New Delhi: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday asked the administrative machinery at the Centre, state and district levels to pay due attention towards solving the problems of veterans and families of serving soldiers in a time-bound manner.
Inaugurating the 30th meeting of Kendriya Sainik Board in the national capital, Parrikar said special attention by the central and state governments and support by local administration towards welfare of the families of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers is crucial.
"We want our troops to maintain high morale and perform their duties without worrying about their families," he said.
Underlining some of the welfare measures for ex-servicemen and their dependents, the minister said the government has revised the marriage grant for two daughters of ex-serviceman from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000 with effect from April 1.
The Education Grant and Orphan Grant have been revised from Rs 400-600 per month to Rs 1000 per month. The amount of one-time Penury Grant of Rs 30,000 has now been revised to Rs 1000 per month for life.
He said the amount under Prime Minister Scholarship Scheme for boys has been hiked from Rs 15,000 to Rs 24,000 per annum while for girls the same has been revised from Rs 18,000 to Rs 27,000 per annum.
He also pointed out a few issues on ex-servicemen welfare, which require direct engagement with other stakeholders like states and Union Territories, local administration and Rajya Sainik Board.
These include provision of land for polyclinic buildings in non-military stations, augmentation of opportunities for employment of ESM in state/Union Territories, monitoring implementation of reserved seats in government educational institutions for admission of wards of war widows/disabled soldiers and ESM and construction of integrated 'Sainik Sadan' in states for war-widows and ESM and their dependents.
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