A political storm has erupted across the country over the compensation awarded to the family of Punjab’s Agniveer, Ajay Kumar, who sacrificed his life in Rajouri earlier this year. Amid conflicting claims, the controversy intensified after the family initially asserted receiving no assistance from the Central Government but later on Thursday acknowledged receiving Rs 98 lakhs, including Rs 50 lakhs from an insurance policy.
The issue gained traction when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in his inaugural address as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the Centre had not provided the promised compensation to Ajay Kumar’s family, raising concerns over the Agnipath scheme.
In response, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refuted these allegations on the parliamentary floor, stating that Rs 98.39 lakhs had indeed been disbursed to the family — a claim dismissed as “lie” by Rahul Gandhi, who circulated a video purportedly showing Ajay Kumar’s father denying any financial assistance.
Clarifying the situation, the Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) released a statement affirming that Rs 98.39 lakhs had been paid to the family. “Ex-Gratia and other benefits amounting to approximately Rs 67 lakhs, as applicable according to the provisions of the Agniveer Scheme, will be paid on Final Account Settlement shortly post Police verification. The total amount will be Rs 1.65 crore approximately,” the Army said in a statement.
Amidst the blame-game over compensation and the growing controversy, Ajay Kumar’s family on Thursday sought the scrapping of the Agnipath scheme, besides demanding pension, which jawans inducted in the forces through the normal channel get, and a canteen card.
At the same time, the family maintained that no amount of compensation can replace Ajay Kumar.
Till a day before, Agniveer’s family has been claiming that they did not get compensation from the Army. However, on Thursday, Ajay Kumar’s father Chanatjit Singh said that they have received Rs 98 lakh, but only Rs 48 lakh came from the Indian Army, and remaining Rs 50 lakh was an insurance amount — contradicting the Army’s claims of paying Rs 98.39 lakh.
“First, we got Rs 50 lakh insurance money from the ICICI bank shortly after the incident. Then we got Rs 48 lakh from the Army on June 10. We haven't received the full amount yet. The Army has told us that they will give us Rs 60 lakh more. We haven't received that money yet though. Don't know when we will get it,” he said.
The father said that he had received a compensation of Rs one crore from the Punjab Government, “but nothing from the Central Government as compensation”.
“We want the Agniveer scheme to be scrapped and we should get pension and canteen card,” said the father.
Echoing his sentiments, Ajay Kumar’s sister questioned the adequacy of the compensation, emphasizing the challenges faced by the family in sustaining themselves without him. She urged a reevaluation of the Agniveer scheme, citing its limitations in providing essential benefits to families of short-term service personnel in the armed forces.
Introduced in 2022, the Agnipath scheme aimed to enlist individuals for short-term military service, targeting age profile adjustments across the armed forces. Known as Agniveers, these personnel and their families do not currently qualify for conventional benefits such as pension in case of service-related fatalities.
Rahul Gandhi, in the run up to the June 1 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, had visited the family on May 29. The village falls under Ludhiana district’s Payal assembly constituency, once represented by former Chief Minister late Beant Singh, who was the grandfather of Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu.
