Kargil funds may go to other martyrs’ kin too

PMO officials say even if they agree to all the proposals received from the MoD for relief and rehabilitation for the 482 Kargil victims, they would spend around Rs 120 crore from the NDF. Of this, Rs 45 crore has already been handed over to the Army for implementation of its proposed schemes.

However, Army officials say they are now working out modalities for ex-gratia and rehabilitation for the victims of past and futureoperations as well. “We have provided all the figures to the ministry and told them that it would be very unfair to deny widows and families of past victims. We want the benefits to go back as far as possible,” a senior Army official said. “As far as the future is concerned, there should be no doubt: the Government must agree to a package compatible with what the families of Kargil victims will receive.”

MoD figures show the Army has lost 4,000 men in counter-insurgency operations in the past decade, amounting to a fatality a day. This includes the operations of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. In Siachen, the toll stands at 620 and in Sri Lanka it was double — some 1,200 men were killed in the Army’s offensive against the LTTE.

There is also an indication that the use of the Kargil funds may extend even beyond the IPKF operations, which took place a decade ago. Sources in the AHQ say that Kargil funds may go to kin of other martyrs tooÃ? while it may no longer be “relevant” tooffer rehabilitation to families of victims killed in the 1947 war for Independence, that may not be the case with the wars of 1965 and 1971. Therefore, the growing feeling that since the current relief package for Kargil victims includes relief for housing, primary and higher education, the families of victims of these wars should also be compensated.

PMO officials appear inclined to agree but are awaiting for a written proposal from the Ministry of Defence. Besides, they say the donations were still flowing in. These officials pointed out that in addition to the first-ever disbursements from the NDF directly to the Ministry of Defence, a sum of Rs 8 crore received by the PM’s National Relief Fund during Operation Vijay was being transferred to the NFD. As far as the Army’s own corpus is concerned, the inflow of donations to the Army’s Central Welfare Fund (ACWF) has crossed Rs 20 crore.