New Delhi: A day after Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleged that the family of Agniveer Ajay Kumar, who died in the line of duty, received no compensation from the government, the Indian Army refuted such claims on Thursday.
The Army claimed that the family was given Rs 98.39 lakh as compensation. The total amount will be Rs 1.65 crore approximately, it said in the “clarification” that came after Rahul Gandhi shared on X a video purportedly of Kumar’s father, who stated he had not received any money.
“Certain posts on Social Media have brought out that compensation hasn’t been paid to the Next of Kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar who lost his life in the line of duty. It is emphasised that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The last rites were carried out with full Military Honours. Of the total amount due, family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid Rs 98.39 lakh,” the Army wrote on X.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul had shared on X a purported video of Kumar’s father claiming that he hadn’t received any compensation. The LoP had also claimed that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had ‘lied’ in the Parliament regarding compensation to the families of Agniveers, who died on duty.
“…Rajnath Singh ji in front of the photo of Shiv ji lied about the compensation to Agniveers. I had said in my speech that don’t listen to me, don’t listen to him. Listen to the families of Agniveers,” said Rahul in a video message on X handle.
The Congress MP has been criticising the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, alleging the government does not even give them the status of a ‘shaheed’ (martyr), if they are killed in action.
Earlier, Singh had intervened Gandhi, who was speaking on issue of the Agniveers during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. Singh had claimed that the kin of Agniveer, who dies in the line of duty, gets compensation of Rs 1 crore.