The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Government will provide an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to the families of six security forces personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday announced that of the families of six security forces personnel, three belonging to the Indian Air Force (IAF) two from Delhi Police personnel and one from the civil defence, will be provided with the monetary benefits.
“The Delhi Government respects and honours the bravery of every soldier in uniform who risked their lives to protect people and the nation. In order to honour the bravery of our personnel, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal initiated financial assistance for personnel in Delhi Police, Defence, Paramilitary forces and other forces who risked their lives to protect our nation,” he said.
“Although, we cannot compensate for the huge loss every family has to bear. We can at the very least, pay our respect and ensure the families of these personnel live a life of dignity that they receive an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore which may aid and support their livelihoods,” he said.
Speaking about the recipients of ex-gratia amount, Sisodia said, “To honour our personnel who risked their lives to protect and serve the nation, Delhi Government has announced disbursal of ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 crore to families of six personnel who passed away while performing their duties.”
“The decision to support families with Rs 1 crore was taken today.
There are six such families who have lost their son while they were performing their duty to protect the nation. Three out of the six personnel belonged to the Indian Air Force, two personnel belonged to Delhi Police and 1 was a Defence Personnel,” he said.
Sanket Kaushik was ACP Delhi Police who lost his life while performing duty at Rajokri Flyover in Delhi. “A truck hit him while he was checking vehicles around the area and he died on the spot. Sanket Kaushik’s family included his wife and three daughters who now depend on his wife for sustenance, he said.
“Their earning source is ACP Sanket Kaushik’s pension. They do not have other active earnings. To honour his martyrdom and support his family to live a life of dignity, we have announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to his family,” he said.
Elaborating about it further he said, Rajesh Kumar from Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi was another such martyr who lost his life while performing duty in the Air Force.
“Rajesh ji was on an aircraft which took off from Jorhat, Assam and its wreckage was found in Arunachal Pradesh. He was subsequently found dead due to the crash, while he was performing his duty. He had only been three months into his marriage,” he added.
Similarly, Flight lieutenant Sunit Mohanty was on the same flight as Rajesh Kumar. Mohanty was from Dwarka, he also passed away due to the plane crash while performing his duty.
“We cannot compensate for their loss but we can pay our respect for his martyrdom. We have announced an ex-gratia of 1 crore to support his family to live a life of dignity,” he said.
He also talked about Meet Kumar, a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force who died while his aircraft MIG-21 crashed in an operational flying sortie in Kangra hills (H.P.).
Talking about Vikas Kumar who was a Delhi Police constable, he said that Kumar was performing his picket duty. “During the picket duty, a Swift Dezire knowingly increased the speed when it was asked to stop and injured Shri Vikas Kumar ji. He was shifted to AIIMS thereafter where he was announced dead,” he said.