Will review compensation to martyrs: HM

Home Minister G Parameshwara told the Legislative Council on Friday that the government would examine the proposal to compensate soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the nation, with Rs 25 lakh, as has been done in case of the Siachen soldiers recently.

Responding to queries on the subject by BJP MLCs B J Puttaswamy and Capt Ganesh Karnik, the Minister said the government had compensated the three soldiers who died in an avalanche in Siachen, with Rs 25 lakh from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund. This had been done on special consideration, in addition to increasing the ex gratia amount from Rs two lakh to Rs five lakh.

The government was also compensating the kin of martyrs with land, sites, jobs and education assistance. When Karnik sought to know if the government would extend the special compensation component of Rs 25 lakh in future also, Parameshwara said the matter would be reviewed. Parameshwara said that while ex gratia was paid, handing over of land and sites were caught in procedural delays, like it had happened in case of Lt Colonel Niranjan E K, who sacrificed his life in the Pathankot attack.

He said Niranjan’s wife had not submitted the required documents as she was yet to return from her hometown in Kerala, where the martyr was buried. From 2011 onwards, as many as nine soldiers from the State have died in the line of duty.