Freedom fighters to get pension hike in Haryana

Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday announced an increase in the monthly pension of freedom fighters and their widows from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000.

Paying rich tributes to martyrs and freedom fighters, Hooda said they sacrificed all their comforts so that the coming generations could live with dignity.

“We will always remain indebted to their supreme sacrifice,” the chief minister said, while addressing a state-level function of Independence Day celebrations after unfurling the national flag here.

Last year, Haryana had increased the pension given to the freedom fighters and their widows from Rs 11,000 to Rs 15,000.

Hooda said the foundation stone of Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College here would be laid on November 19.

“It was on this day in 1997 that astronaut Kalpana Chawla began her first space mission and the day is also celebrated as the birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi,” he said.

He said Union minister of civil aviation Ajit Singh has assured to consider his request to set up airports in Karnal and Hisar.

The chief minister expressed happiness over the scintillating performance of players from the state in the recently concluded London Olympic Games. He said in the Indian contingent of 81 players, 18 players were from Haryana. Of the total six medals won by the country, four winning players hailed from Haryana.

Hooda said with the setting up of four new thermal power plants in the state, the installed generation capacity of the state has increased to 5,050 MW, which was 1,587 MW in 2005.

He said the government is providing low interest loan and waiving off stamp duty on agriculture loan for farmers. The chief minister said the government is formulating a new agriculture policy and agriculture research has been given a boost.

Terming land acquisition and rehabilitation policy as farmer-friendly, Hooda said the government has come up with a land pooling scheme by doing certain amendments.