Freedom fighters’ kin seek facilities from government

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, March 27

Kin of freedom fighters from all over the country under the banner of the Akhil Bhartiya Swatantrata Senani and the Uttaradhikari Sanyukt Sangathan have demanded extension of benefits being provided to their families to one more generation.

They alleged that they were being ignored by the consecutive governments and remembered only on the Independence and Republic Day celebrations.

The association general secretary Dharamvir Paliwal alleged that the government had issued notifications and orders granting various facilities to descendents of freedom fighters, but they were hardly implemented by the state governments in letter and spirit. For decades after the Independence they were ignored continuously, he added.

He said the main motive of the sangathan was to bring all the families of freedom fighters on a common platform so that they could raise their genuine issue. Citing an example, Paliwal said the Union government had issued an advisory to the state governments for providing free bus passes to descendents of freedom fighters. It had issued around eight reminders to the Punjab government in this connection, which was yet to issue any guidelines in this regard. He said the Uttarakhand government had provided maximum number of facilities to descendants of freedom fighters.

He alleged that the freedom fighter quota was also not implemented properly in the central and state government jobs. He said, “The government provides three per cent quota to handicap, ex-servicemen, backward classes and then to the freedom fighters descendents. By the time the turn of freedom fighters comes, vacancies are already occupied by the people of other categories.”

The association is trying to gather support from families of freedom fighters living all over the country. The association is also seeking pension, free bus and train passes, reservation in higher education, and exemption from toll tax among other facilities.

The sangathan argued that pension to the third generation of British soldiers was still provided by the Indian government. Indian freedom fighters should also be given pension on the same lines, added the sangathan. Members of the sangathan also demanded that the word ‘dependent’ used to refer to the family members and descendents should be replaced by (Uttraadhikari) ‘heir’. Various families demanded the mandatory listing without which pensions and other facilities were not provided to them under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme 1980.

Paliwal along with the descendents of India National Army also met Bhushan Behl, president and other members of Jallianwala Bagh Shaheed Parivar Samittee and highlighted their motive. Families of martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh massacre were granted the status of freedom fighters in 2008.