rs 1,400 per month, while for the pre-independence Victoria Cross the monthly allowance is Rs 80.
Veterans of the Indian armed forces rue the measly sum doled out to brave soldiers who braved odds and, many times, made the ultimate sacrifice for the glory and defence of the motherland.
Even the existing monthly allowances are the result of periodic revision made from time to time. Veterans believe such ��hand-outs�� will do nothing to improve the situation at a time when the Army alone faces a backlog of around 12,000 commissioned officers.

Among the pre-independence awards the monthly allowance is Rs 80 for the Victoria Cross, Rs 350 for the Distinguished Service Order/the Indian Order of Merit/the Distinguished Service Medal, Rs 200 for officer category awardees of the Distinguished Service Cross/the Military Cross/the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Rs 70, Rs 90 and Rs 70 for the Distinguished Service Medal/the Military Medal/the Distinguished Flying Medal if the recipient is from the other ranks.

In the post-independence category of bravery awards the allowance is Rs 1,500 for the Param Vir Chakra, Rs 1,400 for the Ashok Chakra, Rs 1,200 for the Maha Vir Chakra, Rs 1,050 for the Kirti Chakra, Rs 850 for the Vir Chakra, Rs 750 for the Shaurya Chakra and Rs 250 for the Sena Medal/Nau Sena Medal/Vayu Sena Medal. "I would term it as nothing but a joke. None of the brave men fought for money but the government, nonetheless, has failed to give them proper recognition," said Major General V.K. Madhok (retd), former general officer commanding (GOC) of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps.
"Most of the medal winners, including the majority of Param Vir Chakra winners, received the recognition posthumously. At least the allowance should keep pace with the rise in cost of living," said Madhok.
Colonel Vinayak Tambekar (retd), former PRO (Southern Command), also voiced the same feeling. "No doubt, the pension and ex-gratia system has been streamlined and awardees or their dependants are leading a comparatively better life. However, that do not justify the small allowances," he said.
"Although the monthly allowance may be low, there is a liberalised pension scheme for all armed forces personnel and their dependants," said a senior officer at the Southern Command, Pune.
According to him, the government has put in place provisions for widows to draw pension equal to the last reckonable emoluments drawn by the deceased, gratuity of up to Rs 3.5 lakh, ex-gratia of Rs 5-Rs 7.5 lakh and other group insurance schemes. "Besides, most state governments also provide one-time payments, ex-gratia and other benefits," he said.

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