War memorial: Badal announces helpline for defence personnel, veterans

Amritsar, October 23

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said a helpline would soon be set up to address grievances of serving defence personnel and veterans in the state.

He was speaking here after inaugurating the Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum costing Rs 130 crore.

Badal said the helpline would be set up at Chandigarh and would specifically redress defence personnel’s grievances on priority basis.

Listing the initiatives taken for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families, the chief minister said the state government had decided to extend a cash grant worth Rs 50 lakh to war widows or legal heirs of soldiers who had died in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, and 1962 Indo-China war.

He said the state government has also decided to enhance the one time grant for the recipients of Param Vir Chakra/ Ashok Chakra from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 2 crore, Mahavir Chakra from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore and Vir Chakra from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

Badal also said the amount of ex-gratia to all battle casualties in case of death has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

He also complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Army for the surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The memorial was a tribute to the contribution made by Punjabi soldiers to defend the sovereignty of the country, said Badal, who also felicitated several retired army officials.

“The major attraction of this monument is the installation of world’s tallest sword in the memorial” he added.

Speaking at the function, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said a Jang-e-Azadi memorial is coming up in Kartarpur at a cost of Rs 200 crore.

Union Minister and Punjab BJP Chief Vijay Sampla who was also present, said the NDA Government led by the Prime Minister has fulfilled the long pending demand of One Rank One Pension (OROP). — PTI