The Agniveer scheme was announced on June 14, 2022. It provided for the recruitment of youth in the age group of 17 to 21 years in the army for only four years, out of which 25 per cent have a provision to be retained for a further 15 more years.
The Indian Army has rejected Rahul Gandhi and the media reports which said that no financial assistance was given to the families of martyred Agniveers. The Army has said that Rs 98 lakh has been given to the family of martyred Agniveer Ajay Kumar of Punjab, while the process of giving Rs 67 lakh to his family is still going on. Let us tell you that Rahul Gandhi had alleged that no financial assistance was given to the families of Agniveers. He also accused Defense Minister Rajnath Singh of misleading the country. However, the Indian Army has exposed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has also retweeted the statement issued by the Army and said, “The Indian Army is committed to the welfare of Agniveers.” The Defense Minister had also reprimanded Rahul Gandhi in the House. He had said that Rahul Gandhi should not make such statements. At the same time, now in the official statement issued by the Army, it has been told that so far Rs 98 lakh has been given to the family of Agniveer as compensation.
The Army posted on Twitter, “Some social media posts have claimed that the family of Agniveer Ajay Kumar, who was martyred during duty, has not been given compensation. Such claims are completely baseless. The Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice of Agniveer Ajay Kumar. He was cremated with full military honors. Out of the total amount payable, Rs 98.39 lakh has already been paid to the family of Agniveer Ajay.” The Army has said that apart from this, an amount of Rs 67 lakh will be given to his family, after which the total amount will be around Rs 1.65 crore.
Agniveer Ajay Singh was martyred in Nowshera
Agniveer Ajay Singh, a resident of Khanna in Ludhiana district of Punjab, was martyred in Jammu and Kashmir on January 23, 2024, he was just 23 years old. He was martyred after being caught in a landmine explosion in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district of the Union Territory. He is survived by his parents and 4 sisters. After addressing a rally at Dana Mandi in Dakha before the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi came to Khanna and then suddenly reached the house of Agniveer Balidani Ajay Kumar in village Ramgarh Sardara.
Rahul Gandhi also made a false claim
Some media reports claimed that the family of Agniveer Ajay Singh has not received any compensation or relief amount. At the same time, Rahul Gandhi claimed on X that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has lied in Parliament. He also shared a video on the social media platform ‘X’ and asked Rajnath Singh to apologize. Rahul Gandhi said, “In Parliament, I said that protection of truth is the basis of every religion. In response, Rajnath Singh lied to the whole of India, the country’s army and the Agniveers about compensation in front of Shiva’s photo.” Rahul said that after listening to my and the Defense Minister’s speech, Ajay Singh’s father said that according to what Rajnath Singh said in the House, we neither received any money nor any message. Rahul Gandhi further said that the Defense Minister has lied to the family of martyr Ajay Singh, the army and the youth of the country in Parliament. The Defense Minister should apologize to all of them.
Not only the Defense Minister, but the family of Maharashtra’s Agniveer has also refuted Rahul Gandhi’s statement. The family of Maharashtra’s martyr Agniveer Akshay Gavte has said that they have received assistance of Rs 1.08 crore from the government. Agniveer Akshay Gavte, a native of Pimpalgaon Sarai in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, was martyred while performing his duty in Siachen on 21 October 2023. Akshay’s father Laxman Gavte told reporters on Monday (2 July 2024) that after Akshay’s death, the family received “Rs 48 lakh as insurance cover, Rs 50 lakh from the central government and Rs 10 lakh from the state government.”
Agneepath Yojana is in force from the year 2022
It is worth noting that the Agneepath scheme was announced on June 14, 2022. It provided for recruitment of youth in the age group of 17 to 21 years in the army for only four years, out of which 25 percent would be retained for another 15 years. The government later increased the upper age limit to 23 years. There was a lot of political opposition to this scheme. Even now the Indi alliance says that if it comes to power, it will stop the Agneepath scheme.(source-opindia)
