Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The row over compensation to the next of kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar intensified on Friday with Rahul Gandhi reiterating that the martyr's family had not got compensation till date and alleged that the Modi government was discriminating against the Agniveers.
The Congress leader also shared a video on X purportedly of the father of a deceased Agniveer who stated that his family got Rs 50 lakh as insurance from a private bank and 48 lakh from the Army Group Insurance Fund.
Gandhi said in the video that the martyr's family had not got compensation and asked why they have not got ex-gratia payment.
He asked why salary arrears have not been received in the bank account of the martyr's family.
"The family of martyr Agniveer Ajay Kumar has not received any compensation from the government till date. There is a difference between 'compensation' and 'insurance'. The payment has been made to the family of the martyr only by the insurance company," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
The family of martyr Kumar has not received the assistance that they should have received from the government, he said.
"The family of every martyr who sacrifices his or her life for the country should be respected but the Modi government is discriminating against them. No matter what the government says, this is a matter of national security and I will keep raising it," he stated.
The I.N.D.I.A. bloc will never allow the armed forces to be weakened, Gandhi asserted.
In the video, the father of the martyr said his family had not received any money from the central government. He said his family should get all the facilities and be given a pension.
He said a canteen card should also be made for his family.
"Rajnath Singh said that family of martyrs have been given Rs 1 crore. We haven't got that," the father of the martyr said.
Gandhi said the truth is that there are two types of martyrs in the country -- normal jawan and Agniveer.
"Both would be martyred but one would get the status of a martyr while the other would not. One would get a pension, while the other would not.
"One would get canteen (facility), the other would not. If someone has laid down his or her life for the country, they should be honoured," the former Congress chief said.
The Congress on Thursday said the government should bring a "white paper" on the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, so that the country gets to know the reality of the ground situation.
Gandhi has alleged that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh "lied" in Parliament about the issue of compensation to the families of martyred Agniveers and demanded an apology for it.
Gandhi had also referred to an earlier purported statement of Kumar's father who had purportedly said in a video shared by Gandhi on X on Wednesday that even though Rajnath Singh has said the families of martyrs have been given a compensation of Rs 1 crore, no such assistance has been received by his family.
The Indian Army, however, later rejected the claims on social media that compensation has not been paid to the next of kin of Agniveer Kumar, who lost his life in the line of duty, and said his family has already been given Rs 98.39 lakh of the due amount.
The total amount will be Rs 1.65 crore approximately, it said in the "clarification" that came after Gandhi shared the video on the microblogging platform.