Out of the total 15 fire personnel to be honoured with the prestigious President’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry Award, 13 hail from Punjab.
The state Government had recommended the names of 13 firemen, who had shown exemplary courage during the two separate fire incidents — at a factory in Ludhiana’s Suffian Chowk on November 20, 2017, and another at Malka Textiles on May 11, 2017 — for the award.
“In an unprecedented gesture, the Union Government accorded approval to all the 13 recommendations. Now out of the total 15 personnel to be given this award, 13 are from Punjab,” said the state Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Sidhu, who honoured the surviving firemen of the two incidents and the families of those who made the supreme sacrifice on Friday, said that the Punjab Government would never forget the sacrifices made by the brave firemen in the line of duty in these two fire incidents.
The families of nine firemen, namely Sub-Fire Officer Rajinder Kumar, Sub-Fire Officer Samaoun Gill, Sub-Fire Officer Raj Kumar, leading fireman Manohar Lal, fireman Puran Singh, fireman Rajan, fireman (PESCO) Manpreet Singh, fireman (PESCO) Sukhdev Singh, fireman Vishal Kumar were honoured. Besides, four firemen, who survived and sustained injuries, namely Sub-Fire Officer Hajura Singh, fireman Naresh Kumar, fireman Lovelesh Kumar and fireman (PESCO) Saudagar Singh were also honoured.
Sidhu said that the families of martyred firemen have been given financial assistance worth Rs 10 lakh per person. Besides, the families would be given Rs 5,000 per month financial assistance apart from Income tax exemption, 75 percent discount while travelling in Air India, free AC three-tier railway passes to two persons per family and five percent quota to their children in studies.