In an exceptional move, the Centre has awarded ‘liberalised family pension’ benefits to the families of 15 ITBP troops who were killed in a chopper crash during rescue operations in flood-hit Uttarakhand last year.
The Government has relaxed the rules to grant the full pension benefits in recognition of the “sacrifice” of these personnel, nine belonging to the ITBP’s National Disaster Response Force battalion and six of the ITBP.
The decision has entitled the Next Of Kin (NOK) of those killed to get full salary of the personnel deceased as pension, including TA and DA, official sources said.
The official order issued earlier this month, a copy of which is with The Pioneer, said the liberalised family pension has been accorded to the NOKs of 15 deceased personnel “who sacrificed their lives in Helicopter Mi-17 crash during search and rescue operations in Uttarakhand on June 25, 2013 by relaxation of Rule by invoking Rule 4 of CCS (EOP) Rules.”
The Extraordinary Pension (EOP) rules are invoked to accord pension benefits to the men and women in uniform as categorised under “cases of death or injury sustained by personnel of the Central Police Organisation while employed in aid of the civil administration.”
These benefits are given only in special cases after due sanction from Ministries of Home, Finance and Personnel and approval from the President, the sources said.
NOKs of these personnel had already been given the ex-gratia and other monetary benefits which are provided to the affected families in case of death on duty.