Verification done, Indian Army Agniveer’s kin a step closer to getting compensation

New Delhi, July 7

Family of deceased Indian Army ‘Agniveer’ Ajay Kumar Singh is now a step closer to getting the pending compensation. A ‘verification’ that was required to be done by the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been completed. The Indian Army has been ianformed through official channels.

Died in line of duty

The pending dues for the family of the deceased soldier is about Rs 67 lakh that includes Rs 44 lakh ex gratia in case of death, Rs 13 lakh balance of payment of his salary for four years tenure as an Agniveer, Rs 2.30 lakh Seva Nidhi package with government contribution and Rs 8 lakh from the Army Welfare Fund. The Army Court of Inquiry has already established the cause of death and attributed it to ‘dying in line of duty’.

The ‘verification’ included the police establishing cause of death of the deceased. The pending ‘verification’ by the J&K was one of the obstacles in paying out the pending Rs 67.30 lakh to the family that lives in a village near Ludhiana.

Agniveer Ajay Kumar Singh had died on January 18 in a mine blast at Rajouri. A payment of Rs 50 lakh was made to the family on February 13. This was the insurance money paid by the bank where the dead soldier had a ‘salary account’. Another sum of Rs 48 lakh paid on June 10 is the insurance payout of a policy paid by the government.

The pending dues for the family of the deceased soldier is about Rs 67 lakh that includes Rs 44 lakh ex gratia in case of death, Rs 13 lakh balance of payment of his salary for four years tenure as an Agniveer, Rs 2.30 lakh Seva Nidhi package with government contribution and Rs 8 lakh from the Army Welfare Fund. The Army Court of Inquiry has already established the cause of death and ‘attributed it to dying in line of duty’.

Payout of compensation had created a political storm last week. Charanjit Singh, father of the deceased made a video comment, on July 3, claiming that the family had not received any compensation. A day later, he did a ‘course correction’ and admitted to have received insurance money.

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had, used a video of Charanjit Singh to say “no compensation was paid to the soldier”.

After Gandhi’s statement, the Indian Army on Wednesday posted on social media and rejected the claims that compensation hasn’t been paid to the next of kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar saying a sum of Rs 98.39 lakh had been paid. The total amount would be Rs 1.65 crore approximately, it said in the “clarification”.